The Hidden Fortress (2001 film)

The Hidden Fortress
FrenchLa Forteresse suspendue
Directed byRoger Cantin
Written byRoger Cantin
Produced byChantal Lafleur
Rock Demers
StarringCharlie Arcouette-Martineau
George Brossard
Gaston Caron
Isabelle Cyr
Xavier Dolan
CinematographyAllen Smith
Edited bySimon Sauvé
Music byMilan Kymlicka
Production
company
Les Productions La Fête
Distributed byEquinoxe Films
Release date
  • June 22, 2001 (2001-06-22)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageQuebec French

The Hidden Fortress (French: La Forteresse suspendue) is a Canadian children's comedy film, directed by Roger Cantin and released in 2001.[1] Part of Rock Demers's Tales for All (Contes pour tous) series of children's films, the film centres on two groups of rival children playing war games while spending summer vacation with their families at cottages on a lake, which are complicated when the leader of the losing team resorts to detaining prisoners of war in a desperate attempt to win the game.[2]

The cast includes Matthew Dupuis, Roxanne Gaudette-Loiseau, Jérôme Leclerc-Couture, Jean-Philippe Debien, Charli Arcouette-Martineau, Xavier Dolan, Laurent-Christophe De Ruelle, Jeremy Gagnon, Carmina Senosier, Émilie Cyrenne-Parent, Serge-Olivier Paquette, Hugo Dubé, Georges Brossard, Patrick Labbé, Isabelle Cyr, Gaston Caron, Fayolle Jean and Mireille Metellus.[3]

Although not officially billed as a sequel to the earlier film, some of the children's parents were participants in the events of The Dog Who Stopped the War (La Guerre des tuques).[4]

Production

The film was shot in fall 2000, in and around Sainte-Sophie, Quebec.[5]

Critical response

Kathryn Greenaway of the Montreal Gazette wrote that "there is nothing so chilling as watching children resort to interpretations of disturbing adult behaviour. And so we watch Marc - lurking in shadow and camouflage face paint - take prisoners of war. He threatens them with torture and humiliation. His clanmates snicker. Things go from bad to worse when it is discovered that Indian chief Julian (Jerome Leclerc-Couture) and Marc's sister Sarah (Roxane Gaudette-Loiseau) have fallen for each other. This will not do. It is forbidden for the Montagues and the Capulets to mix. Oops. Wrong story."[2]

For the Vancouver Sun, Marke Andrews wrote that "there are subplots about a legendary bogeyman called the Man of the Woods, a black bear on the loose and a potentially disastrous forest fire, and somehow these three elements bring about a resolution to the conflict, although it occurs in such haphazard fashion you're not quite sure how they all fit together. The strength of the film is in the way it captures childhood games from a child's perspective. Like The Dog Who Stopped the War, the conflict has an innocence that is refreshing in these times of 10-year-old armed gangbangers."[4]

Awards

Pierre Blain, Michel Descombes and Réjean Juteau received a Genie Award nomination for Best Overall Sound at the 22nd Genie Awards.[6]

References

  1. ^ Gerald Pratley, A Century of Canadian Cinema. Lynx Images, 2003. ISBN 1-894073-21-5. p. 82.
  2. ^ a b Kathryn Greenaway, "Kids discover war is heck". Montreal Gazette, June 22, 2001.
  3. ^ Charles-Henri Ramond, "Forteresse suspendue, La – Film de Roger Cantin". Films du Québec, January 15, 2009.
  4. ^ a b Marke Andrews, "Film captures youth, but lacks magic". Vancouver Sun, October 12, 2001.
  5. ^ "Cantin films The Hidden Fortress". Playback, October 2, 2000.
  6. ^ "Nominees for this year's Genie Awards". Toronto Star, December 13, 2001.