Year: 1964
Language: French
Format: 35mm Black & White
Runtime: 87 min
Director: Pierre Patry
Executive Producer: Roger Blais
Writer: Jean-Claude Lord, Pierre Patry
Cinematographer: Jean Roy
Editor: Lucien Marleau
Sound: Joseph Champagne
Music: Claude Léveillée
Cast: Lucien Hamelin, Louise Rémy, Percy Rodriguez, Henry Tremblay, Yves Corbeil, Roland Chenail
Production Company: Coopératio Inc.

Lucien Charette (Lucien Hamelin), a student in a Montreal collège classique, resists the authority of the priests who are his teachers and longs to pursue artistic endeavours – such as starting a film club and taking part in a theatre group – that in the eyes of the priests verge on blasphemy. Even his love for Lise (Louise Rémy) proves problematic. Lucien’s troubles begin to escalate when a rival for Lise’s affections encourages the other students to ostracize Lucien. When his mother dies, his father accuses him of hastening her death, and at school he is accused of cheating and expelled. Soon afterward, he is involved in the accidental death of a homosexual. Seized by panic, he accepts responsibility but his desperate pleas for forgiveness go unheard.

The first commercially produced Quebec feature of the sixties, Trouble fête was widely admired by critics and enjoyed considerable success at the box office, which enabled the film’s co-operative production company, Coopératio (established by Roger Blais, Pierre Patry, Jean-Claude Lord and others), to produce five more features over the next few years. The film’s theme of rebellious youth (particularly against a restrictive education system) was symptomatic of the times, but also reflects traditional concerns with sex, guilt and remorse.

By: Peter Morris