By John Corrado
Out Standing is Quebec filmmaker Mélanie Charbonneau’s well-acted biopic of Sandra Perron, who became Canada’s first female infantry officer. The film is adapted from her 2017 memoir, Out Standing in the Field.
A proud member of a military family, Perron (who is played in the film by Nina Kiri) joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1984, at a time when many women didn’t enlist. Following several years in logistics, she finally got a chance to join basic training at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick in 1991.
Charbonneau doesn’t shy away from showing the leering, sexist comments that Perron faced as a woman in the CAF, mainly from a couple of male recruits who make it known they don’t want her there. She even admits that her boyfriend, who she later refers to as her ex, broke up with her because he couldn’t handle seeing her come home with bruises.
The screenplay, co-written by Charbonneau and Martine Pagé, uses a fractured narrative to tell Perron’s story. We jump around between her basic training at Gagetown under Captain Pritchett (Vincent Leclerc), a tough instructor who puts her through the wringer, not in spite of but because she is a woman. This ties into the film exploring key events from the widely publicized 1995 investigation into a disturbing photo from that training that got released, with special investigators trying to piece together if it was a reason for her de-enlisting following deployment to Croatia.
In telling this true story, Out Standing doesn’t necessarily overcome a TV docudrama aesthetic, though the good performances and attention to military detail elevate it. The film is held together by Kiri, who brings a grit and determination to her portrayal of Perron, that carries through each chapter of the film.
The Joy of Movies 