''The Rape of a Sweet Young Girl'' (french: Le Viol d'une jeune fille douce) is a Canadian satirical comedy-drama film, directed by

Gilles Carle Gilles Carle, (July 31, 1928As fully funny, Carle had pleasure to always give himself one year less, and to let people think wrongly that he was born in 1929, "The Year of the Big World Crash": see on the Quebec French newspapers that many writer ...

and released in 1968. The film stars Julie Lachapelle as Julie, a young sexually liberated woman who gets pregnant from a casual but consensual sexual encounter and wrestles with whether to have the baby or go for an

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

, while her older brothers Raphaël (

Daniel Pilon Daniel Pilon (November 13, 1940 – June 26, 2018) was a Canadian actor, known for his role on ''Dallas'' as Renaldo "Naldo" Marchetta. Pilon was born in Montreal, Quebec. In addition to ''Dallas'', he has appeared in daytime soap operas such as ...

), Gabriel ( Donald Pilon) and Joachim (

André Gagnon André Gagnon (2 August 1936 – 3 December 2020) was a Canadian pianist, composer, conductor, arranger, and actor, known for his fusion of classical and pop styles,Jean-Pierre Thiollet, ''88 notes pour piano solo'', Neva Editions, 2015, p.16 ...

) decide, without listening to Julie's own perspective, that she has been

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 and set off to find the "assailant", and themselves end up committing rape against another young woman. Following its Canadian theatrical premiere in 1968, the film was screened at the

18th Berlin Film Festival The 18th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 21 June to 2 July 1968. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Swedish film ''Ole dole doff'' directed by Jan Troell. Jury The following people were announced as being on the jury for ...

in 1968 as part of Young Canadian Film, a lineup of films by emerging Canadian filmmakers, and in the

Director's Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) is an independent selection of the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festiv ...

stream at the

1969 Cannes Film Festival The 22nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 8 to 23 May 1969. At this festival a new non-competitive section called Directors' Fortnight was added, in response to the cancellation of the 1968 festival. The Grand Prix du Festival International d ...

.Charles-Henri Ramond
"Les films québécois à Cannes à travers l’histoire"
''Films du Québec'', April 28, 2019.

References

External links

* 1968 films Canadian comedy-drama films Canadian satirical films Films about abortion Films about rape Films directed by Gilles Carle French-language Canadian films 1960s Canadian films {{1960s-Canada-film-stub