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Ultimatum (1973 film)

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Ultimatum
Directed byJean Pierre Lefebvre
Written byJean Pierre Lefebvre
Produced byMarguerite Duparc
StarringJean-René Ouellet
Francine Morand
CinematographyJacques Leduc
Edited byMarguerite Duparc
Music byWalter Boudreau
Production
company
Les films JP Lefebvre
Distributed byDisci
Release date
  • November 16, 1973 (1973-11-16)
Running time
127 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageFrench

Ultimatum is a Canadian drama film, written and directed by Jean Pierre Lefebvre and released in 1973.[1] The film stars Jean-René Ouellet and Francine Morand as Arthur and Charlotte, a couple whose relationship is affected by the political climate around the October Crisis of 1970.[2]

The cast also includes Lee J. Cobb and Franco Gasparri.

According to Lefebvre, the film "tries to personalise a political experience, to interiorise a vision of an event which was completely new for Quebec, a country, which had never known an army of occupation, etc. For me the only way to politicise people is to personalise political issues".[2] The film's ultimate theme is that one is a member of their society regardless of whether they agree or disagree with the issues being confronted within it.[2]

The film was released in November 1973, within weeks of his films Pigs Are Seldom Clean (On n'engraisse pas les cochons à l'eau claire) and The Last Betrothal (Les dernières fiançailles).[3] Despite this it was the least-screened and least-reviewed of the three films; even upon its release, Michel Brûlé of Cinéma Québec reviewed the other two films together while virtually glossing over Ultimatum apart from a single mention.[4] Following its premiere, the film received little further distribution except for occasional Lefebvre retrospective events.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Gerald Pratley, A Century of Canadian Cinema. Lynx Images, 2003. ISBN 1-894073-21-5. p. 227.
  2. ^ a b c d Barbara Samuels, "Jean-Pierre Lefebvre: Flowers to Cannes". Cinema Canada, May 1982. pp. 23-27.
  3. ^ Jean-Pierre Tadros, "Après 3 ans de presque silence Jean-Pierre Lefebvre fait le point". Cinéma Québec, December 1973-January 1974. pp. 18-23.
  4. ^ Michel Brûlé, "Deux pôles d'une même sensibilité". Cinéma Québec, December 1973-January 1974. pp. 24-27.
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