A Parking Spot, a Philosophical War and the Most Talked-About Film at Shanghai

It comes as little surprise to learn that Louis Godbout once made his living as a philosophy professor — not after watching how thoroughly his new film, The Parking Spot, toys with the mind.

The film takes a seemingly mundane event — an argument over a parking spot in suburban Montreal — and turns it into both a psychological war between its central characters and an existential crisis within each of them.

Godbout plainly delights in life’s many uncertainties, and has found in film an ideal medium for exploring them.

“Philosophy is a training in seeing that what appears simple and unproblematic in everyday life is not really so; that most things are problematic as soon as you scratch the surface a little bit,” the Canadian filmmaker explains. “Philosophers thrive on problems and ambiguity and uncertainty, and I like films that also do that.”

So The Parking Spot (Primatice Films) deliberately leaves some questions — and even the nature of certain characters — wide open to interpretation. That ambiguity is a big part of why the film, since its world premiere in the Shanghai International Film Festival’s main Golden Goblet competition, has become the talk of the festival. Fest goers have been overheard in deep debate over its many merits — and over what, exactly, they may (or may not) have just witnessed.

On paper, it sounds straightforward — even a little like the setup of the Netflix hit Beef. But The Parking Spot takes a far more sinister turn than that series ever did.

A couple (Maxim Gaudette and Christine Beaulieu) are on their way to dinner when they fall into a battle of wills with a stranger (Benoît Gouin) over a parking spot. Tensions are already simmering between the pair, and the run-in slowly brings them to a boil — but there are also tantalizing flashes of dialogue, and the odd loaded look, that hint the stranger may know more about the couple than he first lets on. And what exactly does he whisper into that policeman’s ear?

To say more would spoil the fun. But a flash of delight crossed Godbout’s face when he was told, at a press event for the film, that Shanghai audiences had been left divided by what they’d seen — in the best possible way.

“The film is a meditation on fate and the sometimes-hidden importance of insignificant events, where the civility that makes our relations fluid and easy, below that surface civility, there are more savage forces at play,” he said. “If you don’t manage relationships properly with politeness, with respect, as soon as the pride gets involved the feeling of self-worth, the relationships, can become very complicated.”

The main challenge in making The Parking Spot, the director said, was deciding how much to reveal about the characters and what really happens to them — and how much to leave open to interpretation.

“That [challenge] started with the writing,” says Godbout. “How much do I disclose and where do I draw the line — because you want as many people as possible to understand the film. I wanted, in editing, to calibrate the amount of information that I want to give at each stage of the film.”

Where exactly that tipping point lands, he’s not letting on.

“I’m not going to tell you now where optimally, for me, people understand or get a good feeling for the film is. There is a point in the film where I hope it happens, but it can happen throughout. One of the best outcomes is that we can discuss it all afterwards … the meaning belongs to the audience.”

The winners of this year’s Golden Goblet awards will be announced June 20.