Paule Baillargeon

Acting

Paule Baillargeon

Born 1945-07-19 · Val d'Or, Québec, Canada

Paule Baillargeon (born July 19, 1945) is a Québec actress and film director. She won the Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film I've Heard the Mermaids Singing, and was a nominee for Best Director for The Sex of the Stars (Le Sexe des étoiles). Her film roles have included August 32nd on Earth (Un 32 août sur terre), Jesus of Montreal (Jésus de Montréal), The Neighbours (Les voisins), Réjeanne Padovani and Days of Darkness (L'Âge des ténèbres).

Acting credits

Montreal Stories poster
5.0

Six stories about Montreal. 1: A young housewife from Toronto samples the nightlife using basic French. 2: The tale of a painting of Montreal's first mayor, Jacques Viger. 3: During a hockey game, Madeleine tries to tell Roger she wants a divorce after forty years of marriage. 4: A visitor to a conference on pictographs arrives at the airport, where the female customs officer steals a momento from each person. 5: As she is being driven to the hospital in an ambulance after an auto accident, Sarah recalls her life. 6: At a diplomatic reception, an older woman reminisces about her grand love in Montreal.

Montreal Stories

1991

August 32nd on Earth poster
6.5

After escaping unscathed from a car accident, photo model Simone decides that having a baby is the only way to give her vacant life some meaning. She asks her best friend Philippe to get her pregnant, and he reluctantly agrees, on the condition that they conceive somewhere in a desert, so they leave Montréal on a 24-hour round-trip to Salt Lake City to find a suitable spot.

August 32nd on Earth

1999

Days of Darkness poster
6.4

Jean-Marc is a man without qualities living in times that are out of joint. His wife and children ignore him; he's a mid-level government functionary in Montreal doing his job without care. He has an active imagination of sexual conquest, but his only real feelings come when he visits his aged mother, whose health is failing. When his wife leaves abruptly to work in Toronto, Jean-Marc sets out to reorder things with his daughters, his social life, and at work. In a world that at best is a farce, does he stand a chance?

Days of Darkness

2007

Les vautours poster
7.0

Although he is something of a layabout, and is still living with his mother, her death comes as something of a shock to Louis Pelletier (Gilbert Sicotte). Still, he has hopes of some sort of legacy and believes that his relatives will help him find a job. All his hopes are dashed when, before the funeral, his three aunts come to Quebec City to settle their sister's estate. As grasping and efficient a crew as ever strode a parlor, by the time they leave, the estate has been cleaned to the bones, as if by vultures.

Les vautours

1975

Jesus of Montreal poster
6.8

A group of actors putting on an interpretive Passion Play in Montreal begin to experience a meshing of their characters and their private lives as the production takes form against the growing opposition of the Catholic church.

Jesus of Montreal

1989

The Private Life of Cinema poster
NR

A two-part in-depth exploration of the evolution of the private film industry, seen through the eyes of more than 50 industry professionals. Part One (1939-1979) : Artists and professionals from the social and commercial film sectors recount the struggle to build a film industry that is privately operated yet publicly funded. Part Two (1980-2010) : Executives, policymakers, and industry professionals trace the origins of the major funding institutions and discuss the unintended consequences of building a cultural industry around performance metrics, revenue generation, and private profit.

The Private Life of Cinema

2011

From Office to Box-Office poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

From Office to Box-Office

2009

Gina poster
6.1

A beautiful stripper hires renowned criminals to exact revenge on those who raped her in her motel room.

Gina

1975

No artwork available
6.3

A stage director learns of his young actors' fears as they are setting up a new play.

Love-moi

1991

Claude Jutra: An Unfinished Story poster
6.0

A revealing look at the great Quebecois director who gave us such classic films as Mon Oncle Antoine, A toute prendre and Kamouraska: Power of Passion. Amidst the rise of French-Canadian identity and the political struggles of the '60s, Jutra was at the forefront of a group of artists dedicated to social change and attacking taboo.

Claude Jutra: An Unfinished Story

2002

Filming Desire: A Journey Through Women’s Cinema poster
8.0

The film consists largely of a series of interviews with female filmmakers from several different countries and filmmaking eras. Some, such as Agnès Varda and Catherine Breillat (both from France), have been making films for decades in a conscious effort to provide an alternative to the male filmmaking model; others, such as Moufida Tlatli (Tunisia) and Carine Adler (England), are relative newcomers to directing, and their approaches seem more personal and less political. The film as a whole manages to cover some important topics in the feminist debate about film -- how does one construct a female gaze, how can one film nude bodies without objectifying the actors (of either sex), what constitutes a strong female role -- while also making it clear that “women’s film” comprises as many different approaches to filmmaking as there are female filmmakers.

