Michel Brault Movies

An important moment in Canadian history is brought to the screen in this drama drawn from historical documents of the period. In 1838, Francois-Xavier Bouchard (Francis Reddy) is a member of a group of French-Canadian rebels calling themselves Les Patriotes, who are hoping to remove the British-based government from Lower Canada (now known as Quebec). Having just returned to Canada after a brief exile in the United States, Bouchard aligns himself with Les Patriotes against the advice of his family, who fear for his safety. Their fears prove well-grounded when Bouchard is captured in a raid on a British stronghold, and after an attempt to escape to America, Bouchard is subjected to a trial he feels has been fixed from the start. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A woman looks for her lost son in this Canadian-French melodrama set in Quebec city. Marie-Alexandrine (nicknamed Max) has not been in this city for over 25 years. Max burst into the home of her former best friend and classmate at the Conservatoire de Musique, Catherine Mercier, a renowned concert pianist. The two are opposites. Max was the rebellious one, and Catherine the quiet one. They begin reminiscing and the film flashes back to their youth when both were 15 and had budding musical careers. Max's career is nipped when she tells her strong-willed mother that she is pregnant. Her mother forces Max to give her son up for adoption. Enraged, Max throws her life to the winds and runs away. Back in the present, she has returned to find her son. Catherine assists her. Denis, a garage mechanic who is searching for his mother who abandoned him when he was a baby assists them. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A couple are forced to get to know one another after they've gotten married in this drama. Claire (Genevieve Bujold) is a 40-ish college professor who lives and teaches in Montreal, supplementing her earnings by writing textbooks. Claire isn't especially satisfied with her career, and her on-going affair with a married man seems to be leading her into a emotional dead end. One day, Claire's sister Annie (Dorothee Berryman), a lawyer, asks a rather large favor of her -- one of her clients, Pablo (Manuel Aranguiz), is a political activist from Chile who illegally escaped to Quebec rather than face certain death in his homeland. Bouchard (Gilbert Sicotte), a Canadian immigration official, has taken it upon himself to find and deport Pablo, and Annie is trying to keep him in the country. Annie tells Claire that she could save Pablo's life by marrying him so he could stay in Canada; while Claire bristles at the notion of this in-name-only marriage, she eventually relents and weds Pablo in a brief ceremony. However, Bouchard is certain something is fishy about Pablo's sudden nuptials, and sets up an interview with the couple to determine that theirs in a "real" marriage, which gives Claire and Pablo two days to learn the small details about one another which would be second nature for a married couple. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Filmed in Quebec, this children's fantasy was originally released as Tales for All #5. The principal character is a lovable goblin who befriends a group of children. The magical dwarf is visible only to the kids, leading to all sorts of complications with the local adult population. In the end, the children save the goblin from the evil machinations of the human villain, a despotic land-grabber. The film's lilting musical score, written by G. Trepanier and N. Dube, has been made separately available on tape. Great Land of Small was part of a series of kid's films designed for the dual market of TV and theaters. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When a group of fortysomethings meet for a nostalgic reunion they take a bus tour of the town where they bonded together as school chums. During the tour, they play a game of "truth," and they open up their buried box of "secret ambitions" to compare their past dreams with their current reality. There are no major conflicts or dramatic tensions; the group simply manages to be as supportive as they can while learning of the traumas others have handled as they slowly make their collective way to the big "five-oh." ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Before his death in 1993, director Francis Mankiewicz was Canadian television's premiere filmmaker. One of his rare theatrical films, Les Bons Debarras, was also among his best (despite its overlength); certainly the judges of Canada's Genie Awards thought so when honoring the film with their "Best Picture" award for 1981. Set amongst a middle-class Quebec family, the film concerns itself with a love triangle, consisting of Charlotte Laurier, Germaine Houde and Marie Tifo. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this documentary film, the noted art critic Jules Arbec, who suffers from cerebral palsy, is featured. With tremendous good humor, Arbec shows how he manages the challenges to everyday living which his disease poses. An intimate portrait of an unstoppable individual confronting his disease, this movie should be of particular interest to anyone who must deal with cerebral palsy. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Helen (Luce Guilbeault) is a woman who already has, in her view, quite enough children. For some time she has secretly been taking birth control pills, but now she is too old to use them safely. When her husband Gabriel (Jean Mathieu) discovers the pills, he is distressed, since he wants a large family. The two of them discuss their differing attitudes and desires but come to no resolution. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This disturbing drama is based on a real incident that occurred in Quebec during 1970. It is the story of the Liberation Front of Quebec took hostages, and the provincial government called for martial law resulting in the arrest of 450 people who were taken in and imprisoned without warrants and for no apparent reason. Much of the film centers on the cruelty inflicted upon these victims. Mental torture was one of the techniques employed. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi