![]() The killer (played by Maxim Gaudette) is never named, although almost the entire content of Lépine’s suicide note is quoted verbatim (in voiceover) to leave no doubt as to his misogynistic motives. Although the characters’ names have all been invented, closing credits duly list and commemorate the real victims. “Out of respect for the victims and their families,” as text reveals at the film’s beginning, “all characters are fictitious”, their experiences composited from survivors’ testimonies. It would be another 20 years before the film Polytechnique would attempt to address, and even to a degree to heal, this deep wound in the Canadian conscience.ĭramatisations of recent true crimes demand a very special kind of sensitivity, and this early film from Denis Villeneuve – only his third feature, following 1998’s August 32nd on Earth and 2000’s Maelström – is a textbook example of how to approach such materials responsibly. ![]() ![]() A suicide note named ‘feminists’ as his express targets, and his actual rampage made it clear that in his mind this was a category encompassing any random women who happened to cross his path. On 6 December, Marc Lépine entered the École Polytechnique de Montréal – an institution which had twice rejected enrolment applications from him – with a semi-automatic rifle, and murdered 14 women (injuring a further 10 women and four men) before killing himself. Yet with progress there often comes a backlash. ![]() And on 2 December, Audrey McLaughlin was elected head of the New Democratic Party, becoming the first female leader of a major political party in Canadian history. On 19 May, the Pay Equity Act was introduced for public service employees. On 9 March, the Supreme Court declared moot an appeal brought by anti-abortionist Joseph Borowski, and so in effect established a protection from litigation for women asserting their reproductive rights. In Canada, 1989 was a year that saw several victories for women’s rights and representation. ![]()
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