Les ordres (1974)

Director:

Michel Brault

Writer:

Michel Brault (writer)

Release Date:

27 September 1974 (Canada)

Genre:

Drama | History

Plot:

A fact-based account of ordinary citizens who found themselves arrested and imprisoned without charge for weeks during the October Crisis in 1970 Quebec.

Plot Keywords:

Quebec | War Measures Act | Police | Montreal Quebec | False Accusation

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Hélène Loiselle	...	Marie Boudreau
Jean Lapointe	...	Clermont Boudreau
Guy Provost	...	Dr. Jean-Marie Beauchemin
Claude Gauthier	...	Richard Lavoie
Louise Forestier	...	Claudette Dusseault
Louise Pratte	...	Louise Boudreau
Martine Pratte	...	Martine Boudreau
Monique Pratte	...	Monique Boudreau
Amulette Garneau	...	Mrs. Thibault, The Neighbour
Louise Latraverse	...	Claire Beauchemin
Sophie Clément	...	Ginette Lavoie
Esther Auger	...	Esther
Claire Richard	...	Mrs. Vezina
J. Léo Gagnon	...	The Grocer
José Rettino	...	The Foreman
Guy Bélanger	...	The Prison Director
J.-Maurice Gélinas	...	Maurice
Roger Garand	...	M. Martineau
Philippe Robert	...	Policeman
Gilbert Comptois	...	Policeman
Denis André	...	Policeman
Pat Gagnon	...	Policeman
Jean Dubost	...	Policeman
Robert Desroches	...	Policeman
Jean-Pierre Matte	...	Prison's Guardian (as J.-Pierre Matte)
Michel Pasquier	...	Policeman
Jean-Pierre Légaré	...	Policeman (as J.-Pierre Légaré)
Michel Forget	...	Policeman
René Jourdain	...	Policeman
Jean-Pierre Cartier	...	Prison's Guardian
Serges Destrempes	...	Prison's Guardian
Jacques Martin	...	Prison's Guardian
Louis Mathieu	...	Prison's Guardian
Vincent Roberge	...	Prison's Guardian
Marie-Thérèse Beaulieu	...	Prison's Guardian
Thérèse Morange	...	Prison's Guardian
Barbara Page	...	Prison's Guardian
Madeleine Pageau	...	Prison's Guardian

Directed by
Michel Brault

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Michel Brault		writer

Produced by
Gui Caron	....	associate producer
Bernard Lalonde	....	line producer

Cinematography by
Michel Brault
François Protat

Film Editing by
Yves Dion

Production Design by
Michel Proulx

Set Decoration by
Normand Sarazin		(as Normand Sarazzin)

Costume Design by
Louise Jobin

Makeup Department
Julio Piedra	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Lise Abastado	....	production manager
René Pothier	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alain Chartrand	....	assistant director
Suzanne Chiasson	....	assistant director

Art Department
Normand Sarazin	....	property master (as Normand Sarazzin)

Sound Department
Serge Beauchemin	....	sound
Pierre Blain	....	boom operator
Michel Descombes	....	sound mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Michel Bissonnette	....	assistant camera
Mathieu Décary	....	camera trainee (as Mathieu Décarie)
Denis Deslauriers	....	electrician
Daniel Kieffer	....	still photographer
Jacques Méthé	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Babalou Hamelin	....	assistant editor
Dagmar Teufel	....	negative cutter (as Dagmar Gueissaz)

Other crew
Lucie Drolet	....	production assistant
Guy Dufresne	....	dialogue advisor
Carol Faucher	....	apprentice unit management
Marianne Feaver	....	script girl

Production Companies

• Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)
• Les Productions Prisma

Distributors

• New Yorker Films (1977) (USA) (subtitled)

Also Known As:

Orderers (USA)
Orders
Ausnahmezustand (West Germany) [de]
Büntelenül (Hungary) [hu]
Fruktans lag (Sweden) [sv]

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

French | English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)

Trivia:

Cameo: [Louise Portal]Richard Lavoie's wife

Movie Connections:

Featured in Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment (1999)

Soundtrack:

La Complainte de mon frère

A masterpiece!

This would be a compelling and scary film if it were fiction. But it is in fact, a docudrama based on the worrisome events of the Quebec crisis of 1970. Canadians adulate Pierre Trudeau but forget that he was the one who unleashed a police state on a free country. (We never learn, do we? We did it to the Ukranians in World War I, to the Japanese in World War II and now to Arabs and Muslims. But I digress.) "Les Ordres" captures the gritty reality of working class Montreal with stark black and white footage, punctuated with occasional but effective colour. It takes the unusual but also effective step of having the actors discuss the people they play within the body of the film.

I was left with an understanding of how something like the Gestapo can come about in a civilized society if police are given unfettered powers. The Quebec police and the RCMP came very close to the Gestapo model. Although there were no significant abuses outside Quebec, the law applied to all of Canada. I was a broadcaster in Toronto at the time and it was frightening to realize that for a time freedom of the press did not exist in Canada. This is a powerful and compelling work that deserves wider exposure. It also should be shown in schools as a fundamental example and a discussion starter on the importance of civil rights and the fragility of freedom.