''The Rebels'' (french: Quelques arpents de neige) is a Canadian drama film, directed by
Denis Héroux
Denis Héroux, (; July 15, 1940 – December 10, 2015) was a Canadian film director and producer.
Biography
Born in Montreal, Quebec, he was the older brother of prolific Quebec film and television producer Claude Héroux.
Héroux wanted to bec ...
and released in 1972.
Gerald Pratley
Gerald Arthur Pratley (September 3, 1923 – March 14, 2011) was a Canadian film critic and historian.Piers Handling"Gerald Arthur Pratley" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', September 18, 2011. A longtime film critic for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp ...
, ''A Century of Canadian Cinema''. Lynx Images, 2003. . p. 175. A historical drama set during the
Lower Canada Rebellion
The Lower Canada Rebellion (french: rébellion du Bas-Canada), commonly referred to as the Patriots' War () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now south ...
of 1837, the film centres on the romance between Simon de Bellefeuille (
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 ...
), a rebel in the village of Saint-Benoît, and Julie Lambert (Christine Olivier).
The film's cast also includes Mylène Demongeot,
Jean Duceppe
Jean Hotte-Duceppe (1923–1990) was a stage and television actor from Montreal, Quebec.
Born on 25 October 1923 to a family of local shopkeepers in working-class Montreal, Jean Duceppe came to the theatre with no formal training and was compl ...
,
Frédéric de Pasquale
Frédéric de Pasquale (28 March 1931 – 17 December 2001) was a French actor. He appeared in 50 films and television shows between 1960 and 2001.
Partial filmography
* '' Tourments'' (1954)
* ''La Fille aux yeux d'or'' (1961) - Willy (un ...
Jacques Desrosiers
Jacques Desrosiers (July 8, 1938 – June 11, 1996) was a Québécois Canadian singer and actor. Desrosiers was best known for playing the clown Patof in the Canadian television series ''Patofville''. He was born in Montreal, Quebec.
Early car ...
, Jean Coutu, Bertrand Gagnon, José Descombes, Barry Baldaro,
Dave Broadfoot
Dave Broadfoot (December 5, 1925 – November 1, 2016) was a Canadian comedian and satirist. He is best known for his performances as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Farce.Jacques Famery and Jacques Thisdale.
The French title comes from
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...
's infamous dismissal of
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...
as "
a few acres of snow
"A few acres of snow" (in the original French, "", , with "") is one of several quotations from Voltaire, an 18th-century writer. They are representative of his sneering evaluation of Canada as lacking economic value and strategic importance to ...
(''quelques arpents de neige'')".
The film was entered into the Best Motion Picture competition at the
24th Canadian Film Awards
The 24th Canadian Film Awards were held on October 3, 1972 to honour achievements in Canadian film.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. . pp. 97-100. The cerem ...
Vancouver Sun
The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...