It's hard for me to judge this, since it's only available in French with no subtitles, so I understood nearly none of the dialogue. But I was able to get the gist of the story, partly because it's very simple, and partly because the actors are expressive enough for me to understand the basics of what they're saying, even if I only pick up a word or two. It's actually a pretty brutal film, with some disturbing bits of child abuse that's nearly unbearable to watch at times, and a completely uncompromising and depressing ending. That said, there's some stuff to be admired here: it does a great job of setting a mood and atmosphere, with a haunting organ score, shadowy lighting, and uncomfortably close camera work; the acting is solid enough, though it's admittedly hard to tell; the story, while simplistic, is effective in evoking strong emotions. It's a dark, dreary film, but it does its job well.
11 Reviews
The poor rendition of a true story
gillesm2126 September 2002
Warning: Spoilers
(NOTE: I do not think that any of my comments could be considered "spoilers", since this movie **is** 50 years-old)
As I read the comments made by the previous users, I cannot believe that being from Quebec, they forget to mention that Aurore Gagnon, **did really die** from the horrendous treatments that her step-mother inflicted on her, and not on any other children. Aurore died in the early 1930's. The movie was made in 1952, when movie-making in Quebec was nothing but an "American dream", with no government fundings and no major studios or production companies.
Yes! The music is dismal. Yes! The photography is laughable. Yes! The actors are barely-believable. **But** the atmosphere of the film, dismal as it looks, should render what it was like to live in this house for that girl.
Anecdote: In the months that followed the release of the movie, Lucie Mitchell, the actress playing the step-mother was insulted and slapped (if not beaten) in the street and on the bus, by people believing that **she** had done those things to the poor girl.
As I read the comments made by the previous users, I cannot believe that being from Quebec, they forget to mention that Aurore Gagnon, **did really die** from the horrendous treatments that her step-mother inflicted on her, and not on any other children. Aurore died in the early 1930's. The movie was made in 1952, when movie-making in Quebec was nothing but an "American dream", with no government fundings and no major studios or production companies.
Yes! The music is dismal. Yes! The photography is laughable. Yes! The actors are barely-believable. **But** the atmosphere of the film, dismal as it looks, should render what it was like to live in this house for that girl.
Anecdote: In the months that followed the release of the movie, Lucie Mitchell, the actress playing the step-mother was insulted and slapped (if not beaten) in the street and on the bus, by people believing that **she** had done those things to the poor girl.
This is our Plan Nine From Outer Space
MarioB10 September 1999
A lot of people admits Plan Nine From Outer Space is the worst film of all time. But this 1952 French Canadian movie is just a little bit near to win the title. Acting are awful, story is very very stupid and anything's about this movie is extremely bad: film direction, sets, and music (Big old Hammond organ all the way!). In a very poor countryside of Quebec, a little girl lost her dear mother. Her father marries another woman. This woman hates the little girl. So she tortures her. She hits her with sticks, with iron, she push her in stairways, she don't feed her, she burns her hands on the stove, she made her eat soap (yes!) etc. But nobody's seem to notice, despite that the little girl look like a zombie. But at the end of the film, a neighbour seem to notice there is something strange about this kid... Then comes the priest and the holy man realise what's wrong. The bad woman is sentenced to death. But the little girl, now an angel, forgives her. Can you image worst melodrama? I can't! See this film! You will never forget it, in the same way people of today loves Plan Nine From Outer Space.
There won't be any Jean Valjean for this Cosette.
ulicknormanowen5 November 2020
A black version of Cinderella or the story of a Cosette who would never see a Jean Valjean come to her rescue , this story is neither fairy tale nor novel:it's based on real life events and it's quite plausible, for, read the newspapers ,these awful facts are still happening today everywhere in 2020.
In its own way ,it's more terrifying than the latest horror flick ,full of special effects ; it's a low-budget film,and its treatment is almost banal ,in its stark black and white.Watch Lucie Mitchell -whose playing was so intense though restrained ,thus all the more scary- and then try to forget her:they say that the actress received death threats after the film .
If Marie -Louise can strike horror into our hearts , one can also put the blame on the father (can a person be so blind, so weak ,or is he simply a moron?) and on the priest (why didn't he send the victim to a convent , dad hinted at it in a previous scene?).Only the generous neighbor seems to realize the danger : a person with a big heart , she will imitate Victor Hugo's fishermen in "la legende des siècles ": although not rich at all, she will take in the waifs.
In its own way ,it's more terrifying than the latest horror flick ,full of special effects ; it's a low-budget film,and its treatment is almost banal ,in its stark black and white.Watch Lucie Mitchell -whose playing was so intense though restrained ,thus all the more scary- and then try to forget her:they say that the actress received death threats after the film .
If Marie -Louise can strike horror into our hearts , one can also put the blame on the father (can a person be so blind, so weak ,or is he simply a moron?) and on the priest (why didn't he send the victim to a convent , dad hinted at it in a previous scene?).Only the generous neighbor seems to realize the danger : a person with a big heart , she will imitate Victor Hugo's fishermen in "la legende des siècles ": although not rich at all, she will take in the waifs.