Filming Desire: A Journey Through Women’s Cinema

2000

Angel Life poster
10.0

Two strangers have a fateful one-night stand in Montréal.

Angel Life

1979

Before the Time Comes poster
9.0

Hélène is a woman who already has, in her view, quite enough children. For some time she has secretly been taking birth control pills, but now she is too old to use them safely. When her husband Gabriel discovers the pills, he is distressed, since he wants a large family. The two of them discuss their differing attitudes and desires but come to no resolution.

Before the Time Comes

1975

I've Heard the Mermaids Singing poster
5.7

Scatterbrained Polly gets a job as a secretary in Gabrielle's art gallery. Polly aspires to be a professional photographer, and idolizes Gabrielle for her artistic ability. When Gabrielle rekindles an old romantic relationship with the younger painter Mary, Polly becomes jealous, and discovers Gabrielle isn’t exactly who she claims to be.

I've Heard the Mermaids Singing

1987

A Family Secret poster
5.4

A woman learns secrets about her family while attending the funeral of her father.

A Family Secret

2006

The Neighbours poster
8.1

Three couples meet at one of them for a slide show evening. But nobody takes pleasure in this evening, where triumphs the banality of the exchanges: it is a socialization forced by the bonds of the neighborhood, devoid of empathy or sincerity.

The Neighbours

1987

No artwork available
8.0

The experiences of a volunteer in a clinic for terminally ill patients.

Les Heures Précieuses

1989

Et du fils poster
7.0

Set on an ice-encircled island in the St. Lawrence, this is a drama of passion and violence. An old man, attached to his ancestral home and traditions, is confronted by his son, an immature young man who has no time for these values. The outcome is tragic as the father refuses to let his home fall into the hands of outsiders.

Et du fils

1972

No artwork available
6.0

No synopsis available yet.

Ma voisine danse le ska

2003

Four Stiffs and a Trombone poster
7.0

An actor works as night watchman at a film studio where a musical serial killer strikes.

Four Stiffs and a Trombone

1991

Sonia poster
7.0

A woman deals with her mother, an arts professor, plunging into chaos due to Alzheimer's.

Sonia

1986

No artwork available
NR

A career guidance film about scientific research that shows the scientist as a methodical explorer of the unknown.

Do It Yourself

1969

Réjeanne Padovani poster
6.7

The unexpected return of his ex-wife and the assembly of a group of protesters both threaten to wreck a corrupt contractor's inauguration party for his new superhighway.

Réjeanne Padovani

1973

East End Hustle poster
4.3

Group of prostitutes who rely on each other to revolt against their sinister pimps. Their bid for freedom turns much more dangerous than they ever imagined.

East End Hustle

1976

Behind the camera

Montreal Stories poster
5.0

Six stories about Montreal. 1: A young housewife from Toronto samples the nightlife using basic French. 2: The tale of a painting of Montreal's first mayor, Jacques Viger. 3: During a hockey game, Madeleine tries to tell Roger she wants a divorce after forty years of marriage. 4: A visitor to a conference on pictographs arrives at the airport, where the female customs officer steals a momento from each person. 5: As she is being driven to the hospital in an ambulance after an auto accident, Sarah recalls her life. 6: At a diplomatic reception, an older woman reminisces about her grand love in Montreal.

Montreal Stories

1991

Solo poster
NR

Un homme seul. Une femme seule. Lui, à l'aide de son ordinateur, voudrait désormais pouvoir gérer ses relations amoureuses; elle, de son côté, désire continuer à mener une vie autonome. Philippe et Hélène vivent donc dans une bulle, en solitaires, soignant les blessures d'une relation précédente, jusqu'au jour où ils se rencontrent. C'est le coup de foudre! Mais ils ont si peu en commun, sinon la peur de se faire mal, de décevoir et d'être déçus, de se tromper à nouveau... A single man. A single woman. Him, only wanting to interact with romantic relationships through his computer screen. Her, wanting to have an autonomous life. Phillipe and Hélène live their lives in a solitary bubble, healing their wounds from a previous relationship, until they meet. It's love at first sight! but they have so little in common, except the fear of being hurt, of dissapointing or be dissapointed, of being wrong again...

