Babine is a Canadian fantasy drama film, directed by Luc Picard and released in 2008.[1] Adapted from Fred Pellerin's book Il faut prendre le taureau par les contes, the film stars Vincent-Guillaume Otis as Babine, the village idiot of Saint-Élie-de-Caxton, Quebec.[2] A lifelong outcast because his mother (Isabel Richer) was believed to be the town witch, he becomes the immediate suspect when the town's church catches fire, killing the parish priest (Julien Poulin).[3] However, he will receive the support of the village's merchant, Toussaint Brodeur (Luc Picard), as he attempts to prove his innocence.

Babine
Directed byLuc Picard
Written by
StarringVincent-Guillaume Otis
Isabel Richer
Alexis Martin
Julien Poulin
Gildor Roy
Narrated byFred Pellerin
CinematographyJérôme Sabourin
Edited byGaétan Huot
Music byNormand Corbeil
Serge Fiori
Production
company
Cité-Amérique
Distributed byAlliance Vivafilm
Release date
  • November 28, 2008 (2008-11-28)
Running time
112 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageFrench
BudgetCAD $6,5M

The film's cast also includes Alexis Martin, Gildor Roy, Marie Brassard and Antoine Bertrand.

A sequel film, Ésimésac, was released in 2012.

Cast

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Reviews

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Babine received generally favourable reviews by the critics.[4] It also received similar ratings from Rotten Tomatoes, with a 69% approval rating, and an average rating of 3.7 out of 5.[5] Overall, the movie was quite successful, collecting $2.8 million at the Quebec box office.[6]

Accolades

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The film received many awards and nominations, including two Genie Award nominations at the 30th Genie Awards in 2009: Best Supporting Actress (Richer) and Best Sound Editing (Olivier Calvert, Natalie Fleurant, Francine Poirier and Lise Wedlock).

Award / Film Festival Category Recipients and Nominees Result
Directors Guild of Canada Production Design - Feature Nicolas Lepage Nominated
Genie Awards Best Supporting Actress Isabel Richer Nominated
Best Sound Editing Olivier Calvert
Natalie Fleurant
Francine Poirier
Lise Wedlock
Nominated
Jutra Awards Best Art Direction Nicolas Lepage Won
Best Costume Design Carmen Alie Won
Best Makeup Kathryn Casault Won
Best Music Normand Corbeil
Serge Fiori
Won
Best Sound Dominique Chartrand
Olivier Calvert
Louis Gignac
Gavin Fernandes
Won
Best Actor Vincent-Guillaume Otis Nominated
Best Hairstyling Denis Parent Nominated
Best Screenplay Fred Pellerin Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Luc Picard Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "Babine: la belle histoire d'un pays d'en haut" Archived 2017-08-10 at the Wayback Machine. Le Soleil, November 22, 2008.
  2. ^ "Babine,ou l'ode à la folie". Le Devoir, October 4, 2007.
  3. ^ "Babine – Film de Luc Picard". Films du Québec, January 1, 2009.
  4. ^ "Nouveauté québécoise : Babine: Conte fantastique | Cinéma | Radio-Canada.ca". Archived from the original on 2018-04-03. Retrieved 2018-04-03.
  5. ^ "Babine". Rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  6. ^ Demers, Maxime. "Magie à Saint-Élie". Journaldemontreal.com. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
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