''Ultimatum'' is a Canadian drama film, written and directed by

Jean Pierre Lefebvre Jean Pierre Lefebvre (; born 17 August 1941) is a Canadian filmmaker. He is widely admired as "the godfather of independent Canadian cinema," particularly among young, independent filmmakers. Biography Jean Pierre Lefebvre studied literature a ...

and released in 1973.

Gerald Pratley Gerald Arthur Pratley (September 3, 1923 – March 14, 2011) was a Canadian film critic and historian. Piers Handling"Gerald Arthur Pratley" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', September 18, 2011. A longtime film critic for the Canadian Broadcasting Cor ...

, ''A Century of Canadian Cinema''. Lynx Images, 2003. . p. 227. The film stars Jean-René Ouellet and Francine Morand as Arthur and Charlotte, a couple whose relationship is affected by the political climate around the

October Crisis The October Crisis () was a chain of political events in Canada that started in October 1970 when members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James Cross f ...

of 1970.Barbara Samuels, "Jean-Pierre Lefebvre: Flowers to Cannes". ''

Cinema Canada ''Cinema Canada'' (1972–1989) is a defunct Canadian film magazine, which served as the trade journal of record for the Canadian film and television sector. The magazine had its origins in the Canadian Society of Cinematographers (CSC), which be ...

'', May 1982. pp. 23-27. The cast also includes

Lee J. Cobb Lee J. Cobb (born Leo Jacoby; December 8, 1911February 11, 1976) was an American actor, known both for film roles and his work on the Broadway stage, as well as for his starring role on the television series '' The Virginian''. He often played a ...

and

Franco Gasparri Franco Gasparri (31 October 1948 – 28 March 1999) was an Italian actor. Born Gianfranco Gasparri in Senigallia, the son of the painter and film poster artist Rodolfo, Gasparri started his career as a child actor, appearing in several pepl ...

. According to Lefebvre, the film "tries to personalise a political experience, to interiorise a vision of an event which was completely new for Quebec, a country, which had never known an army of occupation, etc. For me the only way to politicise people is to personalise political issues". The film's ultimate theme is that one is a member of their society regardless of whether they agree or disagree with the issues being confronted within it. The film was released in November 1973, within weeks of his films '' Pigs Are Seldom Clean (On n'engraisse pas les cochons à l'eau claire)'' and '' The Last Betrothal (Les dernières fiançailles)''. Despite this it was the least-screened and least-reviewed of the three films; even upon its release, Michel Brûlé of ''Cinéma Québec'' reviewed the other two films together while virtually glossing over ''Ultimatum'' apart from a single mention.Michel Brûlé, "Deux pôles d'une même sensibilité". ''Cinéma Québec'', December 1973-January 1974. pp. 24-27. Following its premiere, the film received little further distribution except for occasional Lefebvre retrospective events.

References

External links

* 1973 films 1973 drama films Canadian drama films Films directed by Jean Pierre Lefebvre French-language Canadian films 1970s Canadian films Films shot in Quebec Films set in Quebec {{1970s-Canada-film-stub