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Kamouraska (film)

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Kamouraska
Film poster
Directed byClaude Jutra
Written byClaude Jutra
Screenplay byAnne Hébert
Produced byMag Bodard
Pierre Lamy
StarringGeneviève Bujold
Richard Jordan
Philippe Léotard
CinematographyMichel Brault
Edited byRenée Lichtig
Music byMaurice Leroux
Production
company
France Cinéma Productions
Distributed byNew Line Cinema
Release date
  • March 29, 1973 (1973-03-29) (Canada)
Running time
124 minutes
CountriesCanada
France
LanguagesEnglish
French
Budget$905,000

Kamouraska is a 1973 French-Canadian film directed and written by Claude Jutra, based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Anne Hébert. At the time of its release it was the most expensive film ever made in Canadian history. It won four Canadian Film Awards, but was unsuccessful at the box office.

Plot

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The film is set in rural Québec in the 1830s. Élisabeth at the deathbed of her second husband, Jérôme Rolland, is recounting her past, which is conveyed through a series of flashbacks. She was first married to Antoine, the brutish seigneur of Kamouraska, and fell in love with a Loyalist American doctor, Georges Nelson. He murdered Antoine. At her trial for complicity in the killing, Élisabeth is acquitted. She marries Jérôme to save her honour.

Cast

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Production

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Claude Jutra agreed to direct the film on the condition that Geneviève Bujold played the lead role.[1]

The film based on Anne Hébert's novel was directed and written by Jutra and Michel Brault was the directory of cinematography. The French-Canadian co-production was shot from 1–29 March and 26 April to 30 June 1972.[2] Three hours and forty minutes worth of footage was shot for the film.[3]

The film had a budget of $750,000, but cost $905,000 (equivalent to $6,492,032 in 2023) to make.[2] 75% of the funding came from Canada and 25% came from France.[4] It was the most expensive film made in Canada at that point.[5][2]

Jutra's first cut of the film was three hours and forty minutes long and his second cut was two hours and thirty minutes long. Renée Lichtig replaced him as editor and Jutra praised her work.[6]

Release

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The film was previewed in Kamouraska, Quebec, and premiered at Théâtre Saint-Denis in Montreal on 29 March 1973. It was distributed by France Film in Quebec and New Line Cinema in Europe.[2][7] The Death of a Lumberjack was selected over Kamouraska as Canada's submission to the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, but was shown at Cannes through a special screening by the French Association of Film Critics. It was the first time the organization held a special screening since its showing of Hiroshima mon amour in 1959.[8][9][10]

The television rights to the film were sold to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for $100,000, the highest amount for a Canadian film at that time.[11] It was shown by the CBC on 6 September 1980. The theatrical version of the film was 124 minutes while the 1983 television version was 173 minutes.[5][2]

Reception

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The film was unsuccessful at the box office.[12] The film was poorly reviewed by critics.[13] 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."[14] Vincent Canby, writing in The New York Times, stated that the actors were not "able to give emotional urgency to material that depends so heavily on our believing in these characters and sharing their sense of sin and guilt".[15]

The film won multiple awards at the Canadian Film Awards, but Bujold was the only person from Quebec to accept an award.[16][17]

Accolades

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Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Canadian Film Awards 12 October 1973 Special Jury Prize Kamouraska Won [17]
Best Actress Geneviève Bujold Won
Best Supporting Actress Camille Bernard Won
Best Art Direction François Barbeau Won

References

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  1. ^ Pallister 1995, p. 183.
  2. ^ a b c d e Turner 1987, p. 137.
  3. ^ "Kamouraska: double-edged masterpiece". Vancouver Sun. 6 March 1974. p. 8. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Canadian films break through". The Sun Times. 16 August 1972. p. 8. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b Marshall 2001, p. 142-143.
  6. ^ Pallister 1995, p. 184.
  7. ^ "Debut next week for Jutra's latest". Montreal Star. 21 March 1973. p. 30. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Hofsess 1975, p. 39.
  9. ^ "Jutra again snubbed". Montreal Star. 14 April 1973. p. 4. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Kamouraska wins spot at Cannes". Montreal Star. 27 April 1973. p. 13. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Hofsess 1975, p. 48.
  12. ^ "A man of many hats". Montreal Star. 11 January 1975. p. 47. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Kamouraska". Film Reference Library. 2003. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ "Screen: Claude Jutra's 'Kamouraska'". The New York Times. 14 July 1975. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023.
  16. ^ "Canadian film awards surprising". The Province. 13 October 1973. p. 17. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ a b Topalovich 1984, p. 103.

Works cited

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