Orders (1974)

Orders (original title: Les Ordres, known in the United States as: Orderers) is a 1974 Quebec historical drama film about the incarceration of innocent civilians during the 1970 October Crisis and the War Measures Act enacted by the Canadian government of Pierre Trudeau. It is the second film by director Michel Brault. It features entertainer and Senator Jean Lapointe.

The film tells the story of five of those incarcerated civilians. It is scripted but is inspired by a number of interviews with actual prisoners made during the events and its style is heavily inspired by the Quebec school of Cinéma vérité. It is a docufiction.

It won a Cannes Film Festival Award in 1975 and four Canadian Film Awards (predecessor of the Genie Awards) the same year. It was also selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 48th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. The film was selected to be screened in the Cannes Classics section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

Synopsis

En octobre 1970, à la suite des revendications et actes terroristes du Front de libération du Québec (FLQ), le gouvernement canadien adopte la Loi des mesures de guerre pour rétablir la loi et l'ordre. Cette mesure mènera à l'arrestation arbitraire d'environ 500 personnes, contre lesquelles aucune accusation ne sera portée. Le film suit cinq personnages fictifs durant cet épisode de l'histoire québécoise.

Actors