May God Bless America

May God Bless America
FrenchQue Dieu bénisse l'Amérique
Directed byRobert Morin
Written byRobert Morin
Produced byRéal Chabot
StarringGildor Roy
Sylvie Léonard
Sylvain Marcel
CinematographyJean-Pierre St-Louis
Edited byLorraine Dufour
Music byBertand Chénier
Production
company
Coop Vidéo de Montréal
Distributed byChristal Films
Release date
  • February 17, 2006 (2006-02-17) (RVCQ)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageFrench

May God Bless America (French: Que Dieu bénisse l'Amérique) is a Canadian drama film, directed by Robert Morin and released in 2006.[1] A critique of suburban values and lifestyles,[2] the film stars Gildor Roy as Maurice Ménard, a police inspector in Laval, Quebec who is investigating a spate of murders of suspected sex offenders on September 11, 2001, in a community that is largely wrapped up in its own petty dramas with virtually everybody remaining oblivious to or unconcerned about the concurrent September 11 attacks in New York City.[3]

The cast also includes Normand D'Amour, René-Daniel Dubois, Patrice Dussault, Gaston Lepage, Sylvie Léonard, Sylvain Marcel, Dominique Quesnel, Jean-Guy Bouchard and Benoît Rousseau.

Morin described the film as having been inspired in part by Albert Camus's novel The Stranger, with themes around the danger of individuality taken to extremes.[4]

The film premiered on February 17, 2006 at the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois.[5]

Awards

Morin received a Prix Iris nomination for Best Screenplay at the 9th Jutra Awards in 2007.[6]

References

  1. ^ Charles-Henri Ramond, "Que Dieu bénisse l’Amérique – Film de Robert Morin". Films du Québec, April 28, 2009.
  2. ^ Vincent Desroches, "Suspicions and Castrations: Robert Morin's Que Dieu Benisse l'Amérique". American Review of Canadian Studies, 43:2 (2003), pp. 231-240. DOI: 10.1080/02722011.2013.795029.
  3. ^ John Griffin, "Terror stalks Laval - but lightly". Montreal Gazette, February 17, 2006.
  4. ^ Manon Dumais, "Que Dieu bénisse l’Amérique : Amère América". Voir, February 9, 2006.
  5. ^ "La grande fête du cinéma québécois est de retour!". Ici Radio-Canada, February 8, 2006.
  6. ^ "La soirée des Jutra: Finalistes et gagnants". Ici Radio-Canada, February 18, 2007.