Director's statement
Le Grand Sault (The Grand Falls) is loosely inspired by the legend of The White Lady of Montmorency, which has been part of the oral folklore of the Quebec City region for over 200 years. The heroine of the legend is Mathilde Robin, who was engaged to Louis Tessier, a stalwart young farmer. The story can be summarized as follows.After their hard day’s work, the young lovers would often meet near Montmorency Falls. They were to marry at the end of the summer and took great pleasure in discussing their upcoming wedding and future lives together, though Mathilde always refused to describe the wedding gown she had made; Louis was to see it only on their big day. The year was 1759. One July morning, the alert was given: the British were about to attack. Louis joined the other men to help defend the French colony. Sadly, he was killed in the Battle of Montmorency. After agonizing days of waiting for news, Mathilde finally discovered his lifeless body. Overcome with grief, she ended her own life by throwing herself over Montmorency Falls in her wedding gown. Since that day, the inhabitants of Île d’Orléans, across from the falls, say that on moonlit autumn evenings they sometimes see a young woman dressed in white at the foot of the precipice.
My fascination with this traditional tale stems not just from its being based on historical events, but also from its addressing the tragic effects of military combat in a very intimate way. Inspired by this 18th century legend, I wanted to create a contemporary story on the same theme so that the shift in time would underscore the immutable nature of the sentiments expressed. I believe that transposing the events to the present day makes the image of the White Lady even more meaningful, since Mathilde Robin’s timeless suffering continues to haunt our imagination. Her story is an ode to the victims of war, those who lose everything in conflicts that are not of their making. In this regard, the confrontation of the two eras was essential in that it allowed me to explore perceptions, manners and morals that, since the earliest armed conflicts, may have evolved, assumed other guises or disappeared. It also let me revisit a part of our fascinating oral heritage, which after all is a continuing melding of the sacred, superstitions and legends.