''Louisiana'' is a

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

Franco - Italian - Canadian film directed by

Philippe de Broca Philippe de Broca (; 15 March 1933 – 26 November 2004) was a French movie director. He directed 30 full-length feature films, including the highly successful ''That Man from Rio, That Man from Rio (''L'Homme de Rio'')'', ''Le Magnifique, The M ...

. The film score was composed by

Claude Bolling Claude Bolling (10 April 1930 – 29 December 2020) was a French jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and occasional actor. Biography He was born in Cannes, France, and studied at the Conservatory of Nice, Nice Conservatory, and then in Paris. A c ...

Synopsis

The action is located in Louisiana in the mid-nineteenth century. Virginia will fight to get possession of the Bagatelle estate after it was lost during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Cast

Margot Kidder Margaret Ruth Kidder (October 17, 1948 – May 13, 2018), known professionally as Margot Kidder, was a Canadian-American actress whose career spanned five decades. Her accolades include three Canadian Screen Awards and one Daytime Emmy Awa ...

as Virginia Tregan *

Ian Charleson Ian Charleson (11 August 1949 – 6 January 1990) was a Scottish stage and film actor. He is best known internationally for his starring role as Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell in the Oscar-winning 1981 film '' Chariots of Fire''. ...

as Clarence Dandridge *

Andréa Ferréol Andréa Ferréol (born Andrée Louise Ferréol; January 6, 1947) is a French actress and officer of the Ordre national du Mérite (2009). Her debut was in the 1973 film ''La Grande bouffe'', which made a big scandal at the Cannes Film Festival. ...

as Mignette *

Lloyd Bochner Lloyd Wolfe Bochner (July 29, 1924 – October 29, 2005) was a Canadian actor. He appeared in many Canadian and Hollywood productions between the 1950s and 1990s, including the films ''Point Blank'' (1967), '' The Detective'' (1968), '' The ...

as Adrien Damvillier *

Victor Lanoux Victor Lanoux (18 June 1936 – 4 May 2017) was a French actor best known to English speaking audiences for his role as Ludovic in ''Cousin, Cousine''. Biography Victor Lanoux, born Victor Robert Nataf was the son of a Tunisian Jew from Sfax an ...

as Charles de Vigors *

Len Cariou Leonard Joseph Cariou (; born September 30, 1939) is a Canadian actor and Theatre director, stage director, best known for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'', for which he wo ...

as Oswald *

Hilly Hicks Hilly Gene Hicks Sr. is an American character actor. Early life Hicks was born in Los Angeles, California. Biography The role for which Hicks is perhaps best known is Lewis Harvey (the younger son of Alex Haley's second great-grandfather Chic ...

as Brent *

Raymond Pellegrin Raymond Pellegrin (1 January 1925 – 14 October 2007) was a French actor. Born in Nice, Pellegrin made his screen debut in the 1945 French feature '' Naïs''. He was also famous in France for dubbing Jean Marais for the voice of Fantômas ...

as Morley *

Ken Pogue Kenneth Pogue (July 26, 1934 – December 15, 2015) was a Canadian actor. Career His first motion picture role in 1973 was in '' The Neptune Factor''. He almost drowned in scuba gear. He worked on stage at the Crest Theatre, Stratford Shakespe ...

as Dr. Murphy *

Akosua Busia Akosua Gyamama Busia (born 30 December 1966) is a Ghanaian actress, film director, author and songwriter who lives in the United Kingdom. She played Nettie Harris in the 1985 film ''The Color Purple'' alongside Whoopi Goldberg. Family and early l ...

as Ivy *

Corinne Marchand Corinne Marchand (born 4 December 1931 in Paris) is a French actress. She is best known for playing the pop singer Cléo in ''Cléo from 5 to 7 ''Cléo from 5 to 7'' (french: Cléo de 5 à 7 ) is a 1962 French New Wave film written and dire ...

