''Family History'' (french: Histoire de famille) is a Canadian comedy-drama film, directed by
Michel Poulette
Michel Poulette is a Canadian film and television director, writer and producer. He won the Claude Jutra Award in 1994 for his first feature film, ''Louis 19, King of the Airwaves (Louis 19, le roi des ondes)'', which became the first American re ...
and released in 2006. The film is a family drama, tracing the complex story of the Gagné family through a period of change both in their family and in the wider society of Quebec, from the dawn of the
Quiet Revolution
The Quiet Revolution (french: Révolution tranquille) was a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in French Canada which started in Quebec after the election of 1960, characterized by the effective secularization of govern ...
in 1960 through to the election of the
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...
in the
1976 Quebec general election
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Ph ...
; the events are wrapped in a frame story in which Julie Gagné (
Maxim Roy
Maxim Roy (born March 7, 1972) is a French-Canadian actress. In English, she is best known for playing Detective Isabelle Latendresse in the English version of the Canadian police drama television series '' 19-2'', Jocelyn Fray in the fantasy se ...
) finds and reads a book that seems strangely close to her own family history, and attempts to track down its author Jean Calixa ( Serge Theriault).Bernard Pérusse, "Wait for the TV version". ''
Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'', January 27, 2006.
The cast includes Luc Proulx and
Danielle Proulx
Danielle Proulx (born October 12, 1952 in Montreal, Quebec) is a French Canadian actress. She is a two-time Genie Award winner for Best Supporting Actress, for her roles in '' Love Crazy (Amoureux fou)'' in 1991 and '' C.R.A.Z.Y.'' in 2005.
In ...
as Robert and May Gagné,
Juliette Gosselin
Juliette Gosselin (born June 15, 1991) is a Canadian actress.
Career
She made her film debut in the 2004 film ''Battle of the Brave''. In 2005, at the 25th Genie Awards, she was nominated for the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actre ...
as their daughter Monique in her pre-teen years,
Évelyne Rompré
Évelyne Rompré (born March 4, 1975) is a Canadian actress from Quebec. She is most noted for her performance in the 2010 film '' Twice a Woman (Deux fois une femme)'', for which she received a Jutra Award nomination for Best Actress at the 13th J ...
as Monique when she reaches young adulthood, Louis-Philippe Dandenault as their son Pierre Gagné, Sébastien Huberdeau as their son Michel, Catherine Allard as their daughter Isabelle, and
Catherine Trudeau
Catherine Trudeau (born May 4, 1975) is a Canadian actress. She was born in L'Assomption, Quebec, Canada.
Filmography
* 1995 : '' 4 et demi...'' (TV) : ''Nancy Fugère (2000)''
* 2000 : '' Hochelaga'' : ''Louise''
* 2001 : ''Tar Angel (L'Ang ...
as Pierre's wife Manon.
Poulette indicated that his original concept had been to make a dramatic television series dramatizing Quebec history throughout the entire period from
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
to the 21st century, although he was later convinced to narrow his focus to the Quiet Revolution era.Brendan Kelly, "Family caught up in turbulent times". ''
Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'', January 21, 2006. The film was still envisioned as the first half of a five-hour miniseries to air on
Télé-Québec
The Société de télédiffusion du Québec (; en, Quebec Television Broadcasting Corporation), branded as Télé-Québec (), is a Canadian French-language public educational television network in the province of Quebec. It is a provincial Cro ...
.
The film opened in theatres on January 27, 2006.
The film received three
Jutra Award
The Prix Iris is a Canadian film award, presented annually by Québec Cinéma, which recognizes talent and achievement in the mainly francophone feature film industry in Quebec.9th Jutra Awards in 2007, 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 ...
(Danielle Proulx), Best Editing (Denis Papillon) and Best Sound (Normand Mercier, Michel B. Bordeleau, Geoffrey Mitchell).James Adams, "Quebec's Prix Jutra announces nominees". ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...