''The Novena'' (french: La Neuvaine) is a Canadian drama film, directed by
Bernard Émond
Bernard Émond (born 1951) is a Canadian director, screenwriter, novelist and essayist working in the French-language. He studied anthropology at university and lived for several years in the Canadian north where he worked for the Inuit Broadcast ...
and released in 2005.
An exploration of
faith
Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion".
Religious people ofte ...
, the film centres on the interaction between Jeanne (
Élise Guilbault), an atheist doctor who is suffering from clinical depression and wants to commit
suicide after one of her patients is murdered by an abusive husband, and François (
Patrick Drolet), a young, deeply religious man who is fervently praying for a miracle to save his dying grandmother. The film is the first in a trilogy inspired by the Catholic theological virtues of faith,
hope and
charity
Charity may refer to:
Giving
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing
* C ...
, which continued with ''
Summit Circle (Contre toute espérance)'' in 2007 and ''
The Legacy (La Donation)'' in 2009.
["Bernard Émond"]
''The Canadian Encyclopedia
''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage.
Available f ...
'', April 22, 2010.
Cast
*
Élise Guilbault as Jeanne
*
Patrick Drolet as François
*
Marie-Josée Bastien as Bénévole refuge
*
Claude Binet as M. Tremblay
*
Luc Bourgeois as Urgentologue
*
Lise Castonguay as Thérèse
*
Richard Champagne as Agent de sécurité
*
Pierre Collin as Prêtre confident
*
Benoît Dagenais
Benoît () is a French male given name. It is less frequently spelled Benoist. The name comes from the Latin word , which means "the one who says the good", equivalent in meaning to Bénédicte or the English name Benedict. A female derivative ...
as Docteur Langlais
*
Stéphane Demers
Stéphane Demers (born 1966) is a Canadian actor best known for having portrayed Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in the television mini-series '' Trudeau II: Maverick in the Making''. He also appeared in the television series ''Trauma'', ...
as Mari de Lise
*
Raoul Desmeules as Un aide
*
Muriel Dutil as Mère de Jeanne
*
Denise Gagnon as Grand-mère
*
Amélie Grenier as Femme du refuge
*
Éveline Gélinas as Jeune mère qui témoigne
*
Paul Hébert
Paul Hébert, OC, CQ (May 28, 1924 – April 20, 2017) was a French Canadian television and stage actor and director, and the founder of six theatres in Quebec. He is best known for his role as Siméon Desrosiers in '' Le Temps d’une paix'', ...
as Prêtre qui bénit
* Bonfield Marcoux as Curé du village
* Guillaume Meloche as Patient urgence
* Isabelle Pastena as Femme du refuge
* Micheline Poitras as Femme du refuge
* Lyne Riel as Femme du refuge
* Isabelle Roy as Lise
*
Paul Savoie Paul Savoie (born May 21, 1946) is a Canadian actor from Quebec. He is most noted for his performance in the 2015 film '' The Diary of an Old Man (Le Journal d’un vieil homme)'', for which he was a Prix Iris nominee for Best Actor at the 18th Queb ...
as Mari de Jeanne
* Michelle Sirois as Infirmière urgence (billed as Michèle Sirois)
* Jean-François Sénécal as Agent de sécurité
* Diane Verreault as Ambulancier
* Ghislaine Vincent as Madame Filion
Accolades
It premiered at the
Locarno Film Festival in 2005, where it won three awards including
Best Actor for Drolet.
[ In December 2005, it was named to the ]Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...
's annual Canada's Top Ten list of the year's best films.
The film did not receive any Genie Award nominations, as its distributor deliberately chose not to submit the film at all. It received eight Prix Jutra
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.[Best Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...]
, Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to:
Film awards
* AACTA Award for Best Direction
* Academy Award for Best Director
* BA ...
(Émond), Best Actor (Drolet), 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 ...
(Guilbault), Best Screenplay (Émond), Best Cinematography (Jean-Claude Labrecque
Jean-Claude Labrecque, (June 19, 1938 – May 31, 2019) was a director and cinematographer who learned the basics of filmmaking at the National Film Board of Canada.
Career
Jean-Claude Labrecque was born in Quebec City, Quebec, and trained as ...
), Best Editing (Louise Côté) and Best Music ( Robert Marcel Lepage). Guilbault won the Jutra for Best Actress.["Jutra judges wild about C.R.A.Z.Y.". '']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 ...
'', March 20, 2006.
References
External links
*
2005 films
Canadian drama films
Films directed by Bernard Émond
French-language Canadian films
2000s Canadian films
{{2000s-Canada-film-stub