The Paper Wedding

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The Paper Wedding
FrenchLes Noces de papier
Directed byMichel Brault
Written byJefferson Lewis
Produced byDanièle Bussy
Aimée Danis
StarringGeneviève Bujold
Manuel Aranguiz
Dorothée Berryman
CinematographySylvain Brault
Edited byJacques Gagné
Production
companies
Les Producteurs T.V.-Films Associés
Les Productions du Verseau
National Film Board of Canada
Release date
  • August 30, 1989 (1989-08-30) (MWFF)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageFrench

The Paper Wedding (French: Les noces de papier) is a 1989 made for television Canadian film directed by Michel Brault.[1] It was entered into the 40th Berlin International Film Festival.[2]

Plot[]

Claire is a teacher in Montreal, Quebec, who lives alone. Her lover, Milosh, is married and their relationship is strained. Claire's sister, Annie, a lawyer, has a problem. The visa of her client Pablo, a political refugee from Chile illegally working as a dishwasher in a restaurant, is about to expire. She asks Claire to marry him so he can remain in Canada. Claire reluctantly agrees. Before the modest civil ceremony can be concluded, immigration agents arrive, but everyone escapes.

Claire's mother is thrilled to arrange a big church wedding and reception instead. Afterwards, Claire and Pablo go their separate ways. But soon, immigration agents are back knowing what's going on and the two are forced to live together. There, Claire notices that Pablo (who has fallen for her) has nightmares. When they get to know each other, Pablo tells Claire that he was a tortured political prisoner, among other things.

In case they are questioned by the Canadian officers, Claire and Pablo try to make up a story about how they met. Pablo's romantic story touches Claire, and in time, she finds she has fallen for him as well.

Cast[]

Distribution[]

The film premiered in August 1989 at the Montreal World Film Festival,[1] before being broadcast on television by Radio-Québec in the fall.[3] After Berlin programmer Moritz de Hadeln saw the television film, he requested a 35mm print so that the film could be screened at Berlin,[4] leading to the film's subsequent wider theatrical distribution in 1990.[5]

Impact[]

The 1990 American film Green Card, starring Gérard Dépardieu and Andie MacDowell, featured marked similarities to The Paper Wedding.[6]

The film won the award for Best TV Feature at the 1990 Banff World Media Festival.[7] It won six Gémeaux Awards in December 1990, including for best dramatic production, best photography (Sylvain Brault), best writing (Jefferson Lewis), best direction (Michel Brault), best actor in a miniseries or television film (Aranguiz) and best actress in a miniseries or television film (Bujold).[8]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Charles-Henri Ramond, "Noces de papier, Les – Film de Michel Brault". Films du Québec, February 2, 2009.
  2. ^ "Berlinale: 1990 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
  3. ^ John Griffin, "French director, anglo script-writer generate marital bliss with Paper Wedding". Montreal Gazette, April 29, 1990.
  4. ^ "Les noces de papier up for Berlin prize". The Globe and Mail, December 22, 1989.
  5. ^ Noel Taylor, "Dreamy romance sparked by immigration laws". Ottawa Citizen, November 2, 1990.
  6. ^ Marc Horton, "The movie to see on immigration scams". Edmonton Journal, February 7, 1991.
  7. ^ Tony Atherton, "British show wins Banff TV award". Ottawa Citizen, June 9, 1990.
  8. ^ Stephen Godfrey, "Paper Wedding takes the cake: TV film wins six Gemeaux awards for Radio-Quebec". The Globe and Mail, December 18, 1990.

External links[]

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