'Marie-Anne' is a small-scale yet resonant and captivating biographical film about cultural and racial intermingling in Canada during the opening decade of the 19th Century. The film focuses on the early years of the marriage between fur-trader Jean-Baptiste Lagemodiere and Marie-Anne Gaboury. Eschewing custom, Marie-Anne followed her husband deep into the territory of the Hudson's Bay Company and became the first white woman to settle in the Canadian west.
The opening moments depicting her, an unclaimed woman doing the bidding of a patriarchal society as servant to the local minister, and the visiting fur-trader and the ensuing match-making that leads to their betrothal are lensed in lovely soft hues that evoke the gentle surroundings. Subsequent scenes of their intrepid journey back to his remote post very much reminded me of 'Jeremiah Johnson' which is another wonderful picture about exploration and survival. A sense of the vastness of the interior before them is conveyed as the static camera on the river-bank records the wide, winding river and the relative speck of the little craft carrying them.
'Marie-Anne' is a respectful and observant film. One gets a real sense of the film-makers' wish to examine through an anthropological lens the practices and customs of the different races. As in Michael Radford's unforgettable romance 'Another Time, Another Place', music plays an important role. The musically-infused gatherings allow the fur- traders to be merry, just as it allowed hardened Scots to loosen up in the later British film.
Acting-wise, Andree Pelletier brings a compassion and delicacy to the lead role that infuses proceedings with a warmth and humanity. John Juliani is good as well as Jean-Baptiste. The depiction of the fur-traders is nuanced and they are far from the typical mumbling wildmen of the north one sees so often on-screen. As a Cree woman whose place is taken by the arriving white woman, Tantoo Cardinal imparts a nobility and determination that sits perfectly with the tone of honour and respect that courses through the film.
This picture is but a snapshot of Marie-Anne Gaboury's extraordinary life and my imagination runs wild with the possibilities a future better-funded production might present. I hope a more extensive biopic makes it to cinema screens one day. Until such time, 'Marie-Anne' serves as a fitting tribute to her and the peoples and places she encountered through her will, bravery and marriage some 200 hundred years ago.
The opening moments depicting her, an unclaimed woman doing the bidding of a patriarchal society as servant to the local minister, and the visiting fur-trader and the ensuing match-making that leads to their betrothal are lensed in lovely soft hues that evoke the gentle surroundings. Subsequent scenes of their intrepid journey back to his remote post very much reminded me of 'Jeremiah Johnson' which is another wonderful picture about exploration and survival. A sense of the vastness of the interior before them is conveyed as the static camera on the river-bank records the wide, winding river and the relative speck of the little craft carrying them.
'Marie-Anne' is a respectful and observant film. One gets a real sense of the film-makers' wish to examine through an anthropological lens the practices and customs of the different races. As in Michael Radford's unforgettable romance 'Another Time, Another Place', music plays an important role. The musically-infused gatherings allow the fur- traders to be merry, just as it allowed hardened Scots to loosen up in the later British film.
Acting-wise, Andree Pelletier brings a compassion and delicacy to the lead role that infuses proceedings with a warmth and humanity. John Juliani is good as well as Jean-Baptiste. The depiction of the fur-traders is nuanced and they are far from the typical mumbling wildmen of the north one sees so often on-screen. As a Cree woman whose place is taken by the arriving white woman, Tantoo Cardinal imparts a nobility and determination that sits perfectly with the tone of honour and respect that courses through the film.
This picture is but a snapshot of Marie-Anne Gaboury's extraordinary life and my imagination runs wild with the possibilities a future better-funded production might present. I hope a more extensive biopic makes it to cinema screens one day. Until such time, 'Marie-Anne' serves as a fitting tribute to her and the peoples and places she encountered through her will, bravery and marriage some 200 hundred years ago.
