Gilles Carle

Directing

Gilles Carle

Born — Died

1928-07-31 — 2009-11-28

Place of birth

Maniwaki, Quebec, Canada

Known for

Directing

Credits

45 titles

Gilles Carle, OC GOQ (July 31, 1928 – November 28, 2009) was a French Canadian director, screenwriter and painter. Gilles Carle, who was a key figure in the development of a commercial Quebec cinema, worked as a graphic artist and writer before he joined the National Film Board of Canada in 1960. His innovative debut feature, La Vie heureuse de Léopold Z., tracked the adventures of a snowplough operator during a madcap Christmas Eve. But after the NFB rejected several of his projects, he began working independently. In 1971 Carle joined forces with Pierre Lamy to form Les Productions Carle-Lamy, which produced Claude Jutra’s epic Kamouraska, Denys Arcand’s early features and all his early fi…

Known for

Spécial cinéma poster
9.5

Marcello Mastroianni, Isabelle Adjani, Alain Delon, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen... the biggest stars in cinema were welcomed by Christian Defaye on his show Spécial cinéma. Between intimate confessions from actors and immersion in the world of the greatest filmmakers, Christian Defaye took viewers on a journey into the fascinating world of cinema for nearly thirty years.

Spécial cinéma

1974

Midi Première poster
9.0

Midi Première is a French variety show presented by Danièle Gilbert, directed by Jacques Pierre and broadcast from January 6, 1975 until January 1, 1982 on TF1. The program was generally broadcast between 12:15 p.m. and 12:55 p.m., then giving way to the 1:00 p.m. TV news. However, the broadcast schedule could change, depending on the guests, and the setting where the recording of the program was shot. Certain performances by artists who have become cult like the one where Ringo jostles with a demonstrator in interpretation (1977), that of Dalida with the title There is always a song with the soundtrack that does not start, twice, at the right speed (1978), Claude François and his Clodettes, who, in the provinces, are unable to join "the set" in order to interpret his song, the latter being taken by the crowd of delirious fans (summer 1977) . The group Supertramp performed there with the title "Dreamer" on March 8, 1975.

Midi Première

1975

The Males poster
5.0

Two incredibly primitive backwoods types have just been released from prison for kidnapping the local police chief's daughter but still have a hankering for a woman. When they return to their campsite, they discover a woodland nymph whom they both bed and who drives them wild. Jealousy arises.

The Males

1971

The Rink poster
8.0

This short, silent film captures a Sunday afternoon at a community skating rink. Iconic Quebec director Gilles Carle has the camera follow toddlers learning to skate, young girls flashing their skates and boys decked out in the colours of their favourite hockey teams. A picture perfect moment on a bright winter's day.

The Rink

1963

The Death of a Lumberjack poster
4.9

This meditative French-Canadian film tells the story of a young woman's search for the father she has never known. Marie Chapdelaine (Carole Laure) grew up in a remote area of Quebec without ever knowing her father, a lumberjack. She moves to Montreal, settles in there with a job as a topless dancer and begins her search for him. Eventually, with the help of his former mistress, they find the lumber camp he was working in, only to discover that he was killed in a labor dispute.

The Death of a Lumberjack

1973

Pudding chômeur poster
5.5

Deliberately Felliniesque, this surreal and uneven Canadian satire from iconoclastic French Canadian director Gilles Carle offers an episodic look into an anarchistic, metaphorical world filled with a bizarre assortment of weirdos, wackos and misanthropes. The story roughly centers on the adventures of Yo-Yo, a young woman who is first seen acting as a high priestess for a ceremony involving the miraculous healing powers of the little boy Alphonse.

Pudding chômeur

1996

Film credits

Series credits

Behind the camera

The Males poster
5.0

Two incredibly primitive backwoods types have just been released from prison for kidnapping the local police chief's daughter but still have a hankering for a woman. When they return to their campsite, they discover a woodland nymph whom they both bed and who drives them wild. Jealousy arises.

