Black Robe

"In the winter of 1634, an extraordinary man began a perilous journey into the North American wilderness."

1991 1h 41m EN

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6.5

SOLID

★6.5TMDB · 133

AdventureDramaHistory

Synopsis

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Missionary Father LaForgue travels to the New World in hopes of converting Algonquin Indians to Catholicism. Accepted, though warily, by the Indians, LaForgue travels with the Indians using his strict Catholic rules and ideals to try and impose his religion.

“In the winter of 1634, an extraordinary man began a perilous journey into the North American wilderness.”

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Cast

Lothaire Bluteau
Laforgue
Sandrine Holt
Annuka
August Schellenberg
Chomina
Tantoo Cardinal
Chomina's Wife
Lawrence Bayne
Neehatin
Aden Young
Daniel
Billy Two Rivers
Ougebmat
Wesley Côté
Oujita

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Bruce Beresford
Writers: Brian Moore
Languages: Cree, English, Latin
Countries: Australia, Canada

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 75% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

35 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Cree, English, Latin.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Australia, Canada.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Bruce Beresford, shot by Peter James. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Georges Delerue. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Tim Wellburn shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Lothaire Bluteau and Sandrine Holt and August Schellenberg carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Bruce Beresford directs. Peter James behind the camera. Georges Delerue scores. Tim Wellburn cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Australia, Canada. Dialogue in Cree, English, Latin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 75% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
235 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Cree, English, Latin.
4International production across 2 countries: Australia, Canada.
5Directed by Bruce Beresford, shot by Peter James. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Georges Delerue. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Tim Wellburn shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Lothaire Bluteau and Sandrine Holt and August Schellenberg carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "In the winter of 1634, an extraordinary man began a perilous journey into the North American wilderness.".
10IMDB entry: tt0101465 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Peter James
Original score: Georges Delerue
Editing: Tim Wellburn
Production design: Herbert Pinter
Costume design: John Hay
Stunt coordinator: Minor Mustain
Runtime: 101 min · 1h 41m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $11,000,000
Box office: $8,211,952
Return: 75% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Black Robe (1991)

Awards

AACTA Award for Best Cinematography
Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Award for Best Motion Picture

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Bruce Beresford

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-08-07
★ 7/10
Regardless of the quality of the production, films like this make me want to throw a brick at the screen! An established culture of Huron living in tandem with nature, turf-warring with their Iroquois neighbours and enduring a largely substance existence are introduced to that most ultimate of plagues. Christianity! It's the eponymous "Laforgue" (Lothaire Bluteau) who is charged by his fellow Jesuits to travel to this remote and beautiful land in order to spread the word. Now, to be fair to this "Black Robe" he is tenacious. It's one hell of an effort - mostly by canoe through some of the most hostile conditions the planet has to offer - as he travels with his companions "Daniel" (Aden Young) and "Annuka" (Sandrine Holt) to the remote home of some sceptical, but nonetheless welcoming tribesfolk. "Laforgue" is not an evil man, but he has a job to do and the rather more simplistic religiosity of the locals which is based much more around the seasons, the harvest, the weather etc., is not really much of a match for his disciplined indoctrination of these people - especially once the church is built. The apple cart is soon well and truly upset and chief "Chomina" (August Schellenberg) is soon having to make tough choices to ensure the survival of his people against this new, all consuming, mysticism. Bluteau is adequate here, I wouldn't say anything more - probably Schellenburg takes the acting plaudits; but that's not so important I think. It's the message this comprehensively conveys that gives it some extra bite. It looks great. The Québec scenery, snowscapes, mountains and expanses are superbly captured as we get a sense of just how virgin this territory was before the expansion of European man and their obligatory religious baggage. It's a telling narrative that really does shout from the rooftops that their society wasn't broke so why did we try to fix it?

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