''An Imaginary Tale'' () is a 1990 Canadian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

André Forcier André Forcier (born Marc-André Forcier on July 19, 1947) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. His work has been linked to Latin American magic realism by its use of fantasy but is firmly rooted in Quebec's reality. His unromanticized, ...

. The film was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the

63rd Academy Awards The 63rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 25, 1991, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the cer ...

, but was not accepted as a nominee.Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Plot

Toni (Nardi) is the director of a staged rendition of ''

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

'' in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. It is a pet project of his, financed by his

mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

uncle. Unbeknownst to him, the audiences are also rounded up and paid by the same uncle. Some of them have seen every performance of this tragic play, and are understandably bored, so when the backstage romantic events of the actors result in absurd situations onstage, the audience is delighted. There are a huge number of romantic situations going on in this film at the same time. One of them involves Gaston (Lapointe), a somewhat world-weary

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musician, and Florence (Marleau), a glamorous middle-aged woman who has been pining for him for years. Another involves two members of the musician's jazz trio. Yet another involves the play's

Desdemona Desdemona () is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venice, Italy, Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello (char ...

, Soledad (Laurier), the

girlfriend A girlfriend is a woman who is a friend, acquaintance or partner to the speaker, usually a female companion with whom one is platonically, romantically, or sexually involved. In a romantic context, this normally signifies a committed r ...

of the man playing Othello, who can't keep his hands off his dresser. She is also Florence's niece.

Awards and nominations

* 1991 **

Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Achievement in Direction to the best work by a film director, director of a Canada, Canadian film.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of ...

- Nominated **

Genie Award for Best Motion Picture The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Motion Picture to the best Canadian film of the year.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''. Stoddart Publis ...

- Claudio Luca, Robin Spry - Nominated ** Genie Award for Best Original Screenplay - Jacques Marcotte,

- Nominated * 1990 **

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (), commonly abbreviated MWFF in English or FFM in French, was an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1977 to 2019.Sudbury Cinefest Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario ** Sudbury (federal electoral district) ** Sudbury (provincial electoral district) ** Sudbury Airport ** Sudbury Basin, a meteorite impact crater ...

Best Canadian Film - André Forcier - Won

References

External links

* 1990 films 1990 drama films 1990s French-language films Films based on Othello Films set in Montreal Films directed by André Forcier Canadian drama films 1990s Canadian films French-language Canadian films French-language drama films {{1990s-Canada-film-stub

Plot

Awards and nominations

See also

References

External links