Solo

1992

Claude Jutra: An Unfinished Story poster
6.0

A revealing look at the great Quebecois director who gave us such classic films as Mon Oncle Antoine, A toute prendre and Kamouraska: Power of Passion. Amidst the rise of French-Canadian identity and the political struggles of the '60s, Jutra was at the forefront of a group of artists dedicated to social change and attacking taboo.

Claude Jutra: An Unfinished Story

2002

Angel Life poster
10.0

Two strangers have a fateful one-night stand in Montréal.

Angel Life

1979

The Sex of the Stars poster
4.7

A 12-year-old girl faces a father she hardly remembers after his transition into a woman.

The Sex of the Stars

1993

The Red Kitchen poster
4.8

On a wedding day, women are confined to the kitchen to prepare the meal while the men wait to be served. While men talk politics and sports, women talk about their condition. A teenager observes the gap between the sexes. Co-directed by two actresses, Paule Baillargeon and Frederique Collin, The Red Kitchen is the birth of the Quebec women's cinema. The birth of the film was difficult, and funding has been largely achieved through donations from friends and a benefit concert. This war of the sexes takes place in a demanding formal research, based on the improvisation of the actors, whose preparation took place over long sessions in the workshop. The end result mixes black humour, horror and a very expressive fantasy that gave rise to heated debates.

The Red Kitchen

1980

The Red Kitchen poster
4.8

On a wedding day, women are confined to the kitchen to prepare the meal while the men wait to be served. While men talk politics and sports, women talk about their condition. A teenager observes the gap between the sexes. Co-directed by two actresses, Paule Baillargeon and Frederique Collin, The Red Kitchen is the birth of the Quebec women's cinema. The birth of the film was difficult, and funding has been largely achieved through donations from friends and a benefit concert. This war of the sexes takes place in a demanding formal research, based on the improvisation of the actors, whose preparation took place over long sessions in the workshop. The end result mixes black humour, horror and a very expressive fantasy that gave rise to heated debates.

The Red Kitchen

1980

The Red Kitchen poster
4.8

On a wedding day, women are confined to the kitchen to prepare the meal while the men wait to be served. While men talk politics and sports, women talk about their condition. A teenager observes the gap between the sexes. Co-directed by two actresses, Paule Baillargeon and Frederique Collin, The Red Kitchen is the birth of the Quebec women's cinema. The birth of the film was difficult, and funding has been largely achieved through donations from friends and a benefit concert. This war of the sexes takes place in a demanding formal research, based on the improvisation of the actors, whose preparation took place over long sessions in the workshop. The end result mixes black humour, horror and a very expressive fantasy that gave rise to heated debates.

The Red Kitchen

1980

Happiness Bound poster
2.0

Poetry and cinema merge as 11 filmmakers bring to life 21 poems by Québécois poets.

Happiness Bound

2007

Sonia poster
7.0

A woman deals with her mother, an arts professor, plunging into chaos due to Alzheimer's.

Sonia

1986

Sonia poster
7.0

A woman deals with her mother, an arts professor, plunging into chaos due to Alzheimer's.

Sonia

1986

No artwork available
7.0

Today, Edith is tired of being the favorite spectator of her parents, famous but somewhat outdated singers. She wants to sing too. But just as she decides to take the plunge, familiar demons come to revive her and remind her that there is only one singer in the family. And that she was born after her...

Le complexe d'Édith

1991

Anastasie oh ma chérie poster
NR

Anastasia chooses to lock herself in an apartment and tame through rituals. She barricades herself, to protect herself from external violence and the destructive invasion of family life.

Anastasie oh ma chérie

1977

Anastasie oh ma chérie poster
NR

Anastasia chooses to lock herself in an apartment and tame through rituals. She barricades herself, to protect herself from external violence and the destructive invasion of family life.

Anastasie oh ma chérie

1977

Trente tableaux poster
NR

Trente tableaux is a 2011 autobiographical feature documentary by Quebec film director Paule Baillargeon, made during her two-year film residency with the National Film Board of Canada. It is an anthology film composed of 30 short portraits—or tableau vivant—of her 66 years of life to date, reflecting her experiences as a woman in Quebec's changing society.

Trente tableaux

2011

Trente tableaux poster
NR

Trente tableaux is a 2011 autobiographical feature documentary by Quebec film director Paule Baillargeon, made during her two-year film residency with the National Film Board of Canada. It is an anthology film composed of 30 short portraits—or tableau vivant—of her 66 years of life to date, reflecting her experiences as a woman in Quebec's changing society.

Trente tableaux

2011