''René Lévesque'' was a
Canadian television
Television in Canada officially began with the sign-on of the nation's first television stations in Montreal and Toronto in 1952. As with most media in Canada, the television industry, and the television programming available in that country, a ...
miniseries
A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
that aired on
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
in 2006. It stars
Emmanuel Bilodeau
Emmanuel Bilodeau (born August 29, 1964) is a Canadian actor from Quebec. He is most noted for his performances in the 2000 film ''Soft Shell Man (Un crabe dans la tête)'', for which he won the Jutra Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 4th Ju ...
as former-
Quebec premier
The premier of Quebec ( French: ''premier ministre du Québec'' (masculine) or ''première ministre du Québec'' (feminine)) is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of the ...
René Lévesque
René Lévesque (; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Québécois politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to attempt ...
.
Plot and production
The series dramatized Lévesque as a journalist who eventually becomes the leader 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 ...
. A journalist, Bilodeau, plays Lévesque, and it has been noted that Bilodeau had met the real Lévesque before the former-premier's death. The series was viewed as "part of CBC's high-impact programming strategy."
Reception
One newspaper said Bilodeau had a "remarkable" similarity to Lévesque in appearance; however, another critic complained of "meandering looks at dubious '
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
s' like
separatist
Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...
René Lévesque."
The series was considered a
ratings flop since it drew only 131,000 viewers. It was thus seen as being among a few disappointments for the CBC in 2006, along with the documentary ''
Hockey: A People's History'' and the television series ''
What It's Like Being Alone
''What It's Like Being Alone'' is a Canadian adult animated television series which aired on CBC Television in 2006. It is a black comedy created by Brad Peyton, and combines clay animation with voice work by Stacey DePass, Adam Reid, Dwayne Hil ...
''.
See also
*
''René Lévesque'' (TV series)
*
''Trudeau'' (film)
References
External links
''René Lévesque''at the
Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
2006 Canadian television series debuts
2006 Canadian television series endings
2000s Canadian drama television series
Canadian biographical films
2000s Canadian television miniseries
CBC Television original programming
René Lévesque
English-language television shows
French-language television shows
Canadian political drama television series
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