Confessional, Le*

• 1995 ----- color ----- 100 min ----- vhs
• (Directed by Robert Lepage; with Lothaire Bluteau, Patrick Goyette, Jean-Louis Millette, Kristin Scott Thomas) It is 1952 and Alfred Hitchcock is shooting I Confess in Quebec City. As film crews invade the city and take over the parish church, Rachel, who works in the presbytery, is going through her own real-life drama: she is 16 and pregnant. Filled with shame, she seeks salvation in the confessional and unburdens her soul to a young priest. In 1989, after three years in China, Pierre Lamontagne returns to Quebec for his father's funeral. He meets up with Marc, his adopted brother, and Rachel's child. Marc is searching for his roots. The brothers embark on a quest to find Marc's father, leading them to the locations of I Confess and the Quebec of the 1950s. Past and present converge in a complex web of clues. A senior civil servant seems to hold the key to the confession and to the mystery itself. Will the seal of confession protect Marc from the tragic secret surrounding his birth, or will the truth be revealed, destroying his fragile world? (Donated by the Department of Canadian Studies) (In French with English subtitles) (Restricted to use by institutions of learning within the State of Washington only)
• Topics: (Canadian Studies, Motion Pictures: Features, Motion Pictures: History, Religions: Christian, Romance Languages and Literature)