''Cap Tourmente'' is a Canadian drama film, released in 1993."Cap Tourmente"
'' Playback'', September 13, 1993. The film centres on Jeanne O'Neil ( Andrée Lachapelle), a single mother running a small

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

in rural

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

with her daughter Alfa (

Élise Guilbault Élise Guilbault (born April 8, 1961) is a Canadian film and television actress. She won the Genie Award for Best Actress for her role in the film ''The Woman Who Drinks (La Femme qui boit)'', and was a nominee for ''Cap Tourmente''. She also sta ...

). The family's life is turned upside down, however, when bisexual prodigal son Alex (

Roy Dupuis Roy Michael Joseph Dupuis (; born April 21, 1963) is a Canadian actor best known in America for his role as counterterrorism operative Michael Samuelle in the television series '' La Femme Nikita''. In Canada, specifically Quebec, he's known for ...

) and old family friend Jean-Louis McKenzie (

Gilbert Sicotte Gilbert Sicotte, (born February 18, 1948) is a Canadian actor. Career Sicotte is known for roles in '' The Vultures (Les Vautours)'', '' Little Tougas (Ti-Cul Tougas)'', ''The Years of Dreams and Revolt (Les Années de rêves)'', ''The Secret ...

) simultaneously arrive for a visit, causing chaos as Alex's

sociopathic Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have been ...

tendencies begin to blow the lid off the family's

dysfunctional Abnormality (or dysfunctional behavior) is a behavioral characteristic assigned to those with conditions that are regarded as rare or dysfunctional. Behavior is considered to be abnormal when it is atypical or out of the ordinary, consists of u ...

and borderline

incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity (marriage or stepfamily), adoption ...

uous emotional life. Supporting cast members in the film include

Macha Limonchik Macha () was a sovereignty goddess of ancient Ireland associated with the province of Ulster, particularly the sites of Navan Fort (''Eamhain Mhacha'') and Armagh (''Ard Mhacha''), which are named after her.Koch, John T. ''Celtic Culture: A H ...

Gabriel Gascon Gabriel Gascon (8 January 1927 – 30 May 2018) was a Canadian stage and film actor. Born in Montreal, Quebec to parents Charles-Auguste Gascon and Marie-Rose Dubuc, Gascon began his acting career after joining the Compagnons de Saint-Laurent_with ...

Luc Picard Luc Picard (born 24 September 1961) is a French Canadian actor, director and comedian. He was born on September 24, 1961, in Lachine, Quebec, Canada. He has played numerous characters in diverse roles. Early life and education Picard was born ...

André Brassard André Brassard (28 August 1946 – 11 October 2022) was a Canadian stage director, filmmaker and actor, best known for staging the vast majority of Michel Tremblay's plays. He was the director of the French section of the National Arts Center ...

Caroline Dhavernas Caroline Dhavernas (; born May 15, 1978) is a Canadian actress. She is best known in the United States for her collaborations with Bryan Fuller. She played Jaye Tyler in the Fox comedy-drama series '' Wonderfalls'', and Alana Bloom in the NBC ps ...

and Michèle Deslauriers. The film garnered

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

nominations for all four of its lead actors at the 14th Genie Awards, with Dupuis and Sicotte nominated for Best Actor and Guilbault and Lachapelle nominated for

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

. The film was originally inspired by a family-owned inn in Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive where director and screenwriter Michel Langlois had worked in his youth."Entrevue avec Michel Langlois et Andrée Lachapelle - Mer et Monde, un échec intéressant"
''

Le Devoir ''Le Devoir'' (, "Duty") is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. ''Le Devoir'' is one of few independent large-c ...

'', March 5, 2009. The film first entered development in 1984 as ''La Traversée'', with

Léa Pool Léa Pool C.M. (born 8 September 1950) is a Swiss-Canadian filmmaker who taught film at the Université du Québec à Montréal. She has directed several documentaries and feature films, many of which have won significant awards including the ...

originally slated to direct. However, she dropped out of the project, and Langlois brought it to French director

Paul Vecchiali Paul Vecchiali (28 April 1930 – 18 January 2023) was a French filmmaker and author. Biography Vecchiali was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, France. He spent his childhood in Toulon. His family, suspected of collaboration, preferred to leave this cit ...

. Vecchiali was subsequently also unable to direct the film and Pool returned to the project a second time, but was again forced to drop out. Langlois subsequently put the film on hold, opting to take other jobs in the film industry so that he could learn how to direct the film himself. He continued to write other screenplays, and directed several short films before completing a final draft of ''Cap Tourmente'' in 1991 and entering production in 1992 as the film's director. Both Dupuis and Guilbault had previously also acted in Langlois' short film ''Sortie 234''. In 2009, Langlois released ''Mère et monde'', a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

about the real family who had inspired the film.

Plot

Alex O'Neil has a deeply troubled mind. He also has a dysfunctional and incestuous family. He returns from his merchant seaman job to the rocky coasts of his home. His mother, Jeanne, doesn't seem to mind, and lets him stay at her bed and breakfast hotel. His sister, Alfa, seems to have the hots for him, just as she does for their old boyfriend Jean-Louis, who has just shown up. Jeanne seems to be attracted to him. 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.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0106516, Cap Tourmente 1993 films Canadian drama films Quebec films 1990s French-language films 1993 drama films Films set in Quebec Canadian LGBT-related films LGBT-related drama films 1993 LGBT-related films Incest in film French-language Canadian films 1990s Canadian films