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The Paper Wedding
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Wikipedia article
'The Paper Wedding' is a 1989 made for television Canadian film directed by Michel Brault.Charles-Henri Ramond, [https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/noces-de-papier-michel-brault/ "Noces de papier, Les Film de Michel Brault"]. 'Films du Qubec', February 2, 2009. It was entered into the 40th Berlin International Film Festival.
Plot
Claire is a teacher in Montreal, Quebec, who lives alone. Her lover, Milosh, is married and their relationship is strained. Claire's sister, Annie, a lawyer, has a problem. The visa of her client Pablo, a political refugee from Chile illegally working as a dishwasher in a restaurant, is about to expire. She asks Claire to marry him so he can remain in Canada. Claire reluctantly agrees. Before the modest civil ceremony can be concluded, immigration agents arrive, but everyone escapes.
Claire's mother is thrilled to arrange a big church wedding and reception instead. Afterwards, Claire and Pablo go their separate ways. But soon, immigration agents are back knowing what's going on and the two are forced to live together. There, Claire notices that Pablo (who has fallen for her) has nightmares. When they get to know each other, Pablo tells Claire that he was a tortured political prisoner, among other things.
In case they are questioned by the Canadian officers, Claire and Pablo try to make up a story about how they met. Pablo's romantic story touches Claire, and in time, she finds she has fallen for him as well.
Cast
* Genevive Bujold as Claire
* Dorothe Berryman as Annie
* Manuel Aranguiz as Pablo
* Monique Lepage as Mother
* Teo Spychalski as Milosh
Distribution
The film premiered in August 1989 at the Montreal World Film Festival, before being broadcast on television by Radio-Qubec in the fall.John Griffin, "French director, anglo script-writer generate marital bliss with Paper Wedding". 'Montreal Gazette', April 29, 1990. After Berlin programmer Moritz de Hadeln saw the television film, he requested a 35mm print so that the film could be screened at Berlin,"Les noces de papier up for Berlin prize". 'The Globe and Mail', December 22, 1989. leading to the film's subsequent wider theatrical distribution in 1990.Noel Taylor, "Dreamy romance sparked by immigration laws". 'Ottawa Citizen', November 2, 1990.
Impact
The 1990 American film 'Green Card', starring Grard Dpardieu and Andie MacDowell, featured marked similarities to 'The Paper Wedding'.Marc Horton, "The movie to see on immigration scams". 'Edmonton Journal', February 7, 1991.
The film won the award for Best TV Feature at the 1990 Banff World Media Festival.Tony Atherton, "British show wins Banff TV award". 'Ottawa Citizen', June 9, 1990. It won six Gmeaux Awards in December 1990, including for best dramatic production, best photography (Sylvain Brault), best writing (Jefferson Lewis), best direction (Michel Brault), best actor in a miniseries or television film (Aranguiz) and best actress in a miniseries or television film (Bujold).Stephen Godfrey, "Paper Wedding takes the cake: TV film wins six Gemeaux awards for Radio-Quebec". 'The Globe and Mail', December 18, 1990.
References
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