Andrée Lachapelle
1931 - 2019In 1985, Andrée Lachapelle was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1997, she was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec.
On November 21, 2019, Lachapelle died via assisted suicide at the age of 88 following a battle with cancer. She posthumously won the Prix Iris for Best Actress at the 22nd Quebec Cinema Awards, for her final performance in the film And the Birds Rained Down (Il pleuvait des oiseaux).
Jesus of Montreal
Denys Arcand
Lothaire Bluteau, Catherine Wilkening
A group of actors putting on an interpretive Passion Play in Montreal begin to experience a meshing of their characters and their private lives as the production takes form against the growing opposition of the Catholic church.
Jesus of Montreal
And the Birds Rained Down
Louise Archambault
Andrée Lachapelle, Gilbert Sicotte
A photographer sets off toward a mysterious forest to find Boychuk, witness and victim of the Great Fire that swept through Northern Ontario at the turn of the 20th century. But before she arrives, she learns that Boychuck has just perished. Survivors of the long-ago fire, Tom and Charlie, two elderly men who have chosen to live out their last days in the woods, are introduced to Marie Desneige, whose 60 year institutionalization has only fueled her passion for life. Meanwhile, the photographer is discovering that Boychuck had been a painter, whose life’s work had been entirely inspired by the Great Fire. The story immerses us in a historical drama while captivating us with the strange lives of these men of the forest. Three men who, in choosing freedom above all else, made a deal with death.
And the Birds Rained Down
La dernière fugue
Léa Pool
Yves Jacques, Jacques Godin
Christmas approaches and the Lévesque family has once again gathered for their traditional celebration. But this time there is a mixture of emotions running through each person. The patriarch of the family suffers from a combination of Parkinson’s Disease and heart failure. His life reduced in every way, the end approaches and there are unhappy memories of his once violent and authoritarian past. But his wife, ten children and many grandchildren try to maintain a semblance of the Christmas season.
The Last Escape
The Meteor
François Delisle
Noémie Godin-Vigneau, François Delisle
Forty-something Pierre is serving a fourteen year prison sentence. His mother, who is approaching eighty, visits him every week. Suzanne, Pierre's current wife, has moved on since he was sent away. Each character gives us a frank account of a period in their lives that seems suspended in time by the fragile connection between life on the inside and the world outside. Their destinies are linked by crime, guilt and loneliness, and like casualties of love and desire, they are dying to stick their heads above the water and breathe the air of life.
The Meteor
À corps perdu
Léa Pool
Matthias Habich, Johanne-Marie Tremblay
Pierre is a Montreal photojournalist who returns from Nicaragua to find that his ten-year menage a trois is over. Haunted by his mid-life crisis, he becomes obsessed with trying to find out why his two lovers, Sarah and David, have left him.
Straight for the Heart
Dear Father
Dino Risi
Vittorio Gassman, Andrée Lachapelle
In Caro papá, Dino Risi is telling the story of the decadent lifestyle, and dysfunctional family, of a wealthy businessman (played to perfection by Risi's favorite leading man, Vittorio Gassman). Risi paints his portrait against a backdrop of an Italy where the new permissiveness has run rampant, traditional socio-cultural values have been usurped by consumerism, and the streets have become an open battleground for politically extremist groups (the '70s were dubbed "The Years of Lead" due to the great number of terrorist acts, and politically motivated assassinations).
Dear Father
Nelligan
Robert Favreau
Marc St. Pierre, Michel Comeau
This historical drama with music examines the life and times of Émile Nelligan, one of the major Canadian poets of the 19th century who struggled through a difficult childhood with the help of his loving mother, only to see his career cut short by tragic circumstances.
Nelligan
Dans le ventre du dragon
Yves Simoneau
Rémy Girard, Michel Côté
The title of this French-Canadian film translates to In the Belly of the Dragon, but don't assume that it's just another kung fu epic. Rather, the film is a likeable mixture of science fiction and humor, centered around the money-making schemes of star David La Haye. Unable to make ends meet with his minimum-wage job, La Haye hires himself out as a guinea pig to genially loopy scientist Marie Tifo. It is the doctor's contention that a person's intelligence can be artificially increased. La Haye proves her right...up to a point, that is. Extremely popular in Canada, Dans le Ventre du Dragon has yet to receive proper distribution in the States.
Dans le ventre du dragon
Cap Tourmente
Michel Langlois
Roy Dupuis, Élise Guilbault
Alex has a deeply troubled mind. He also has a seriously dysfunctional - not to say incestuous - family. Why then, has he returned from his merchant seaman job to the rocky coasts of his home? Perhaps he couldn't cut manage to march in his father's footsteps in that job. His mother doesn't seem to mind, and lets him stay at her bed and breakfast hotel. His sister still seems to have the hots for him, just as she does for his (and her) old boyfriend Jean-Louis, who has just shown up. Even his mother seems to find him sexy. All these people appear eager to get their hands on his body, but he's too wrapped up in what's going on inside his head to notice.
Cap Tourmente
