Gilles Carle Movies

In this tale of drama and adventure based on a novel by James Oliver Curwood, a man becomes obsessed with revenge after his wife is sexually assaulted by another man. He kills the rapist, but soon finds he's wanted by the law, and spends the next ten years hiding out in the wilderness with his young son. Shortly before his wife died, the man promised her that their son would receive an education, and in time the man turns his son over to a close friend, who will now raise the boy and send him to school. However, the boy soon learns that one of his classmates is the son of the man his father killed, and the young man pledges to some day take his life in exchange for that of his late father. The Other Side of the Law stars Jurgen Prochnow and Yves Renier. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this home-grown sex farce that takes place in a small Quebec town just before the commencement of World War II, a trio of very handsome and willing women show that they are able to suffer almost any indignity in their quest to satisfy their men sexually; that includes one of them dressing up as a doe in order to excite her huntsman lover, the mayor of this sex-crazed burg. The men, too, show considerable enthusiasm in playing at the game of love. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The title of this documentary, Quebec, Une Ville literally translates as "Quebec, a city." However, one suspects that something has been lost in that translation. This film explores the past and present of that most troublesome of Canadian provinces through examining the town of Quebec City. Archival footage and interviews with experts are combined with a satirical commentary by musician Chloe Sainte-Marie to illuminate the attitudes and states of mind of the people of the region. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Strict behavior codes and the struggle to eke out a living provide a backdrop to this romantic drama set at the turn of the 20th century in rural, northern Quebec. Maria Chapdelaine (Carole Laure) returns to the home of her parents in a remote village, and during the period of one year, has her heart-strings pulled in three different directions at once -- though only one of those directions is what she really wants. She had been promised in marriage to the shy neighboring farmer (Pierre Curzi), whom she has known since they were children, but a suave man-about-town wants to marry her (Donald Lautrec), and a handsome trapper (Nick Mancuso) has fallen in love with her. Maria fluctuates between the trapper and the urban aristocrat, and as events unfold, her indecision leads to tragic consequences. Also filmed by Julien Duvivier in 1934, this story first became popular when published as a novel (by Louis Hemon) in 1913. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The Plouffe Family, aka Les Plouffe, is a Canadian assault to the kidneys directed by Quebec's "critic's darling" Gilles Carle. The film covers seven years (1938 through 1945) in the lives of the French/Canadian Plouffe clan. Emile Genest is the one "name" player in this phlegmatic character study. Like to try this one on for size? Be warned: it runs (or crawls) 180 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Unable to keep her social commentary to herself and concentrate solely on her show dancing, the girl in this film is shot to death in the Quebec woods by people who don't want propagandizing about Chile to be openly voiced. She is discovered by a mysterious stranger, who heals her wounds and reanimates her by blowing on them. After he takes her back to his cabin, they fall in love. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Normande (Carole Laure) is a young woman who supports her family by working in a drugstore. Her mother is in an asylum, and her younger sister is a drug-addict. When she picks up a deranged youth and brings him home, he somehow manages to get her mother out of the asylum. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This meditative French-Canadian film tells the story of a young woman's search for the father she has never known. Marie Chapelaine (Carole Laure) grew up in a remote area of Quebec without ever knowing her father, a lumberjack. She moves to Montreal, settles in there with a job as a topless dancer and begins her search for him. Eventually, with the help of his former mistress, they find the lumber camp he was working in, only to discover that he was killed in a labor dispute. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Non-Quebecois may find this French language comedy somewhat inscrutable, as it contains many local references and in-jokes. The story concerns two incredibly primitive backwoods types. These men have just been released from prison for kidnapping the local police chief's daughter but still have a hankering for a woman. When they return to their campsite, they discover a woodland nymph whom they both bed and who drives them wild. Jealousy nearly destroys their relationship, but after they have come to blows over her, they discover she has left. This film is mildly pornographic, as it has nudity and depicts sexual situations. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this western, an Indian is falsely accused of murder and must flee. As he continues to escape from the law he finds the real murderer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide