C't'à ton tour, Laura Cadieux

C't'à ton tour, Laura Cadieux

C't'à ton tour, Laura Cadieux (It's Your Turn, Laura Cadieux, 1998) is an adaptation of a Michel TREMBLAY novel by stage veteran Denise FILIATRAULT in her feature-film debut. The film follows the story of a group of women who meet each week, some for more than 15 years, in a waiting room of a doctor who, with his know-how and needles, is supposed to make them slimmer. But this objective is only part of the reason they're there. For these women, the pleasure of meeting and escaping their lonely lives is what counts most, and the later the doctor arrives, the more time they have to talk about their problems in life, gossip about other people's love lives, tell off-colour jokes, and generally bond with one another.

They also criticize, nag, complain, and snipe, but this is not a nasty film and it is evident the women like each other. One day during the waiting room "party," one of the ladies, Madame Therrien (Pierrette Robitaille), begins searching for the child of her pal, Laura Cadieux (an impressive performance by popular Québec chanteuse Ginette RENO), whom she believes is lost in the Montréal subway system. He turns up shortly after Madame Therrien leaves in search of him, leading to a series of misunderstandings.

Like all the characters created by Michel Tremblay, these women are endearing because they are real. As in his other stage work (Les Belles-soeurs comes to mind), Tremblay bears witness to the trials and tribulations of the French-Canadian working class with a sense of comedy mixed with tragedy.

The film was a huge success in Québec and led to a sequel in 1999, Laura Cadieux . . . la suite.