The Long Winter (1999 film)


The Long Winter is a 1999 Quebec historical drama film. Directed by Michel Brault, it is a partly fictionalized account of the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837 and 1838 which sought to make Lower Canada, now Quebec, a republic independent from the British Empire.

Description

It features the fictional character of François-Xavier Bouchard and the factual character of François-Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier. The music was composed by François Dompierre. Film director Pierre Falardeau says that Telefilm Canada initially used the approval of Brault's movie as an excuse to deny funds for the movie February 15, 1839. This incited him to write a second Elvis Gratton movie instead.
The main protagonist is Patriote François-Xavier Bouchard. The latter comes back to Lower Canada in the autumn of 1838 after having escaped to the United States, after the first uprising, in that year. As soon as he returns, despite the exhortations of his family, he joins François-Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier for another attempt. Following a hasty trial, Bouchard, Chevalier de Lorimier and others are sentenced to death.

Cast