(Voice)
In the vestibule of a hospital room, a young boy waits to see his dying mother. The clamor and spiralling movements of bodies around him intensify, forming a grotesque circus—a cacophonous circle that pushes the child back, depriving him of one final touch of his mother's hand. Using rotoscoped drawings suggestive of charcoal sketches, as well as 3D and object animation techniques, The Circus compels viewing with its unsettling realism. Colour is employed metaphorically to subtly express the promise and the memory of maternal affection. Nicolas Brault's highly personal film, suffused with poetic modesty, casts a poignantly sincere gaze on the heartbreak of a child facing the fearful, mysterious experience of his mother's death.
Le pere
Christmas approaches and the Lévesque family has once again gathered for their traditional celebration. But this time there is a mixture of emotions running through each person. The patriarch of the family suffers from a combination of Parkinson’s Disease and heart failure. His life reduced in every way, the end approaches and there are unhappy memories of his once violent and authoritarian past. But his wife, ten children and many grandchildren try to maintain a semblance of the Christmas season.
Yves Rainville
When considering taking a few weeks off, Dr. Rainville places an ad to find a replacement who would agree to take his place in Normétal, in Abitibi. Jeanne Dion from Montreal accepts the offer and goes to the site, where it comes into contact with old customers and the lonely doctor. The problems of the inhabitants of the small community are varied, but Jeanne adapts well to her new environment. When Dr. Rainville was struck by a heart attack, he must still be replaced some time. She could even take his place permanently...
Spectre 4
The crew aboard the Romano Fafard spaceship continues their mission. Captain Patenaude and his acolytes land on planet: Crème hydratante pour le visage soulage la peau sèche (moisturing cream for the face soothes dry skin!) in hopes of finding the ship’s probe, accidentally crashed, that they must have in order to move the Earthlings. Their search is in vain, but it leads them to the tyrannical Governor Supreme who rules the planet. Just when the governor is about to tell them where to find a new probe, there’s a terrible explosion. Will the captain and the Romano Fafard find a liveable planet where they can move six billion Earthlings? And if so, when?
General Léveillé
The heroic struggle of Canadian Louise Arbour, Chief War Crimes Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, as she battles world politics and fierce opposition to indict Slobodan Milosevic for crimes against humanity.
Saunders
A University teacher finds three bright students and decides to teach them how to count cards to make lots of money. As they learn how to play the casinos, things get tricky when the debt owing teacher informs them that their front man wants restitution for loses in about a weeks time. The three students decide to hit all the major casinos in Ontario and Quebec until discovered.
Juge Godbout
During the Christmas holiday season, Félix and Céline find themselves working as volunteers for the drive-home service Opération Nez Rouge. Right from the first, Félix falls for Céline. But Céline doesn't feel the same way: she can't forget the fact that Félix once wrote a scathing review of her first piece of writing, crushing her literary ambitions in the process. Worse, Félix doesn't even remember her name. Céline decides to take her revenge. Just as things seem to be going from bad to worse for Félix, Céline realizes that he is vulnerable, tender... and madly in love with her. She is ready to surrender to love... but a chance encounter causes her to wonder whether Félix isn't playing some twisted love game.
Thomas Colin
Police detective Jacques Laniel's life becomes a nightmare the day drive-by shootists gun down his partner Thomas Colin. His colleagues make matters worse by blaming him for the death, and after his wife leaves him, Laniel decides to quit the force and launch a private investigation into Colin's murder. Soon afterward, Laniel finds the bullet-riddled body of famed author and literature professor Zachary Osborne tied to his car hood. The professor's wife hires Laniel to solve the murder, but what the detective finds is ugly: Osborne was a part of a lucrative land-speculation deal that involved the sale of a crumbling old rectory that had been turned into a halfway house called the Haven of the Monsters. The name is apt, for all the residents are convicted killers who were given inordinately light sentences. When Lanier starts questioning the Haven's tenants and their crimes are revealed via flashback, it takes on the character of a David Lynch production.
Inspector
The relationship between lovers Yves and Claude comes to an abrupt conclusion when, as the couple are making love, Yves slices Claude's throat, killing him. After being taken into custody for his crime, the police inspector demands to know the reason behind Yves' actions. Yves then weaves the tale of his life with Claude, explaining the origins of their relationship and how it reached a point where murder was the only possible conclusion.
Friendship between two old men becomes love. Slightly-unkempt, tired, and frail, Philippe Lanctot moves into a rest home. The administrator says she wants him to be happy, but that seems far from his mind: he's waiting to die. Then, into his room, unannounced, rolls the voluble Victor Laprade, who draws out Philippe over the next few months. Victor gives Philippe the gift of experiencing the moment. In return, the well-heeled Philippe organises field trips to dinner and to a botanical garden, and, unknown to Victor, becomes the man's benefactor when Victor's children get stingy. The openly-gay Victor also pushes Philippe to acknowledge feelings he's always kept suppressed.