A Landmark Movie that Shook the French Canadian Community for Ever!
nowlang9 November 2006
Thanks to those who gave positive strokes to this early Quebec film production! In this era when Canadian culture is fighting for its survival under an inundation/flood of mostly violent mass produced mediocre films from their southern neighbor, "La Petite Aurore" 1952 was a first/second local French Canadian attempt to tell a story that mattered to the community. Provided with a meager budget, poor equipment, inexperienced support and rookie actors, Aurore did extremely well for the days. It was for the time, the best that could be done with the means at hand AND IT WAS A FIRST (or second)for the French Canadian cinema in it's infancy. This movie is also unique because it specifically touched a population who was mostly living under the same conditions and religious societal structure that existed in the community where the film drama took place. Most viewers identified to the players involved in the movie. Finally, the distribution of this movie was to expose the horrible demise of an innocent child that took place under the nose of a mute "anytowm Quebec" under circumstances that were so common at the time (infantile death, high maternal mortality, high farm accident rates for the men, and rural poverty). Imagine the reaction of our American cousins if we replaced their sitcoms with humor from BBC (England) and the rest with Miniseries from Radio Canada, enough to get us invaded! French Canadians lived in a closed circuit community, often treated as tenants or second rated citizens of a land they owned (along with the natives) under the scrutiny of wealthy English speaking manufacturers & nobility. The feelings expressed in this production had been experienced by each Quebecois of that era. Sure, it did not had the Hollywood luster or polish and the depth of French made movies but it addressed issues and hardships that poor large rural French Canadian families dealt with on a daily basis and could identify with very well. I offer my admiration and respect to all our ancestors who paid with their life, for the heritage we hopefully enjoy. For those interested in an interactive investigation of the true story of this young martyr, please go to the following websites in English and Francais: http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/gagnon/indexen.html Sincerely, Guy "Lancelot" Lapointe-Nowlan or Lancelot1953@msn.com
Harrowing vision of child abuse.
Pierre_D7 March 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Color me surprised that this movie is registered in IMDb. It's the harrowing tale of a young lady tortured daily by her stepmother...the image that still remains in my mind 30 years later is one of an iron used as a torture device.
The acting is uneven and the setting somewhat constrained but this is melodrama of the highest degree. Aurore was often used in my youth as some sort of 'bogeyman' in a twisted way...behave or you will end up like Aurore if a stranger gets you.
The black and white of the movie makes it all the more harrowing to the listener.
The acting is uneven and the setting somewhat constrained but this is melodrama of the highest degree. Aurore was often used in my youth as some sort of 'bogeyman' in a twisted way...behave or you will end up like Aurore if a stranger gets you.
The black and white of the movie makes it all the more harrowing to the listener.
TRUE STORY
Cindy-Sauve-Welburn21 September 2004
Maybe the actors are bad and of course the budget is very low, it was done in Québec with no money whats so ever, but it is a true story, it happened to this little girl. When her mother(Marie-Anne Caron)passed away in 1918, her father remarried and the step-mother wanted to get rid of the kids that came with that marriage, especially little Aurore because she looked like her mother. It as nothing to do with the plot summary that you give.
Aurore Gagnon passed away on February 12, 1920 at the age of 10. Her father Télésphore Gagnon married Marie-Anne Houde the step-mother from hell in 1918 and started torturing Aurore from day 1 and the excuse that was given every time something happened to Aurore was that she was clumsy. This happened in Fortierville, Québec, Canada, and the house in which all this happened is still exists.
Aurore Gagnon passed away on February 12, 1920 at the age of 10. Her father Télésphore Gagnon married Marie-Anne Houde the step-mother from hell in 1918 and started torturing Aurore from day 1 and the excuse that was given every time something happened to Aurore was that she was clumsy. This happened in Fortierville, Québec, Canada, and the house in which all this happened is still exists.
Life, cinema
yok6716 June 2002
Yes, I agree with the precedent comment. The movie is totally insignificant and awful. The melodrama is boring. Nothing to compare with the theatrical play. But, I don't agree with the external position of the comment. Aurore is not only a movie for Quebec but, spinning around the emergence of identity, a starting point for the creation of a modern myth. The movie is nothing else than a transcription of the myth, an insignificant reading, trying to accomodate the still-living Telesphore Gagnon and the public ( a public who accepts everyday soaps and soaps). Based upon real facts ( yes, in the witnesses declarations, nobody noticed, yes), the movie had crystallized poorly for one of the last time (before the play adaptation of Cyr) the emergence of childhood and identity in Quebec. It's impossible to negotiate this case ( 47 ecchymoses of all ages on the body , etc is impossible here)with the sacro-sainte distance of the cinema purist. Waiting for a movie with, about Aurore Gagnon with powerful screenplay and acting! Arnaud LaRuelle
How Can We Possibly Be More Cruel ?
Dany_Mercury29 May 2005
I often read that this movie was among the worst movies of all-time but I do not agree.
Sure, this movie isn't among the greatest movies and the actors aren't too good sometimes but when we consider the story and the movies that were done in Quebec at that time, we realize that isn't as bad as everybody says.
