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My Friend Max
My Friend Max
French	Mon amie Max
Directed by	Michel Brault
Written by	Guy Fournier; Jefferson Lewis
Produced by	Aimée Danis; Carole Ducharme; Alain Rocca
Starring	Geneviève Bujold; Marthe Keller; Johanne McKay
Cinematography	Sylvain Brault
Edited by	Jacques Gagné
Music by	François Dompierre
Production; companies	Les Productions Lazennec; Les Productions du Verseau; National Film Board of Canada
Release date	February 18, 1994 (RVCQ);
Running time	106 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	French

My Friend Max (French: Mon amie Max) is a 1994 Canadian drama film, written by Guy Fournier and Jefferson Lewis, and directed by Michel Brault.^[1] The film premiered in February 1994 at the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois.^[2]

The film was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 67th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Plot

The film is set in contemporary Quebec City, Quebec.^[3]

Catherine (Marthe Keller), a concert pianist, is surprised one night by the arrival of her childhood friend Max (Geneviève Bujold), whom she hasn't seen for 25 years. Catherine and Max were students together at the Music Conservatory in Quebec City, and were the most promising pianists. While still in her teens, the adventurous Max gets pregnant. She wants to keep the child, but her domineering mother forces her to give him up for adoption. The rebellious Max then leaves Quebec and the music world. Now, years later, she returns, obsessed with finding her son. With the help of Catherine, she locates the adoption records and social workers contact her son to ask if he wants to see her. He refuses, but she keeps trying until they are reunited.^[4]

Cast

Geneviève Bujold as Marie-Alexandrine Brabant
Marthe Keller as Catherine Mercier
Johanne McKay as Marie-Alexandrine (adolescente)
Marie Guillard as Catherine (adolescente)
Michel Rivard as Denis Lajeunesse
Rita Lafontaine as Madame Brabant
Véronique Le Flaguais as Mme Michaud
Jean-Louis Roux as Père Berube
Patrice Bissonnette as Michael Simard

Awards and nominations

At RVCQ, Bujold won the award for Best Performance, McKay won the award for Most Promising Actor, and Guy Fournier and Jefferson Lewis won the award for Best Screenplay.^[5]

The film was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 67th Academy Awards,^[6] but was not accepted as a nominee.

It received six Genie Award nominations at the 15th Genie Awards in 1994, for Best Picture, Best Actress (Bujold), Best Supporting Actor (Rivard), Best Supporting Actress (McKay), Best Cinematography (Sylvain Brault) and Best Editing (Jacques Gagné).^[7]

References

^ Charles-Henri Ramond, "Mon amie Max – Film de Michel Brault". Films du Québec, February 3, 2009.
^ John Griffin, "Festival underscores health of Quebec cinema". Montreal Gazette, January 26, 1994.
^ Brendan Kelly, "Mon Amie Max". Variety, February 20, 1994.
^ John Griffin, "Max caused award-winning writer some pain". Montreal Gazette, February 20, 1994.
^ "Low-budget drama wins Quebec prize". Edmonton Journal, February 14, 1994.
^ Dan Bennett, "Palm Springs Film Festival productive event". North County Times, January 20, 1995.
^ John Griffin, "Exotica dominates Genie nominations". Montreal Gazette, October 20, 1994.