''Restless River'' (french: La rivière sans repos) is a Canadian drama film, directed by
Marie-Hélène Cousineau
Marie-Hélène Cousineau is a Canadians, Canadian film director and producer.Madeline Ivalu and released in 2019. An adaptation of
Gabrielle Roy
Gabrielle Roy (March 22, 1909July 13, 1983) was a Canadian author from St. Boniface, Manitoba and one of the major figures in French Canadian literature.
Early life
Roy was born in 1909 in Saint-Boniface (now part of Winnipeg), Manitoba, an ...
's 1970 novel ''Windflower (La rivière sans repos)'', the film stars Malaya Qaunirq Chapman as Elsa, a young
Inuk
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and ...
woman in
Kuujjuaq
Kuujjuaq (; iu, ᑰᑦᔪᐊᖅ, i=no or iu, ᑰᔾᔪᐊᖅ, i=no, label=none, "Great River"), formerly known as and by other names, is a former Hudson's Bay Company outpost at the mouth of the Koksoak River on Ungava Bay that has become t ...
,
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 ...
in the 1940s who becomes a mother after being
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
d by an American soldier stationed at the town's military base, but whose resilience and strength carry her through her difficult circumstances.
The film's cast also includes
Magalie Lépine-Blondeau
Magalie Lépine-Blondeau (born August 18, 1982) is a Canadian actress and television host.
Biography
Magalie Lépine-Blondeau studied theater at Cégep de Saint-Laurent, then at The National Theater School of Canada. After she obtained her d ...
,
Patrick Hivon
Patrick Hivon (born July 5, 1975) is a Canadian actor from Montreal, Quebec. He was a Jutra Award nominee for Best Supporting Actor at the 17th Jutra Awards in 2015 for ''Guardian Angel (L'Ange gardien)'', a Gémeaux Award nominee as Best Suppor ...
, Mark Antony Krupa, Tobie Pelletier, Taqraliq Partridge,
Nick Serino
Nicholas Jonathan Roger Serino (born October 11, 1997), known professionally as Nick Serino, is a Canadian actor.
Early life
Serino was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario and attended Superior Collegiate and Vocational Institute.
Career
Serino won ...
, Etua Snowball and Matthew York. Ivalu also appears in a supporting role as Elsa's grandmother.
The film premiered on October 12, 2019 at the
Festival du nouveau cinéma
The Festival du nouveau cinéma or FNC (English: ''Festival of New Cinema'') is an annual independent film festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, featuring independent films from around the world. Over 160,000 people attend each year. One of ...
.
Critical response
Jill Wilson of the ''
Winnipeg Free Press
The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well as ...
'' gave the film a mixed review, writing that it beautifully evoked a sense of place but that it was less effective at telling its story: "There are too many pregnant pauses that reveal nothing, too many time-jumps that leave character development in the dirt, too many scenes that seem freighted with significance but go nowhere. It's not often you want more tell and less show, but more insight into Elsa's mindset would be welcome. Though her path and that of her son are shaped inexorably by the forces of white influence, she's far from passive. By the film's end, however, we're left wondering if she's found contentment or is merely resigned to her fate."Jill Wilson "Quiet drama finds beauty in the North" ''
Winnipeg Free Press
The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well as ...