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Réjeanne Padovani
Réjeanne Padovani
Directed by	Denys Arcand
Written by	Denys Arcand; Jacques Benoît
Produced by	Marguerite Duparc
Starring	Jean Lajeunesse; Luce Guilbeault; Léo Gagnon; Thérèse Cadorette;
Cinematography	Alain Dostie
Edited by	Denys Arcand; Marguerite Duparc
Music by	Walter Boudreau
Production; company	Cinak
Distributed by	Cinepix Film Properties
Release date	October 3, 1973;
Running time	96 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	French

Réjeanne Padovani is a Canadian drama film from Quebec, written and directed by Denys Arcand and released in 1973.^[1] It was his second narrative feature film as a director, but the first for which he was also the screenwriter alongside novelist Jacques Benoît (who also wrote his previous solo effort).

An examination of political corruption,^[2] the film stars Jean Lajeunesse as Vincent Padovani, a construction contractor with mafia ties who has just completed work on a major autoroute project, and is planning a major dinner party to thank the politicians who awarded him the contract. However, as the dinner approaches his plans are disrupted, both professionally by the launch of a public protest by several families whose homes were expropriated for the highway construction and personally by the return of Réjeanne (Luce Guilbeault), his ex-wife who is now married into the family of rival contractor Sam Tannenbaum (Henry Gamer).^[3]

Réjeanne Padovani and Wedding in White were the only two Canadian films screened at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival.^[4] The French newspaper Le Monde called Réjeanne Padovani one of the best films screened at the festival.^[4] The film was a Canadian Film Award nominee for Best Feature Film at the 25th Canadian Film Awards in 1973.^[5]

It was later screened at the 1984 Festival of Festivals as part of Front & Centre, a special retrospective program of artistically and culturally significant films from throughout the history of Canadian cinema.^[6]

During Quebec's Charbonneau Commission inquiry into corruption in the awarding of construction contracts in the early 2010s, the film received renewed attention with some media outlets calling it "prophetic".^[7]

References

^ "The rise of Denys Arcand". Montreal Gazette, March 21, 1987.
^ "Referendum led Quebec director to film about sex". Ottawa Citizen, February 16, 1987.
^ "Reflecting Quebec events through Padovani". The Globe and Mail, February 2, 1974.
^ ^a ^b "Le Monde calls Quebec film finest at Cannes". The Globe and Mail, May 17, 1973.
^ Betty Lee, "Seagull irritating, Summer Wishes soars, Slipstream not the expected blockbuster". The Globe and Mail, November 10, 1973.
^ Carole Corbeil, "The stars are coming out for Toronto's film festival". The Globe and Mail, September 6, 1984.
^ "Le cas Réjeanne Padovani". Le Devoir, January 19, 2013.