The Dog Who Stopped the War
| The Dog Who Stopped the War | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | André Mélançon |
| Produced by |
Rock Demers Nicole Robert |
| Written by |
Roger Cantin Danyèle Patenaude |
| Starring |
Cédric Jourde Marie-Pierre A. D'Amour Julien Elie Minh Vu Duc Maryse Cartwright |
| Music by | Germain Gauthier |
| Cinematography | François Protat |
| Edited by | André Corriveau |
Release dates |
25 October 1985 (USA) 3 October 1984 (QC) |
Running time | 92 mins |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | Quebec French |
The Dog Who Stopped the War, or in original Quebec French La guerre des tuques, is a French Canadian drama film from Quebec, directed by André Mélançon. The film is the 1st in the Tales for All (Contes pour tous) series of children's movies created by Les Productions la Fête.[1][2][3]
Plot
The film involves a huge snowball fight between the children of a town who split into two rival gangs, one defending a snow castle, the other attacking it. The attackers are led by a boy who styles himself as "General Luc" and has a reputation for being bossy. The defenders are outnumbered and led by Marc, who owns a dog named Cleo. They also have the genius boy Francois on their side.
Francois designs a massive, elaborate snow fortress, and Marc's group constructs it. Luc arrives with his army, wearing makeshift armour and wielding wooden swords. They attempt to scale the walls with a ladder, but Luc is injured in the battle and orders a retreat. They regroup and stage a second, more covert attack, but they are spotted and beaten back again with snowballs soaked in ink.
Luc counters by attacking a third time, this time with his army dressed in garbage bags as protection from the ink. They overwhelm the fort's defences, and Marc and Francois escape via toboggan through a secret tunnel. The two groups meet and agree to have one final battle to determine the winner.
Luc shows up for the final siege with an even larger army, having recruited additional (younger) children with chocolate. They also possess new weapons such as slingshots and a snowball cannon. Luc orders them to charge, and despite being slowed by barricades, they eventually breach the fortress walls and engage in melee combat with the defenders. Marc's dog Cleo comes after her owner, and one of the fortress walls collapses, killing her. The war ends, as both sides help bury her.
The song at the end of the movie is performed by Nathalie Simard.
Reception
The film won the Golden Reel Award at the 6th Genie Awards in 1985, as Canada's top-grossing film of the previous year.
An iconic line, "La guerre, la guerre, c'est pas une raison pour se faire mal!" (Directly translated: War, war, it's not a reason to hurt each other!) became a popular slogan against the Iraq war in 2003.[4]
An animated remake, Snowtime! (La Guerre des tuques 3D), was released in 2015.[5]
See also
References
- ↑ Hal Erickson, Rovi. "The Dog Who Stopped the War (1984)". nytimes.com. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
- ↑ "La Guerre Des Tuques - The Dog Who Stopped The War (1984)". thewildboys.flickzone1.info. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
- ↑ "The Dog Who Stopped the War". thecanadianencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
- ↑ Evry, Max. "'Kings of Summer' and The 5 Craziest Things Kids Have Built in .". film.com. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
- ↑ "La Guerre des Tuques takes aim at a new generation". Q, December 16, 2015.