Isabel

Learning of her mother`s serious illness, Isabel (Geneviève Bujold) returns to her family`s farm on the Gaspé Peninsula but her mother dies before she can get there. Days after the funeral she is left in a dark, lifeless home with her aged and ailing uncle Matthew (Gerard Parkes) and images of the family`s history, which includes domestic violence and incest as well as the mysterious deaths of her grandfather, who died in a freak accident, and her father and brother, who both drowned at sea. The house itself is full of eerie sights and sounds. Her relationship with a local (Marc Strange) helps her to escape her dark past. The film`s cinematography perfectly mirrors the young woman`s feelings with its dark, foggy landscapes. One of Bujold`s early English-speaking roles, Isabel won four Canadian Film Awards for Actor (Parkes), Actress (Bujold), Cinematography and Editing.

Isabel is the first of Paul Almond`s trilogy of films made with his then wife, Bujold. It was one of the first Canadian features to be picked-up for distribution by a major Hollywood studio, Paramount Pictures.

The image of Geneviève Bujold was scanned from a promotional still set in the Northernstars Collection.