Cinema
The Plouffe Family
Les Plouffe
Gilles Carle · 1981
Synopsis
Quebec City, Saint-Sauveur district, in the late thirties. Joséphine Plouffe, a pious and possessive mother, watches over her four children. Théophile, the father, a typographer and former cycling champion, never stops fuming against the English. Napoléon, the eldest, loves a sick waitress; Guillaume lives only for baseball; Ovide, whom his mother saw as a priest, is passionate about opera and about Rita Toulouse; Cécile, who has remained unmarried, loves a married bus driver.
Context
Roger Lemelin's book, published in 1948, had become a radio serial in 1952, then the first téléroman of Quebec television, broadcast until 1959. Carle wrote it with Lemelin and shot it in two formats, a film for cinemas and a six-hour series for television, on a budget of about five million dollars. Three years later, Denys Arcand shot the sequel, centred on Ovide, based on a new book by Lemelin; Carle directed part of it for the small screen.
Who it is for
Nearly four hours in cinemas in Quebec, in French; a shorter English version runs two hours forty-nine minutes.
Prizes and reception
Seven Genie Awards from fourteen nominations, including direction and adapted screenplay; presented at the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes, and a great commercial success.
Sources for this page 11
The pages consulted to check this page.