Those Damned Savages

Those Damned Savages
French	Les maudits sauvages
Directed by	Jean Pierre Lefebvre
Written by	Jean Pierre Lefebvre
Starring	Rachel Cailhier Pierre Dufresne Nicole Filion Luc Granger
Cinematography	Jean-Claude Labrecque
Edited by	Marguerite Duparc
Music by	Walter Boudreau
Production company	Cinak
Distributed by	Faroun Films
Release date	May 1971 (1971-05)(Cannes)
Running time	116 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	French

Those Damned Savages (French : Les maudits sauvages) is a Canadian drama film, directed by Jean Pierre Lefebvre and released in 1971. ^[1] A satirical critique of colonialism, the film explores its thesis that racist attitudes toward First Nations have not changed through a narrative that places various real historical figures from the 17th century in modern-day Montreal. ^[2]

The film stars Rachel Cailhier as Tékacouita, a young Mohawk woman in New France who is taken to the city by coureur de bois Thomas Hébert (Pierre Dufresne) to work as a domestic servant, after being forcibly separated from her fiancé. In Montreal, Thomas forces Tékacouita to work as a go-go dancer in a nightclub, where she repeatedly deals with attempted sexual assault and other modern problems until her fiancé arrives to save her. ^[3]

The film's cast also includes Nicole Filion as Jeanne Mance, Luc Granger as abbé Frelaté and Marcel Sabourin as Jean Talon. ^[3]

The film premiered in the Directors' Fortnight program at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival. ^[4]

References

1. Gerald Pratley, A Century of Canadian Cinema. Lynx Images, 2003. ISBN   1-894073-21-5. p. 217.
2. Jay Scott, "Lefebvre's deceptive simplicity". The Globe and Mail , May 22, 1982.
3. Bill Marshall, Quebec National Cinema. McGill-Queen's University Press, 2001. ISBN   9780773521032. pp. 256-257.
4. "Cannes critics praise films from Quebec". The Globe and Mail , May 21, 1971.

External links

• Those Damned Savages at IMDb