Octobre

First off this movie as to be taken for what it is worth - A historical reconstruction of what might of happen to the four men who kidnapped Pierre Laporte, Ministère du Travail in the cabinet of Robert Bourassa's provincial liberal government in Quebec.

Once that this is taken into consideration, the movie can really be enjoyed. It really differs from any political statements or supposedly "objective" journalist piece on this unforgivable event. What Pierre Falardeau was going for here was to demonstrate the psychological nightmare that these five men went through during that ordeal. This movie is not a historical reconstruction of the events of the October Crisis, and although Falardeau - a personal friend of Francis Simard, one of the kidnappers- is a well-known supporter of Quebec's independence movement, he does not glorify at all what these men did - nor does he criticize it. That's what makes the beauty of this film: Its neutrality in the portrayal of the ordeal. The ordeal is not presented politically, economically, and socially; it is presented in a confined, at times claustrophobic atmosphere. And again, it is about the men involved and how unbearable it must have been in that house. And that fact, i feel is extremely well demonstrated.

Most, if not all, of the movies or documentaries on this event are obviously subjective. The goal of this film is to try and make your feel what dose people must have felt- and that is a very interesting and refreshing take on the event.

I have seen this movie twice and both times with English subtitles, but it still doesn't take away from a film that is both powerful and tragic at the same time. It's powerful in that it shows that revolutions and other such acts are carried out by ordinary people placed in extraordinary circumstances. It's tragic because all of the characters attempt to break out their assigned roles and see one another as human and in the end they can't and play them out to the end. The FLQers and their victim are not able to transcend their society and its dictates and so therefore, what happened happened. The only problem I have with this film is the element of inevitability to it, in which in the opening minutes one already knows that it is not bound to begin or end well. That being said, it is worth anyone's time to watch, to study and to understand the tragedy that was the October Crisis in both Quebec and Canada

I saw this film shortly after it was released as part of a "sneak peak" series in Philadelphia. Not a single member (including me) of the otherwise well-read and educated audience knew anything about the historical events depicted in the film. This was embarrassing to say the least! In the discussion afterward, it was obvious that the audience universally appreciated the film, but it was also apparent that it would be a hard sell to U.S. ticket-buyers. So it became no surprise that it was not picked up for U.S. distribution. Because of woeful ignorance of most-things-Canadian that exists south of the border - and god forbid! subtitles - OCTOBRE vanished from our radar in the U.S.

If I had to use only one word to describe this movie, I'd say "strong". This movie is intense, thought-provoking and at the same time it is very smart.

I think it's pathetic that people said it was either white or black just because it was one of Falardeau's work (and that he's doing "propaganda" for the separatists). That is like saying soveregnists are too dumb to understand what they are fighting for, but the true stupid ones are those who didn't see the shades of grey in this movie. This film was not intended to show "bad guys" and "good guys", it was a movie about five men living hell in a small house for an entire week. Quebecers know their story, so the movie does not tell all the events that happened in Quebec during that time, it tells about something nobody is sure about, because what happened in this little house is only known by the five guys that were there. The movie is based on a book written by one of the guy, 12 years later, but Falardeau also read -many- documents about the events to be sure he was sticking to the facts when it came to the political/historical elements [read his book "La liberté n'est pas une marque de yogourt", for more info].

The "felquistes" have a heart in this movie, but some people think this is just to make us believe they were the "good guys". I believe thinking that is idiotic, because if the felquistes are shown as being nice, it doesn't mean the movie says they did not make a mistake. And a big one. See, that's what I meant about the shades of grey. Also, for younger Quebecers or people outside Quebec, a whole dimension of the movie --and of the felquist act-- is not understood, and that is when they [the felquists] say that they worked for English bosses that did anything they wanted to them. People tend to think the guy that says that in the movie is only talking about HIS situation, but he's talking about the general situation of Quebecers at that time: slaves to the English, "inferior" people that could not be given respectable roles in companies.

The dialogues are very interesting and the actors deliver an incredible performance. The silences toward the end of the film are heavy and highly dramatic... A true must-see for people interested in this part of Quebec's history, but you must know the political/historical/social setting to understand.

As a movie, Octobre is not very interesting, except maybe for Quebeckers that might want to renew with a part of their past, in a fictionalized way.

As a documentary, Octobre is totally wrong, showing us just one biased side of the story, failing to describe the reality.

The felquists are well played by the lead actors but the story is not very inspiring. After kidnaping the minister of Labor, Pierre Laporte, they wait for the government to negotiate with them. They want the independence of Québec.

Falardeau, himself in favor of independence from Canada, presents the felquists as heros, good guys that needed to do what they've done, for the «cause». While in fact, these guys are just fanatics that read a little too much books about the Revolution. They had the arrogance to think that they were talking for everybody else, that Quebeckers were a 100% behind them.

So it goes on! They kidnaped the minister but they treat him like a friend. Maybe a little bit more water, monsieur le ministre! We're sorry we have to do that! They even give a good tip to the delivery guy! I think it's a manipulative way for Falardeau to present the felquists as martyrs of the independence. And one of the felquists to say: «If we didn't had heart, we wouldn't be here today»...

As all terrorists, the felquists in this movie had an utopian idea of the country where they wanted to live. They were sure about one thing: they were right. And Falardeau, by making this movie, wants us to have sympathy for those guys. Well, sorry Mr Falardeau, but I think your movie may appeals to some independists from Québec, but no more. Cause, once again, as a movie, it's not that good, and as a documentary, it's just propaganda.

Because of the acting, I gave this movie 73 out of 100. That's good for **½ on a **** stars rating system.

Seen at home in Welland, on January 29th, 2002.