In the early 1990s director Jean Beaudin was involved in several high profile television mini-series projects in Quebec. Starting with Émilie (Les Filles de Caleb)in 1990, based on the best selling novel by Arlette Cousture and its sequel Blanche. In the mix was Ces Enfants d'Ailleurs and Shehaweh.
The last one is about a young Iroquois girl captured in a french raid on her village. She is brought back to Ville Marie (Montreal) and repeated attempts to "civilize" and "Christianize" her fail. She is shipped to France as a curiosity to be presented at court. Eventually she is forced to convert and is sent to a convent where she is mistreated. Again she reverts to her "savage" ways and becomes almost feral.
I won't reveal the ending, but her whole journey is quite fascinating. The production values were very good. The first native culture is treated with respect.
If the series has one major fault, it's in Beaudin's casting of Marina Orsini, a french Canadian woman of Italian descent as the title character. With the success of Les Filles de Caleb she was probably part of the packaging that got the financing for the project. It's a shame. There are many good native actors who could have done the part justice, and chiselled ex-fashion model Orsini, quite frankly, takes you out of the story. Her casting is all the more glaring as time goes by and people become acutely aware of white washing in films and television.
The last one is about a young Iroquois girl captured in a french raid on her village. She is brought back to Ville Marie (Montreal) and repeated attempts to "civilize" and "Christianize" her fail. She is shipped to France as a curiosity to be presented at court. Eventually she is forced to convert and is sent to a convent where she is mistreated. Again she reverts to her "savage" ways and becomes almost feral.
I won't reveal the ending, but her whole journey is quite fascinating. The production values were very good. The first native culture is treated with respect.
If the series has one major fault, it's in Beaudin's casting of Marina Orsini, a french Canadian woman of Italian descent as the title character. With the success of Les Filles de Caleb she was probably part of the packaging that got the financing for the project. It's a shame. There are many good native actors who could have done the part justice, and chiselled ex-fashion model Orsini, quite frankly, takes you out of the story. Her casting is all the more glaring as time goes by and people become acutely aware of white washing in films and television.