Kamouraska (film)
Kamouraska is a 1973 Québécois film directed by Claude Jutra, based on the novel by Anne Hébert, who also worked as screenwriter. It won four Canadian Film Awards, for Best Actress (Geneviève Bujold), Best Supporting Actress (Camille Bernard), Art Direction and a Special Award.
| Kamouraska | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Claude Jutra |
| Produced by | Mag Bodard Pierre Lamy |
| Written by | Claude Jutra |
| Screenplay by | Anne Hébert |
| Starring | Geneviève Bujold Richard Jordan Philippe Léotard |
| Music by | Maurice Leroux |
| Cinematography | Michel Brault |
| Edited by | Renée Lichtig |
Production company | France Cinéma Productions |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
Release date |
|
Running time | 124 minutes |
| Country | Canada France |
| Language | English French |
Synopsis
The film is set in rural Québec in the 1830s.
Élisabeth at the deathbed of her second husband, Jérôme, isrecounting her past, which is conveyed through a series of flashbacks; her first marriage to Antoine, the brutish seigneur of Kamouraska, and her ensuing love affair with a Loyalist American doctor, George Nelson, which leads to the brutal murder of Antoine; her trial for complicity and acquittal; and her loveless marriage to Jérôme to save her honour.
Cast
- Geneviève Bujold as Élisabeth d'Aulnières
- Richard Jordan as Georges Nelson
- Philippe Léotard as Antoine Tassy
- Marcel Cuvelier as Jérôme Rolland
- Huguette Oligny as the mother of Élisabeth
- Camille Bernard as the mother of Antoine
- Janine Sutto as Tante
- Olivette Thibault as Tante
- Marie Fresnières as Tante
- Suzie Baillargeon as Aurélie
- Colette Cortois as Florida
- Gigi Duckett as Anne-Marie
- Marcel Marineau as Greffier, médecin
- Len Watt as Le gouverneur
Production and release
A slow-moving but beautiful film shot by cinematographer Michel Brault, it cost nearly $1 million, making it the most expensive Canadian film to date. Poorly reviewed by critics (it was edited to accommodate theatre owners; a two-hour restored version shows more artistic coherence), it was a modest commercial success in Canada and was not a major release in France and the United States.[1]
Henry Herx gave it a mixed review in his Family Guide to Movies on Video: "[T]he movie captures a vanished era, has excellent acting and the beauty of its settings[,] but its story of hot passion in a cold climate is heavily melodramatic."[2]
References
- "Kamouraska". Film Reference Library. 2003. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
- Herx, Henry (1988). "Kamouraska". The Family Guide to Movies on Video. The Crossroad Publishing Company. p. 142 (pre-release version). ISBN 0-8245-0816-5.