creative forces

Blog 29…January 2014

The film Gabrielle, in general release this week was Canada’s entry in the foreign language Oscars this year…it  didn’t make the short list but it’s definitely worth seeing for director Louise Archambault’s sensitive and realistic handling of the many issues of independence faced by individuals with disabilities.   

It made me think of a couple of involvements I had many years ago in Quebec during my life as an occupational therapist.  I handled the publication of CJOT, (Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy) and we chose as printer L’Atelier des Sourdes, a shop in Montreal that trains and employs deaf people – not being bothered by the noise in a print shop was an added benefit I guess.  My second discovery (and this was in the 70’s) was a shop, on a fashionable street, also in Montreal, that marketed beautiful articles made by people attending a centre that helped them deal with mental health problems.  Both the print shop and the store were taking creative approaches to help people make the most of their abilities, allowing them to enter the mainstream in a unique way - amongst the forerunners in a number of other activities taking this approach now.

But back to Gabrielle… the title role is played by a young woman with Williams syndrome, a form of neurological disorder that features expressive language skills and a strength and fondness for music as well as distinct learning disabilities.  Les Muses de Montreal is a choir of developmentally challenged adults, again played not by actors but real individuals (they keep their own names in the production) who are not only talented but extremely endearing for their enthusiasm and sense of community. Gabrielle and her fellow musicians struggle with the issues of maturing and seeking independence with the common ground of singing together (and with Robert Charlebois, it’s a real treat to see him interacting with the singers around his song Ordinary Guy).

We first meet Gabrielle as she’s falling in love with Martin, a fellow singer. Their love affair and wish for autonomy is met with resistance by their families who express their feelings with loaded phrases like “people like them”. Archambault uses a fictional approach with a touching performance by Gabrielle Marion-Rivard at the centre of the piece.  Her wishes to be normal, to have her own apartment and a love life like everyone else are expressed in a natural and unaffected way that brought a lump to my throat.  Gabrielle’s story challenges our notions of what’s normal and who fits the definition. It also reiterates and celebrates the power of music to erase the borders and bring us all together even if only for the length of a song.