Orderers

It's a docudrama about five persons imprisoned for up to three weeks during the October 1970 crisis in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Based on interviews with 50 of the 450 persons arrested and ultimately released without charge following Pierre Trudeau's invocation of the War Measures Act, it tells the story of five composite characters, making extensive use of the interviews. Clermont Boudreau (Jean Lapointe) is the union steward in a weaving factory. He and his wife, Marie (Hélène Loiselle), have three school-age daughters. Dr. Jean-Marie Beauchemin (Guy Provost) heads a medical clinic. Claudette Dusseault (Louise Forestier) is a social worker. Richard Lavoie (Claude Gauthier) is unemployed but has trouble with structure.

The film begins with a quote from Pierre Trudeau about justice and a little background on the October Crisis. We then turn to interview clips and each person's life immediately before the arrests in black and white. After arrest and while in prison, the drama turns to color. We wait, as the prisoners wait, for any explanation of "Why me"? We wince at the crude and illegal behavior of some of the guards. Then we see people released without explanation or apology.

"Les Ordres" is a faint glimpse of the underside when a democracy loses its way. The film is not polished or commercial. It's not riveting drama, but it makes the viewer cringe, especially this viewer, who generally idolizes Pierre Trudeau for allowing me to come to Canada during the Vietnam War. But there's still a warning in this movie fifty years later.

This film takes place in the infamous 1970 October crisis in Québec. After a separatist movement kidnapped a minister of the government, the army is in the streets of Montreal and makes hundreds and hundreds of arrest, with the help of the police. The arrested are students, activists, syndicalists, but also people who ''look'' strange, are at the wrong place at the wrong time and really don't have anything to do with the situation..... This film shows the complete lost of control of the Canadian government (Pierre.E. Trudeau) and how they orchestrated their plan of making all separatist look like terrorist...

The acting of 'Jean Lapointe' as a textile worker and taxi driver is incredible...

In my opinion, this film ranks with Costa-Gavras's ''Z'' and the infamous 'Battaglia di Algeri' of Gillo Pontecorvo, as the top 3 best political movies of all times..... A must see!

Les ordres (Orderers) is about a dark period of Canada (more specifically Quebec) that the rest of the world might not be familiar with. Its message is so universal, it points out how precarious our rights are, and how even in a free, and democratic country such things can happen. It takes a lot of original choices concerning the use of color and the introduction of characters, but it is also what makes that film unique and memorable.

It really happened. it was October 1970. Wartime law was voted in Canada. Not Bosnia, not Congo, not Cosovo, not Albania. Canada. At dawn, 400 individuals were arrested in Montréal and held in jail for weeks without charges nor explanation. This masterpiece by Michel Brault tells about it. Wether you see it to understand current canadian news or to reflect on freedom or to see an excellent thriller, I doubt you'll regret it. A must for communication students.

This would be a compelling and scary film if it were fiction. But it is in fact, a docudrama based on the worrisome events of the Quebec crisis of 1970. Canadians adulate Pierre Trudeau but forget that he was the one who unleashed a police state on a free country. (We never learn, do we? We did it to the Ukranians in World War I, to the Japanese in World War II and now to Arabs and Muslims. But I digress.) "Les Ordres" captures the gritty reality of working class Montreal with stark black and white footage, punctuated with occasional but effective colour. It takes the unusual but also effective step of having the actors discuss the people they play within the body of the film.

I was left with an understanding of how something like the Gestapo can come about in a civilized society if police are given unfettered powers. The Quebec police and the RCMP came very close to the Gestapo model. Although there were no significant abuses outside Quebec, the law applied to all of Canada. I was a broadcaster in Toronto at the time and it was frightening to realize that for a time freedom of the press did not exist in Canada. This is a powerful and compelling work that deserves wider exposure. It also should be shown in schools as a fundamental example and a discussion starter on the importance of civil rights and the fragility of freedom.