2009 AFI Dallas Film Festival - The American Trap

(Canada, 2008, 110 mins)
In French, English, Spanish with English subtitles
35mm
US Premiere
Directed By: Charles Biname

Charles Binamé takes the quintessential American story of intrigue—the events surrounding the Kennedy assassination—and creates a story that even the most inventive of conspiracy theorists will appreciate.

The characters we all know are there, Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, Bobby Kennedy, Fidel Castro. But Trap follows anti-hero Lucien Rivard as he navigates the treacherous world of gun running, heroin distribution and political assassinations. He jumps from Cuba to Miami to Dallas to Montreal, doing business with the mob, Cuban rebels, the CIA and the French underworld, all of whom are plotting against the other.

Trap’s quick pacing and and plot twists add to the already considerable paranoia of the early to mid ‘60s. Binamé’s fleeting use of historical footage and Pierre Gill’s inventive camerawork will have you leaning forward in your seat and looking nervously over your shoulder.

Information from the festival's website