''Le déserteur'' is a 2008

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 ...

feature film directed by

Simon Lavoie Simon Lavoie (born May 15, 1979) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter from Quebec.

. The film stars

Émile Proulx-Cloutier Émile Proulx-Cloutier (born 1983) is a Canadian actor and musician. He is most noted for his performance in the film ''We Are the Others (Nous sommes les autres)'', for which he received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Actor at the ...

Raymond Cloutier Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...

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 ...

, Viviane Audet,

Benoît Gouin Benoît Gouin (born January 27, 1961) is a Canadian actor from Pointe-du-Lac, Quebec.Natalie Slight"Benoît Gouin: l’amitié, au coeur de son métier" ''7 Jours'', September 9, 2019. He is most noted as a two-time Jutra Award nominee for Best S ...

and

Gilles Renaud Gilles Renaud (born 25 September 1944) is a Canadian actor who has starred in cinema and television in Quebec. In 1983, he received a Genie Award nomination for Best Actor for the film '' A Day in a Taxi (Une journée en taxi)''. He is also a ...

. It tells the story of Georges Guénette, a deserter from the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

during

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 opposin ...

, who was shot and killed by members of the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

Background

Georges Guénette was a deserter from the

and, like many French Canadians during World War II, an opponent of the war and conscription. In May 1944, a few months after Guénette deserted from the army, four

(RCMP) officers found Guenette in his father's farmhouse, in St-Lambert-de-Lévis (near

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

). He jumped out of a window and ran across the fields. Guénette fell, wounded "by a ricocheting bullet," and died without the last rites of the church. Two RCMP officers were later charged with manslaughter in Guénette's death, and the shooting was an issue in the

1944 Quebec general election The 1944 Quebec general election was held on August 8, 1944 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The '' Union Nationale'', led by former premier Maurice Duplessis, defeated the incumbent Quebec Libera ...

References

2008 films Canadian drama films Films about deserters Films directed by Simon Lavoie French-language Canadian films 2000s Canadian films {{2000s-Canada-film-stub