À la croisée des chemins

À la croisée des chemins

Title credits
Directed by Paul Guèvremont
Written by Jean-Marie Poitevin
Starring Paul Guèvremont
Denise Pelletier
Rose Rey-Duzil
Jean Fontaine
Camélienne Séguin
Denis Drouin
Lorenzo Barriteau
Narrated by René Lévesque
Music by Fernand Gaudry
Cinematography Paul Morin
Edited by Jean-Marie Poitevin
Distributed by Société des Missions-Étrangères du Québec
Release date
 1943 (Canada)
Running time
 97 minutes
Country Canada
Language French

À la croisée des chemins (At the Crossroads) is a 1943 Canadian film directed by Jean-Marie Poitevin and written by Paul Guèvremont. The first dramatic feature to be produced by a Quebec religious community, the Société des Missions-Étrangères du Québec, it was narrated by René Lévesque, the future premier of Quebec.[1][2]

Synopsis

An image from the film, in which Jean tells his mother he intends to become a missionary

A young man, Jean Liber (Paul Guèvremont), who, at the end of his cours classique, decides to leave his rich, happy family and his finance, Pauline (Denise Pelletier), in order to become a missionary in China. This story of his struggle, ‘at the crossroads’ between love and God’s calling, is clearly a pretext for a film designed to encourage young men to enter missionary work. [3][2]

Importance

À la croisée des chemin was based on a religious drama by Guy Stein, La folle aventure, which had been staged in 1942 for 300th anniversary of the founding of Montreal.[4] Canadian film historian Peter Morris wrote: “It [the film] offers a remarkable ideological portrait of Quebec before the Quiet Revolution. Clearly apparent are the values of a lifestyle fostered by a militant Catholic Church: friendship, warmth, and an unproblematic family life. Equally apparent (at least in retrospect) are destructive self-sacrifice, repressed sexuality, and mutually sustaining links between religious and economic establishments.” [5]

References

  1. ↑ Wise, Wyndham (2001). Take One's Essential Guide to Canadian Film. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 6. ISBN 0 8020 3512 4. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Ramond, Charles-Henri (22 December 2012). "A la croisée des chemins – Film de Jean-Marie Poitevin". Films du Québec (in French). Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  3. ↑ Morris, Peter (1984). The Film Companion. Toronto: Irwin Publishing. p. 1. ISBN 0 7725 1505 0.
  4. ↑ Loiselle, André (2003). Stage-Bound: Feature Film Adaptations of Canadian and Québécois Drama. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 19. ISBN 0 7735 2610 2.
  5. ↑ Morris, Peter (1984). The Film Companion. Toronto: Irwin Publishing. p. 1. ISBN 0 7725 1505 0.
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