''Orders'' (french: Les Ordres; known in the United States as: ''Orderers'') is a 1974

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 ...

historical drama film A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and sw ...

about the incarceration of innocent civilians during the 1970

October Crisis The October Crisis (french: Crise d'Octobre) refers to a chain of events that started in October 1970 when members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James Cr ...

and the

War Measures Act The ''War Measures Act'' (french: Loi sur les mesures de guerre; 5 George V, Chap. 2) was a statute of the Parliament of Canada that provided for the declaration of war, invasion, or insurrection, and the types of emergency measures that could t ...

enacted by the Canadian government of Pierre Trudeau. It is the second film by director

Michel Brault Michel Brault, OQ (25 June 1928 – 21 September 2013) was a Canadian cinematographer, cameraman, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He was a leading figure of Direct Cinema, characteristic of the French branch of the Na ...

. It features entertainer and Senator

Jean Lapointe Jean Lapointe, (December 6, 1935 – November 18, 2022) was a Canadian actor, comedian and singer as well as a Canadian Senator. Lapointe began his stage career as part of the duo '' Les Jérolas'' with Jérôme Lemay, performing in such ve ...

Plot

The film tells the story of five of those incarcerated civilians. It is scripted but is inspired by a number of interviews with actual prisoners made during the events and its style is heavily inspired by the Quebec school of

Cinéma vérité Cinéma vérité (, , ; "truthful cinema") is a style of documentary filmmaking developed by Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch, inspired by Dziga Vertov's theory about Kino-Pravda. It combines improvisation with use of the camera to unveil truth or ...

. It is a

docufiction Docufiction (or docu-fiction) is the cinematographic combination of documentary and fiction, this term often meaning narrative film. It is a film genre which attempts to capture reality such as it is (as direct cinema or cinéma vérité) a ...

Cast

* Hélène Loiselle as Marie Boudreau *

as Clermont Boudreau * Guy Provost as Dr. Jean-Marie Beauchemin * Claude Gauthier as Richard Lavoie *

Louise Forestier Louise Forestier (born Louise Belhumeur on August 10, 1942) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and actress. Biography Born in Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada, Forestier was trained in acting at the National Theatre School in Montreal, but it was as a ...

as Claudette Dusseault *Louise Pratte as Louise Boudreau *Martine Pratte as Martine Boudreau *Monique Pratte as Monique Boudreau *Amulette Garneau as Mrs. Thibault, The Neighbour * Louise Latraverse as Claire Beauchemin * Sophie Clément as Ginette Lavoie * Esther Auger as Esther * Claire Richard as Mrs. Vezina * J. Léo Gagnon as The Grocer * José Rettino as The Foreman

Awards

It shared a

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

Award in 1975 and four

Canadian Film Awards The Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually, except in 1974 when a number of Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation. In the 1970s ...

(predecessor of the

Genie Awards The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scul ...

) the same year. It was also selected as the Canadian entry for the

Best Foreign Language 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 ...

at the

48th Academy Awards The 48th Academy Awards were presented Monday, March 29, 1976, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. The ceremonies were presided over by Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, George Segal, Goldie Hawn, and Gene Kelly. This yea ...

, but was not accepted as a nominee. The film was selected to be screened in the Cannes Classics section of the

2015 Cannes Film Festival The 68th Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 May 2015. Joel and Ethan Coen were the Presidents of the Jury for the main competition. It was the first time that two people chaired the jury. Since the Coen brothers each received a separate ...

. *

1975 Cannes Film Festival The 28th Cannes Film Festival was held from 9 to 23 May 1975. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Chronique des Années de Braise'' by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina. In 1975, a new section, "Les Yeux fertiles", which was non-competitive, was introduced. This ...

, won for

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 ...

(Michel Brault, tied with

Costa Gavras Costa-Gavras (short for Konstantinos Gavras; el, Κωνσταντίνος Γαβράς; born 12 February 1933) is a Greek-French film director, screenwriter, and producer who lives and works in France. He is known for films with political and s ...

for ''

Section spéciale ''Special Section'' (french: Section spéciale) is a 1975 French film directed by Costa-Gavras and based on the novel ''L'affaire de la Section Spéciale'' by Hervé Villeré. It stars Louis Seigner, Roland Bertin, Michael Lonsdale, Ivo Garrani, F ...

'') * 1975 Cannes Film Festival, nominated for Golden Palm (Michel Brault) * 1975

Canadian Film Award The Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually, except in 1974 when a number of Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation. In the 1970s ...

s, won for Best Feature Film (Claude Godbout and Bernard Lalonde) * 1975 Canadian Film Awards, won for Film of the Year (Claude Godbout and Bernard Lalonde) * 1975 Canadian Film Awards, won for Best Original Script (Michel Brault) * 1975 Canadian Film Awards, won for Best Direction (Michel Brault) * 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 ...

ranked it in the

Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time The Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time is a list compiled by the Toronto International Film Festival ranking what are the considered the best Canadian films. The list has been compiled once roughly every 10 years starting in 1984, typically assembl ...

four times, in 1984, 1993, 2004 and 2015.Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time
," ''

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 ...

, 2012, URL accessed 2 May 2015.

References

External links

Canada’s Ten Best film surveys

Canadian Film Encyclopedia
* * {{Canadian submission for Academy Awards 1974 films 1970s French-language films Canadian films based on actual events Canadian black-and-white films Films directed by Michel Brault October Crisis 1970s political drama films Films set in Montreal Best Picture Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian docufiction films Canadian political drama films French-language Canadian films 1970s Canadian films

Plot

Cast

Awards

See also

References

External links