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Ovide's wife Rita continues to flirt with other men after marriage. Unhappy Ovide falls for Marie but can't divorce due to his Catholic beliefs. He breaks up with Marie and plans a trip with Rita, hoping to reconcile, but cancels.
The lives of the average Quebecois Plouffe family during the final years of the depression and through World War II.
Ovide Plouffe has married Rita. She still tries to attract other men even after their marriage. Unhappy Ovide feels for Marie - a young French woman he had met. But his catholic background and surrounding can't let him love another woman or divorce from his wife. So Ovide finishes with Marie and plans a trip with Rita hoping for reconciliation. At the last instant he announces to Rita that he can't make the trip. She goes alone. The plane explodes, and Ovide is suspected and arrested for this horrible crime.
Toby and his sister Liz live with their aunt and uncle, who take in Cambodian orphan Hoang while he awaits foster placement. The trio become fast friends, and, as they explore a nearby wood, encounter a retired engineer living in an abandoned freight car. Playing off Toby's already active imagination, the kids and the engineer use the train car to make a fantastic journey to Cambodia.
Staged in old Québec City, this film is about a rebel against the time-clock, whose hobby was snaring birds but whose dream was to escape the bonds of domesticity. A kindly satire of the dreamer in every man, the film is also a memorable portrait of Québec, the "Grande Dame" of Canadian cities.