The Males

1971

The Males poster
5.0

Two incredibly primitive backwoods types have just been released from prison for kidnapping the local police chief's daughter but still have a hankering for a woman. When they return to their campsite, they discover a woodland nymph whom they both bed and who drives them wild. Jealousy arises.

The Males

1971

The Rink poster
8.0

This short, silent film captures a Sunday afternoon at a community skating rink. Iconic Quebec director Gilles Carle has the camera follow toddlers learning to skate, young girls flashing their skates and boys decked out in the colours of their favourite hockey teams. A picture perfect moment on a bright winter's day.

The Rink

1963

The Death of a Lumberjack poster
4.9

This meditative French-Canadian film tells the story of a young woman's search for the father she has never known. Marie Chapdelaine (Carole Laure) grew up in a remote area of Quebec without ever knowing her father, a lumberjack. She moves to Montreal, settles in there with a job as a topless dancer and begins her search for him. Eventually, with the help of his former mistress, they find the lumber camp he was working in, only to discover that he was killed in a labor dispute.

The Death of a Lumberjack

1973

The Death of a Lumberjack poster
4.9

This meditative French-Canadian film tells the story of a young woman's search for the father she has never known. Marie Chapdelaine (Carole Laure) grew up in a remote area of Quebec without ever knowing her father, a lumberjack. She moves to Montreal, settles in there with a job as a topless dancer and begins her search for him. Eventually, with the help of his former mistress, they find the lumber camp he was working in, only to discover that he was killed in a labor dispute.

The Death of a Lumberjack

1973

Pudding chômeur poster
5.5

Deliberately Felliniesque, this surreal and uneven Canadian satire from iconoclastic French Canadian director Gilles Carle offers an episodic look into an anarchistic, metaphorical world filled with a bizarre assortment of weirdos, wackos and misanthropes. The story roughly centers on the adventures of Yo-Yo, a young woman who is first seen acting as a high priestess for a ceremony involving the miraculous healing powers of the little boy Alphonse.

Pudding chômeur

1996

Fantastica poster
6.2

In this French–Canadian oddity of music and drama, an actress in a traveling musical revue is involved with the show's director until she meets and falls for an aging ecological activist. He too is drawn to her, and together they try to stop a factory from being built over an old-growth forest.

Fantastica

1980

Fantastica poster
6.2

In this French–Canadian oddity of music and drama, an actress in a traveling musical revue is involved with the show's director until she meets and falls for an aging ecological activist. He too is drawn to her, and together they try to stop a factory from being built over an old-growth forest.

Fantastica

1980

The Big Swim poster
7.0

This short documentary shows Canada's top swimmers in training for the 1964 Olympic Games. Under the critical eye of coach Ed Healy, they practice long hours in the gym and in the pool to build strength and stamina.

The Big Swim

1964

Solange in Our Countryside or Very Little for Me, the Sun poster
9.0

In a lonely setting, a teenage girl dreams. She is bored, manifests childish rebellions: her nascent personality rears up and asserts itself. "Be our star," suggests a director of women's pages. What will this flight to the world of work bring to Solange?

Solange in Our Countryside or Very Little for Me, the Sun

1964

Solange in Our Countryside or Very Little for Me, the Sun poster
9.0

In a lonely setting, a teenage girl dreams. She is bored, manifests childish rebellions: her nascent personality rears up and asserts itself. "Be our star," suggests a director of women's pages. What will this flight to the world of work bring to Solange?

Solange in Our Countryside or Very Little for Me, the Sun

1964

Blood of the Hunter poster
8.0

In this period thriller set near the turn of the century, Jan Thoreau is a Canadian trapper who lives with his wife Marie in a small community in the wilderness not far from Hudson Bay. Blake is a disturbed drifter who has murdered a man and has found a way to frame Jan for his crime. Jan is out tending to his traps when an Indian friend with psychic talents tells him Marie is in grave danger. Jan hurries back, but he has no idea just how serious matters are until he arrives home -- Jan is wanted by the law for a crime he didn't commit, while Blake is hiding out in his home, and has taken Marie hostage.

