91 minutes – Drama
Language: French
Release date: February 24, 1984
Production company: Les Films René Malo
Canadian distributor: Les Films René Malo
Sonatine is about the indifference and incomprehension of adults surrounding two teenage girls, Chantal (Pascale Bussières) and Louisette (Marcia Pilote), who become disillusioned with the world of adults and plan a suicide pact. The film is structured as a triptych, with one segment devoted to each of the two girls as an individual, going through the experiences that cause them to lose faith in humanity, before they plan the suicide pact in the third segment. It is the second feature film directed by the actress Micheline Lanctôt, and was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 57th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. It was nominated for five Genie Award in 1985 and Micheline Lanctôt won for Best Director. It won the Silver Lion at the 41st Venice International Film Festival in September 1984.
Also see: The Best Canadian Films You’ve Probably Never Seen
Pierre Gendron
René Malo
Guy Dufaux
Lucette Bernier
Louise Surprenant
François Lanctöt
Hélène Schneider
Pascale Bussières
Marcia Pilote
Pierre Fauteux
Kliment Denchev
Ève Gagnier
Marc Gélinas
Pauline Lapointe
Jean Mathieu
Paul Savoie
Christian Platov
Boris Palankov
Jani Pascal
Jean-Jacques Bussières
Ghislaine Bussières
Pierre Giard
Thérèse Morange
Frank Fontaine
Jean Lafontaine
Dennis O’Connor
Yves Hamel
Jean Ricard
Bertrand Roy
Marc Picard
Jean-Jacques Blanchet
Adriana Roach
Juleck Winnicki
Damir Andrei
Laurent Imbault
Yves Jacques
Chantal
Louisette
Fernand
Bulgarian seaman
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First published as Northernstars.net February 1, 1998
ISSN 2563 4895