Octobre

Octobre

Octobre (1994). On October 10, 1970, four militant members of the FRONT DE LIBÉRATION DU QUÉBEC (FLQ) kidnapped the Québec minister of labour and immigration, Pierre LAPORTE, triggering the OCTOBER CRISIS. A week later, the police found the minister's body in the trunk of the car used in the kidnapping. In Octobre Pierre FALARDEAU, one of the most political of Québecois directors and a committed separatist, attempts to humanize the FLQ kidnappers. The narrative unfolds inside a house as they deal with the pressures and conflicts of the situation. Although most the film takes place in this single location, Falardeau shows a real knack for sustaining a taut, tense pace, even though there's little in the way of action.

The film caused a stir when federal funding agencies initially refused to back the project. Upon release, the film was essentially ignored in English Canada, but found a receptive audience in Quebec where it was heralded as a fresh - and more importantly for the separatists, truthful - attempt to come to terms with one of the most volatile times in recent Canadian history.