Blood of the Hunter

1995

Blood of the Hunter poster
8.0

In this period thriller set near the turn of the century, Jan Thoreau is a Canadian trapper who lives with his wife Marie in a small community in the wilderness not far from Hudson Bay. Blake is a disturbed drifter who has murdered a man and has found a way to frame Jan for his crime. Jan is out tending to his traps when an Indian friend with psychic talents tells him Marie is in grave danger. Jan hurries back, but he has no idea just how serious matters are until he arrives home -- Jan is wanted by the law for a crime he didn't commit, while Blake is hiding out in his home, and has taken Marie hostage.

Blood of the Hunter

1995

The Rape of a Sweet Young Girl poster
5.6

When a sexually promiscuous young woman finds herself pregnant and unmarried her three brothers vow to find the man responsible and punish him for what they consider the rape of their sister.

The Rape of a Sweet Young Girl

1968

The Rape of a Sweet Young Girl poster
5.6

When a sexually promiscuous young woman finds herself pregnant and unmarried her three brothers vow to find the man responsible and punish him for what they consider the rape of their sister.

The Rape of a Sweet Young Girl

1968

La Tête de Normande St-Onge poster
6.0

Working as a pharmacy clerk while dreaming of escape through dance, Normande St-Onge supports a household of dependent and unstable relatives. As her efforts to protect and hold together her improvised family intensify, the pressures of exploitation, eviction, and emotional isolation push her toward psychological collapse. Directed by Gilles Carle, the film blurs the boundary between fantasy and breakdown.

La Tête de Normande St-Onge

1975

No artwork available
10.0

Shows Canada's top swimmers in training for the 1964 Olympic Games. In gymnasium and pool, under the critical eye of coach Ed Healy, they practise long hours to build strength and stamina. Their first test, shown in the film, was at the 1962 Canadian Swimming Championships, at which they carried off a number of trophies.

The Big Swim

1963

The Postmistress poster
5.5

In 1935, in a Quebec village, a boy observes with curiosity the little intrigues of the adult world.

The Postmistress

1992

The Postmistress poster
5.5

In 1935, in a Quebec village, a boy observes with curiosity the little intrigues of the adult world.

The Postmistress

1992

The Other Side of the Law poster
5.3

With two shots from a rifle, the life of a man and his young son are forever changed. Jurgen Prochnow stars in this chilling tale of a man who is forced to seek justice on his own after his wife is brutally raped.

The Other Side of the Law

1994

No artwork available
NR

Compilation film of the three shorts: "Caroline", "Françoise", and "Solange dans nos campagnes".

Three Women

1964

The Angel and the Woman poster
4.5

Unable to keep her social commentary to herself and concentrate solely on her show dancing, the girl in this film is shot to death in the Quebec woods by people who don't want propagandizing about Chile to be openly voiced. She is discovered by a mysterious stranger, who heals her wounds and reanimates her by blowing on them. After he takes her back to his cabin, they fall in love.

The Angel and the Woman

1977

The Angel and the Woman poster
4.5

Unable to keep her social commentary to herself and concentrate solely on her show dancing, the girl in this film is shot to death in the Quebec woods by people who don't want propagandizing about Chile to be openly voiced. She is discovered by a mysterious stranger, who heals her wounds and reanimates her by blowing on them. After he takes her back to his cabin, they fall in love.

The Angel and the Woman

1977

The True Nature of Bernadette poster
6.1

Bernadette has a yen to chuck it all and go back to nature, in this French-language Canadian film. That's just what she does after carefully leaving her wedding ring where her affluent husband, a lawyer, can see it. She has bought a farm, complete with a run-down farmhouse and a live-in cranky old man. Soon, because of the wonderful effects that her sympathy and her outsider's perspective have, her neighbors perceive great improvements in their lives. They attribute these changes to something miraculous (perhaps taking a cue from her name), and hordes of needy people descend on her farm.

