
Robert Gravel
Acting
Biography
Robert Gravel (14 September 1944 – 12 August 1996) was an actor, dramatist, theatrical director and teacher. He was an influential figure in the modern history of theatre in Quebec. In the middle of the 1970s, Gravel, Jean-Pierre Ronfard and Pol Pelletier co-founded the Théâtre Expérimental de Montréal (TEM). Later ideological conflicts led to the foundation of the Nouveau Théâtre Expérimental. In 1977, Gravel co-founded with Yvon Leduc the highly successful Ligue Nationale d'Improvisation. He died in Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon in 1996 and was entombed at the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery in Montreal
Known For

La petite vie was first a stage sketch of the comedy duo Ding et Dong, formed by Claude Meunier and Serge Thériault, and later a hit Quebec television sitcom aired by Radio-Canada from 1993 to 1999. In total, 59 episodes were created plus 3 specials, two for Christmas and one for New Year's 2000. It is to date the only Canadian TV show to ever gather more than 4 million viewers, a performance it achieved twice in 1995.
La Petite Vie

No description available.
L'Héritage

In 1955 Florida, a Korean vet has a breakdown and is incarcerated in a "maximum security" mental health prison, where patients are abused.
Chattahoochee

Working as a pharmacy clerk while dreaming of escape through dance, Normande St-Onge supports a household of dependent and unstable relatives. As her efforts to protect and hold together her improvised family intensify, the pressures of exploitation, eviction, and emotional isolation push her toward psychological collapse. Directed by Gilles Carle, the film blurs the boundary between fantasy and breakdown.
La Tête de Normande St-Onge

At the trial of a judge who was found with a prostitute, a list of clients pops up. It contains the names of some very influential judges and politicians. Then, dead bodies and death threats erupt. Jacques is the trial judge and his own life seems to be in danger...
Black List

Although he is something of a layabout, and is still living with his mother, her death comes as something of a shock to Louis Pelletier (Gilbert Sicotte). Still, he has hopes of some sort of legacy and believes that his relatives will help him find a job. All his hopes are dashed when, before the funeral, his three aunts come to Quebec City to settle their sister's estate. As grasping and efficient a crew as ever strode a parlor, by the time they leave, the estate has been cleaned to the bones, as if by vultures.
Les vautours

The title of this French-Canadian film translates to In the Belly of the Dragon, but don't assume that it's just another kung fu epic. Rather, the film is a likeable mixture of science fiction and humor, centered around the money-making schemes of star David La Haye. Unable to make ends meet with his minimum-wage job, La Haye hires himself out as a guinea pig to genially loopy scientist Marie Tifo. It is the doctor's contention that a person's intelligence can be artificially increased. La Haye proves her right...up to a point, that is. Extremely popular in Canada, Dans le Ventre du Dragon has yet to receive proper distribution in the States.
Dans le ventre du dragon

Florent Boissonneault and his young wife Elise always had one dream: own a restaurant. When they meet a strange old man, Egon Ratablavasky, their dream become reality, but only to quick turn into a nightmare when they sadly discover they had been tricked by him, and lost everything. But their dream is not dead, and a strong desire of avenging soon bring them back in business, with the help of an homeless kid, a french cook and a friendly journalist. But the old man still had trick on for them his bag...
The Alley Cat

A pleasant fantasy about the setbacks experienced by a young man who loves costumes. His wife having left him, he goes after her to live some rather funny adventures.
Les « troubbes » de Johnny
Soho, an aspiring young woman of about 30, lives on the fringe with all those who, like her, believe that one day they will be a famous writer, a star dancer or a famous director. While waiting for that day, they take up yoga, positive thinking, or various forms of electronic macramé. One hot summer evening, Soho meets 18-year-old Choubie, the other generation with a bright future ahead of her. At 102o, in the shade, in a suburban basement, Soho realizes that she is no longer young, almost poor, and that meditation has not opened the doors of any paradise, even earthly.
Soho

Charles Renard, a police officer who has lost his hearing following an ear injury during an operation, is entrusted upon his return to work with the investigation of credit card thefts committed by a woman who uses newspaper classified ads to lure her prey.
Mistaken Person

A young man in his thirties goes to his father's house in the hope of telling him once and for all what he has always wanted to tell him. Then begins an endless nightmare.
Les mots magiques

A docudrama on the closing of the town of Schefferville. When Raoul loses his job at the mine because the operations are ending, he's been settled there for ten years with Carmen and their son. They're now forced to leave the town, leaving behind the traces of an ephemeral prosperity.
The Last Glacier

In 1953, in the Gaspé forest, there are three bodies half eaten by bears. Fearing repercussions on tourism and investment, Prime minister Maurice Duplessis decided to make an example accusing Wilbert Coffin.
The Coffin Affair

Les Grands Enfants does not tell a story in the traditional sense. Instead, it offers an honest image of people's dreams of change : people often unemployed, dissatisfied in some way with their work, or caught up in complicated social relationships. The film is set in Montreal.
Les grands enfants

A woman agrees to a marriage of convenience with a refugee.
A Paper Wedding

A government ministry's fast-rising head of security asks a shadowy fixer, Meursault, to steal a bag from an armored truck. Meursault goes to Théo, a former night club owner, in prison for two years on false charges, who's being released in exchange for information about Montreal's underworld. Théo agrees to steal the bag for money and safe passage to the US for himself and his son Robin. Théo brings in two helpers, Gilder, ex-con and set designer, and Roxanne, Gilder's friend, a tough-minded petty thief. Their elaborate plan blows up when a guard, Marcel, takes his responsibilities too seriously. What happens to father and son? Will any of the thieves escape?
Blind Trust

Deliberately Felliniesque, this surreal and uneven Canadian satire from iconoclastic French Canadian director Gilles Carle offers an episodic look into an anarchistic, metaphorical world filled with a bizarre assortment of weirdos, wackos and misanthropes. The story roughly centers on the adventures of Yo-Yo, a young woman who is first seen acting as a high priestess for a ceremony involving the miraculous healing powers of the little boy Alphonse.
Pudding chômeur

A mentally deficient man spends New Year's Eve in front of the television in his dingy rooming house, in the company of his landlord. The two spend the evening drinking and watching a ten-year summary of global catastrophes before the ominous programming is capped-off with well wishes for the New Year.
Moments Before the New Year

A friendship between a good man with bowling as his only passion and a queer albino.