In the Shadow of the Wind

In the Shadow of the Wind
In the Shadow of the Wind
	Film poster
French	Les Fous de Bassan
Directed by	Yves Simoneau
Written by	Marcel Beaulieu; Sheldon Chad; Anne Hébert; Yves Simoneau
Based on	Les fous de Bassan by Anne Hébert
Produced by	Justine Héroux
Starring	Steve Banner; Charlotte Valandrey; Laure Marsac; Marie Tifo
Cinematography	Alain Dostie
Edited by	Joële Van Effenterre
Music by	Richard Grégoire
Release date	1987;
Running time	105 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	French

In the Shadow of the Wind (French: Les Fous de Bassan) is a 1987 Canadian drama film, directed by Yves Simoneau.^[1] It was entered into the 37th Berlin International Film Festival.^[2]

Based on the novel by Anne Hébert,^[3] the film depicts a small town in the Gaspésie region of Quebec shaken by a rape and murder in 1936.^[1] The story is depicted from the perspective of Stevens Brown, played by Steve Banner in the 1936 storyline and by Jean-Louis Millette as an old man in the present day reflecting on the events.^[1] The cast also includes Charlotte Valandrey, Laure Marsac, Marie Tifo and Lothaire Bluteau.

The film was originally slated to be directed by Francis Mankiewicz, but he left the production due to a creative dispute with the producers.^[1] The community in Hébert's novel was an Anglo-Quebecer village, but the film's primary expected audience was a francophone audience in Quebec, leading to a dispute about whether to shoot the film in English and then dub it into French or vice versa.^[1]

The film received four Genie Award nominations at the 8th Genie Awards in 1987: Best Supporting Actress (Tifo), Best Art Direction/Production Design (Michel Proulx), Best Cinematography (Alain Dostie) and Best Costume Design (Nicole Pelletier).^[4]

Cast

Steve Banner as Stevens Brown
Charlotte Valandrey as Olivia Atkins
Laure Marsac as Nora Atkins
Angèle Coutu as Maureen
Paul Hébert as Thimothe Brown
Marie Tifo as Irene Jones
Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu as Priest
Lothaire Bluteau as Perceval Brown
Roland Chenail
Guy Thauvette as Patrick Atkins
Pierre Powers as Sydney Atkins
Henri Chassé as Bob
Denise Gagnon
Jocelyn Bérubé
Jean-Louis Millette as Vieux Stevens

Production

Anne Hébert wanted Mireille Dansereau to direct the film adaption of her novel Les fous de Bassan. Yves Simoneau was selected to direct after Francis Mankiewicz withdrew from the project. Simoneau and Marcel Beaulieu wrote a script that Hébert accepted.^[5]

Reception

The film was criticized^{[by whom?]} for removing two characters from the book, the twin sisters Pam and Pat, and condensing the four painters into one character.^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Les Fous de Bassan: Psychological insights missing; Ambitious Les Fous a mixed success". The Globe and Mail, December 22, 1986.
^ "Berlinale: 1987 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
^ "Quebec's 'enfant terrible' pulls off heist movie". The Globe and Mail, April 4, 1986.
^ "Decline rises to top Genie nominations". Toronto Star, February 5, 1987.
^ Pallister 1995, p. 184.
^ Pallister 1995, p. 186.