Le party (1990)

Director:

Pierre Falardeau

Writer:

Pierre Falardeau (writer)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

La liberté n'est pas une marque de yogourt!

Plot:

At a maximum security prison, there is preparation for the annual party where entertainers and strippers are scheduled to perform...

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Striptease | Rape Scene | Jail | Cross Dressing

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Charlotte Laurier	...	Alexandra
Benoît Dagenais	...	Becique
Julien Poulin	...	Boyer
Lou Babin	...	Chanteuse western
Roger Léger	...	Francis
André Doucet	...	Ginette
Gildor Roy	...	Jacques
Louise Laprade	...	Journaliste
Luc Proulx	...	Julien
Andréa Parro	...	Lili
Jacques Desrosiers	...	M.C.
Angèle Coutu	...	Mimi
Alexis Martin	...	Pierrot
Pierre Powers	...	Pinceau
Michel Forget	...	Romeo Mongrain

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Association Coopérative des Productions Audio-Visuelles (ACPAV)

Soundtrack:

Les Portes du penitencier

A movie that disproves the argument that prisons can rehabilitate.

Although this isn't a great film, there was something about the film that interested me. The film portrays prison as just a place where they cage people, without using the opportunity to change their prisoners so they can be of use to society.

The story of an annual party help at a maximum-security prison in Quebec is just the stage for seeing the unhappy lives of several prisoners who are being interviewed by a journalist. The prisoners seem to have not changed a bit from the day they were incarcerated. The movies shows that prisons don't try to rehabilitate the men incarcerated there and just keep them jailed to keep them from society and to make the victims happy. Jail should be used as a way to help criminals turn their lives around. The idea of locking people in jail for 5 or more years is just a waste of tax money and proves that governments can't seem to find a way to help criminals rehabilitate. I'm not saying those who are mass murderers deserve this; there are some special cases, but some criminals won't benefit from 10-15 in the pen. The movie does a good job arguing for prison reform.

The film (in French-Canadian with English subtitles) is pretty rough in content. There's a lot of French-Canadian profanity, drug use, and some graphic violence. The saddest part is seeing the rowdy behavior of the 300 prisoners there, none of them seem likeable, and none of them look like they're anywhere close of being ready for society. I think a party featuring strippers, shock comedians, cross dressing singers, prostitutes, and the singer wife a fellow prisoner who isn't at the party because he is in the hole for being wrongly accused of bribery while allowing them to get stinking drunk is not a good idea. I think they should have brought in B.B. King to perform, he would have been a solution to the problem, because he never would play in the prison for money; just for the opportunity to touch souls who need it. Of course, that isn't the French-Canadian way, I guess.