LES ORDRES subtly blends fiction and documentary realism in a chilling portrait of what can happen to a liberal democracy when the state imposes its power. In October 1970, when FLQ terrorists kidnapped a British diplomat and threatened to (and later did) murder a Quebec cabinet minister, Prime Minister Trudeau sanctioned the War Measures Act and sent the Canadian army into Montreal. Close to 500 ordinary citizens who had no connection to the terrorists were summarily arrested and held without charge. LES ORDRES is a reconstruction of 5 people's experience under arrest, based upon excerpts from their memoirs. With this film, Brault shared the prize for best director at the Cannes Film Festival in 1975; won the Quebec Critics Association prize for best film; and was awarded three Canadian Film Awards, for best feature, direction and script.
