''Restless River'' () is a Canadian drama film, directed by

Marie-Hélène Cousineau Marie-Hélène Cousineau is a Canadian film director and producer.Madeline Ivalu Madeline Piujuq Ivalu is a Canadian Inuit, Inuk filmmaker and actor from Igloolik, Nunavut. One of the cofounders of Arnait Video Productions, a women's video and filmmaking collective in Nunavut, she co-directed, co-wrote and starred in Arnait's ...

and released in 2019. An adaptation of

Gabrielle Roy Gabrielle Roy (; March 22, 1909July 13, 1983) was a Canadian author from St. Boniface, Manitoba and one of the major figures in French Canadian literature. Early life Roy was born in 1909 in Saint-Boniface (now part of Winnipeg), Manitoba, an ...

's 1970 novel ''Windflower (La rivière sans repos)'', the film stars Malaya Qaunirq Chapman as Elsa, a young

Inuk Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labr ...

woman in

Kuujjuaq Kuujjuaq (; or ), formerly known as (ᓲᐃᕙᐅᖃᔾ) and by #Names, other names, is a former Hudson's Bay Company outpost at the mouth of the Koksoak River on Ungava Bay that has become the largest northern village (Quebec), northern vil ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

in the 1940s who becomes a mother after being

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

d by an American soldier stationed at the town's military base, but whose resilience and strength carry her through her difficult circumstances. The film's cast also includes

Magalie Lépine-Blondeau Magalie Lépine-Blondeau (born August 18, 1982) is a Canadian actress and television host. Biography Magalie Lépine-Blondeau studied theater at Cégep de Saint-Laurent, then at National Theatre School of Canada, The National Theater School o ...

, Patrick Hivon, Mark Antony Krupa, Tobie Pelletier, Taqraliq Partridge, Nick Serino, Etua Snowball and Matthew York. Ivalu also appears in a supporting role as Elsa's grandmother. The film premiered on October 12, 2019 at the

Festival du nouveau cinéma The Festival du nouveau cinéma or FNC (English: ''Festival of New Cinema'') is an annual independent film festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, featuring independent films from around the world. Over 160,000 people attend each year. One of ...

Critical response

Jill Wilson of the ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Free Press'' (or FP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press''; previously known as the ''Winnipeg Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, natio ...

'' gave the film a mixed review, writing that it beautifully evoked a sense of place but that it was less effective at telling its story: "There are too many pregnant pauses that reveal nothing, too many time-jumps that leave character development in the dirt, too many scenes that seem freighted with significance but go nowhere. It's not often you want more tell and less show, but more insight into Elsa's mindset would be welcome. Though her path and that of her son are shaped inexorably by the forces of white influence, she's far from passive. By the film's end, however, we're left wondering if she's found contentment or is merely resigned to her fate."Jill Wilson
"Quiet drama finds beauty in the North"
''

'', October 11, 2019.

References

External links

* 2019 films 2019 drama films Canadian drama films Quebec films Films based on Canadian novels Films set in Quebec Films shot in Quebec Films about Inuit in Canada 2010s Canadian films {{2010s-Canada-film-stub