Gaspard
Le général Lessard
It seems that Canada don't want to hear about their heroes of the two World Wars, especially in Quebec. In English, La Guerre oubliée means The Forgotten War. Here, we talk about the 1914-18 big thing. This documentary doesn't use old footage, but actors to show us some parts of that war in Quebec. Joe Bocan sings some songs of that period and makes the narrations. There's also some rare veterans of the war who talk.
Theo
A government ministry's fast-rising head of security asks a shadowy fixer, Meursault, to steal a bag from an armored truck. Meursault goes to Théo, a former night club owner, in prison for two years on false charges, who's being released in exchange for information about Montreal's underworld. Théo agrees to steal the bag for money and safe passage to the US for himself and his son Robin. Théo brings in two helpers, Gilder, ex-con and set designer, and Roxanne, Gilder's friend, a tough-minded petty thief. Their elaborate plan blows up when a guard, Marcel, takes his responsibilities too seriously. What happens to father and son? Will any of the thieves escape
This crime drama concerns Guillaume (Jacques Godin), who has just finished serving 10 years in prison for a crime he never committed. Now he is out seeking revenge against his old "buddy" who lied on the stand and put him in jail. He brings along his young granddaughter and drives like a maniac as he nears his destination. That sets three brutish thugs on his tail, anxious to corner him and end his days behind the wheel. So while Guillaume is chasing down his betrayer, he is being chased in turn. It's not a formula for continued good health.
Father
Set during summer in the Îles-de-la-Madeleine of Quebec, Mario and Simon are two brothers living in a fishing village with their mother, who runs a grocery story, and their father, who runs a fishing business. Mario is ten years old, mute and autistic. He is withdrawn from reality and living in a surreal world that only his older brother Simon and his stuffed coyote share. Mario is very close with and deeply admires his 18 year old brother, whom he depends upon for love and attention. Simon reads Arabian Knights stories to Mario, dresses him in sheik's clothing and they play out imaginary wars in an Arabian style fortress that they built. Everything changes when Helene, a beautiful young tourist comes between the two brothers. Simon falls in love and begins to neglect his brother to spend time with her. Mario feels rejected and discovers what hate and jealously are. He sets about a chain of events that lead to tragedy.
Tarzan
A group of friends reunite after thirty years of separation.
Argus
A researcher for the CIA who convinces his superiors to send him to the eastern bloc in order to avenge the murder of his wife by enemy agents discovers a web of deception underneath his wife's death.
Mr Daneault
A young American hockey player, studying in Canada on a hockey scholarship, falls in love while risking his scholarship and the prospect of the Vietnam war draft.
Le commandant Strauss
Françoise has gone into business seducing men whose wives want to divorce them, and who need incriminating evidence against them. In addition, she has a little blackmail operation going on on the side with politicians who can't afford a scandal. She got started on this business after she was raped, and hasn't looked back since. Now the police are on her trail, and she avails herself of the services of a couple who make a profession of hiding wanted criminals. At the hideout, she meets Simon, a second-generation mobster. As the police close in, Françoise and Simon go on the run together, pulling off occasional heists for operating money. Before long, they have also fallen in love.
Francis
In a little French town everything goes on as usual and people seem friendly and good-natured, until the day two women arrive from Paris. A man gets off the same bus, and that very night he seizes the two women and asks for the most beautiful woman in town as their ransom. After the initial shock, the mayor, his brother, the prefect, the police, and the gendarmerie gather around the house where the two woman are imprisoned. It will be a test for everyone and each of them will show his/her real stuff: hypocrisy, meanness, or humanity concealed under their provincial respectability.
Paul Laliberté
A down-and-out man who got separated, gets his second chance in a boarding house, thanks to a friend who is a con man, and falls in love with a roommate. However, when he gets a job, his ego gets over and might lose everything he got.
Superintendent
A detective investigating the death of a heroin-addicted prostitute uncovers evidence pointing to the existence of a murderous devil cult.
Set on an ice-encircled island in the St. Lawrence, this is a drama of passion and violence. An old man, attached to his ancestral home and traditions, is confronted by his son, an immature young man who has no time for these values. The outcome is tragic as the father refuses to let his home fall into the hands of outsiders.
Gangster
A film between reality and fiction about a popular singer, played by Joël Denis, idol of that time. He is surrounded by a host of great actors and real and famous characters from the 60s.
A young Jesuit missionary reflects on his life and his faith while awaiting his execution at the hands of the Native Americans he came to convert.
Policeman
An out-of-work Irish immigrant in Montreal remains hopeful that his luck is about to change but his disillusioned family grow tired of his pigheadedness and instability.
Biff
Narrator (voice)