This movie still changed history.
Lucie Mitchell, Paul Desmarteaux and Yvonne Laflamme are excellent.
Desmarteaux had been one of the straight men on stage of Oliver Guimond Sr.
This movie is one of the first, if not the very first, movie he did.
The career of Lucie Mitchell took a blow.
No, not because the public didn't like the movie, on the contrary, but because she was despised by everybody because of that role that people took too seriously.
For Yvonne Laflamme, this role was the greatest of her short career.
For this movie, the sound is very poor.
The quality of the image, much like "Séraphin" (1950), isn't really clean.
But this movie will forever be remembered in the people's mind as one of the greatest movies of that time because it tells a true story. A true story that haunted the Quebec in a way.
This movie wasn't terrible, but the true story behind it was.
She hit her with sticks, made her drink washing water, made her eat soap, burned her hair, head and hands, pushed her down a stairway and the list goes on ! If you are not sensible to that true story, then you got a heart of stone.
Sure, this movie isn't among the greatest movies and the actors aren't too good sometimes but when we consider the story and the movies that were done in Quebec at that time, we realize that isn't as bad as everybody says.
This movie still changed history.
Lucie Mitchell, Paul Desmarteaux and Yvonne Laflamme are excellent.
Desmarteaux had been one of the straight men on stage of Oliver Guimond Sr.
This movie is one of the first, if not the very first, movie he did.
The career of Lucie Mitchell took a blow.
No, not because the public didn't like the movie, on the contrary, but because she was despised by everybody because of that role that people took too seriously.
For Yvonne Laflamme, this role was the greatest of her short career.
For this movie, the sound is very poor.
The quality of the image, much like "Séraphin" (1950), isn't really clean.
But this movie will forever be remembered in the people's mind as one of the greatest movies of that time because it tells a true story. A true story that haunted the Quebec in a way.
This movie wasn't terrible, but the true story behind it was.
She hit her with sticks, made her drink washing water, made her eat soap, burned her hair, head and hands, pushed her down a stairway and the list goes on ! If you are not sensible to that true story, then you got a heart of stone.
A very unintentional funny movie
Frank Khi Dou26 April 2002
This piece of "french canadiana" is probably the most well known film of its time in Quebec. Although it was a smash hit when it came out, with the passing of time La petite Aurore l'enfant martyre basically became a twisted cult favorite among a younger and more cynical generation of film buffs. The story is a very sad one, depecting the agony of a young girl who has to cope with a violent mother-in-law. This is typically a film "so bad it's great". If you like overblown melodrama, bad acting, awful organ music and over the top moralistic endings you will definitely enjoy this movie!
Aurore (Aurora) is the light of dawn
Valerie_pinardjain14 June 2010
Warning: Spoilers
A movie painfully slow like "Mon oncle Antoine".
I was intrigued when I stumbled upon this movie late-late one night. My French-Canadian ancestors had moved to new lands one generation after another ''et ouvert les terres''. Hard work. Hard lives. Making your own clothes, your own butter, hauling water one way or another, living in wooden homes with big black stoves, getting the horses ready for an outing, and having babies, and more babies.
I wasn't sure what I was watching, what with the melodrama of the father having his cousin's wife come to take care of his young family and his in-laws disapproving of him not visiting his wife who had given birth and who was very sick.
Was it Aurore? THE movie that I had never seen but heard so much about? (''What? you were mistreated like Aurore?). Chills ran across my body as I witnessed the scene where the now step-mother (washing the floor while the baby cries and cries) feels that Aurore is showing her some disrespect (''Why should I knock at the door of my own home?'') gets up and picks up a log with a nail. A farmer and his wife hear Aurore's cries and debate if it is any of their business to go to this home and see what is going on.
I turned the television off. I could not sleep for another 2 hours. The scene, never actually witnessed, haunted me for weeks. I had to read your comments to know how it ends.
Did this film change our society's view of victims and the abuse that children suffer?
I was intrigued when I stumbled upon this movie late-late one night. My French-Canadian ancestors had moved to new lands one generation after another ''et ouvert les terres''. Hard work. Hard lives. Making your own clothes, your own butter, hauling water one way or another, living in wooden homes with big black stoves, getting the horses ready for an outing, and having babies, and more babies.
I wasn't sure what I was watching, what with the melodrama of the father having his cousin's wife come to take care of his young family and his in-laws disapproving of him not visiting his wife who had given birth and who was very sick.
Was it Aurore? THE movie that I had never seen but heard so much about? (''What? you were mistreated like Aurore?). Chills ran across my body as I witnessed the scene where the now step-mother (washing the floor while the baby cries and cries) feels that Aurore is showing her some disrespect (''Why should I knock at the door of my own home?'') gets up and picks up a log with a nail. A farmer and his wife hear Aurore's cries and debate if it is any of their business to go to this home and see what is going on.
I turned the television off. I could not sleep for another 2 hours. The scene, never actually witnessed, haunted me for weeks. I had to read your comments to know how it ends.
Did this film change our society's view of victims and the abuse that children suffer?
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