as Anne McGregor * James Bearden as Percy Templeton * Larry Lewis as Adrien II * Wayne Best as Major McGregor * Ron L. Lewis as Pierre Damvillier *

Angus MacInnes Angus MacInnes (born 27 October 1947) is a Canadian actor. He is most famous for his role as Jon "Dutch" Vander in ''Star Wars (film), Star Wars'', and as former hockey great Jean "Rosey" LaRose in the comedy ''Strange Brew''. He also appeared ...

as Albert * Alex Liggett as Adrien II, Child * Matthew Breeding as Pierre, Child * Scott Burnelle as Fabian * Kellie Brasselle as Julie * Tara Winder as Ivy, Child * Mark Polley as Adrien McGregor I * Timothy Patterson as Joe "Little Joe" * Michael J. Reynolds as General Bank * Ron Cural as Bradley * Pat Perkins as Nella * Becki Davis as Betty Templeton * Valerian Smith as Theodore * Beata Tyszkiewicz as Comtesse

Production

As an international co-production, the making of ''Louisiana'' required an international cast and crew. The Hungarian-born Canadian John Kemeny was responsible for the overall production. The original French director was

Jacques Demy Jacques Demy (; 5 June 1931 – 27 October 1990) was a French director, lyricist, and screenwriter. He appeared at the height of the French New Wave alongside contemporaries like Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut. Demy's films are celebrat ...

who was replaced by

, also from France,Martin Knelman (1987), ''Home Movies: Tales from the Canadian film world'', Toronto: Key Porter Books, assisted by Emmanuel Gust. Financing of the $13 million production included pre-sale to television as a six-hour miniseries (on HBO). Because it was also intended for international theatrical release, two different scripts were used, meaning some characters appearing in the mini-series did not appear in the film. The screenplay was by Dominique Fabre, Chuck Israel, John Melson, Étienne Périer, based on the first two novels of

Maurice Denuzière Maurice Denuzière (born 29 August 1926 in Saint-Étienne) is a French journalist and writer. Biography After studying journalism and a career in naval aeronautics, he embarked on journalism. In 1951, he became a chronicler for ''France-Soir'' ...

's six-volume Louisiane suite, "Louisiane" (1977) and "Fausse-Rivière" (1979). It was filmed in and around

Nottoway Plantation Nottoway Plantation, also known as Nottoway Plantation House is located near White Castle, Louisiana, United States. The plantation house is a Greek Revival- and Italianate-styled mansion built by enslaved people and craftsmen for John Hampden R ...

house outside New Orleans. The production was plagued by problems, including a near hurricane which caused delays, and the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

, which overflowed and destroyed a large outdoor set.

Production credits

Artistic direction: Ivo Cristante, Randy Moore
Sets: John McAdam
Costumes: John Hay
Photography: Michel Brault
Poster: Yves Thos
Sound: Jean-Charles Ruault
Editing: Henri Lanoë
Music:

Associate production company: Gabriel Boustani
Executive producers:

Denis Heroux Denis may refer to: People * Saint Denis of Paris, 3rd-century Christian martyr and first bishop of Paris * Denis the Areopagite, Biblical figure * Denis, son of Ampud (died 1236), baron in the Kingdom of Hungary * Denis the Carthusian (1402– ...

, John Kemeny
Production company :
*France A2 Movies *Espagne Filmax *Canada International Cinema Corporation *Italie Radio Televisione Italiana Distribution: Parafrance
Original language: French and English
Format: colour - 35 mm - 1.37: 1 - Mono sound
Genre : historical film
Duration: 187 minutes
Release dates: France : January 22 , 1984

References

External links

* *
Louisiana
' on the Ciné-Ressources website (fr) *
Louisiana
' on Unifrance (fr) {{Philippe de Broca 1984 films Films directed by Philippe de Broca Films set in Louisiana Films set in the 19th century Films shot in Louisiana Films scored by Claude Bolling Films based on French novels