The True Nature of Bernadette

1972

The True Nature of Bernadette poster
6.1

Bernadette has a yen to chuck it all and go back to nature, in this French-language Canadian film. That's just what she does after carefully leaving her wedding ring where her affluent husband, a lawyer, can see it. She has bought a farm, complete with a run-down farmhouse and a live-in cranky old man. Soon, because of the wonderful effects that her sympathy and her outsider's perspective have, her neighbors perceive great improvements in their lives. They attribute these changes to something miraculous (perhaps taking a cue from her name), and hordes of needy people descend on her farm.

The True Nature of Bernadette

1972

The Heavenly Bodies poster
7.0

A pimp and his seven working girls move to a small conservative mining town in northern Quebec to establish a brothel.

The Heavenly Bodies

1973

The Heavenly Bodies poster
7.0

A pimp and his seven working girls move to a small conservative mining town in northern Quebec to establish a brothel.

The Heavenly Bodies

1973

Red the Half Breed poster
4.9

The illegitimate son of an Indian woman and a French Canadian man leaves home and is attacked when he tries to return.

Red the Half Breed

1970

Red the Half Breed poster
4.9

The illegitimate son of an Indian woman and a French Canadian man leaves home and is attacked when he tries to return.

Red the Half Breed

1970

No artwork available
9.0

A young police officer goes through Abitibi to take a train with a young convict who escaped from her orphanage.

The Machine Age

1978

No artwork available
9.0

A young police officer goes through Abitibi to take a train with a young convict who escaped from her orphanage.

The Machine Age

1978

Maria Chapdelaine poster
6.2

A young woman, living with her parents and siblings on a remote farm in harsh, picturesque northern Québec, has three suitors: a steady and unimaginative farmer, Eutrope, the Americanized and wealthy Lorenzo, who has sought his fortune in Boston, and François Paradis, a rough and virile logger who captures her heart despite the warnings of her parents and the village priest. For a year, marked by seasonal change in an atmosphere charged with the strangeness of Indians and the demons of the woods, we see Maria at work and prayer, struggling with decisions, choosing to stay in Canada, in love with François, seeking to change his rough behaviors, and dealing with extraordinary loss.

Maria Chapdelaine

1983

Maria Chapdelaine poster
6.2

A young woman, living with her parents and siblings on a remote farm in harsh, picturesque northern Québec, has three suitors: a steady and unimaginative farmer, Eutrope, the Americanized and wealthy Lorenzo, who has sought his fortune in Boston, and François Paradis, a rough and virile logger who captures her heart despite the warnings of her parents and the village priest. For a year, marked by seasonal change in an atmosphere charged with the strangeness of Indians and the demons of the woods, we see Maria at work and prayer, struggling with decisions, choosing to stay in Canada, in love with François, seeking to change his rough behaviors, and dealing with extraordinary loss.

Maria Chapdelaine

1983

Manger poster
7.0

This documentary explores the economic, sociological, and cultural aspects of food systems and consumption in a major city, focusing on the disconnect between food production and consumption.

Manger

1961

The Plouffe Family poster
6.9

The lives of the average Quebecois Plouffe family during the final years of the depression and through World War II.

The Plouffe Family

1981

The Plouffe Family poster
6.9

The lives of the average Quebecois Plouffe family during the final years of the depression and through World War II.

The Plouffe Family

1981

The Merry World of Leopold Z poster
6.4

A worker, called in a hurry to remove the snow in the city street, try to buy his remaining gifts in the tumult of Christmas eve without quitting his work.

The Merry World of Leopold Z

1965

The Merry World of Leopold Z poster
6.4

A worker, called in a hurry to remove the snow in the city street, try to buy his remaining gifts in the tumult of Christmas eve without quitting his work.

The Merry World of Leopold Z

1965

Skybolt poster
5.0

A young pilot witnesses the unintentional murder of her two sons (by a rich, drunken couple driving carelessly) and, following a court's decision not to press criminal charges, she decides to get her revenge.

Skybolt

1986

Skybolt poster
5.0

A young pilot witnesses the unintentional murder of her two sons (by a rich, drunken couple driving carelessly) and, following a court's decision not to press criminal charges, she decides to get her revenge.

Skybolt

1986