Fall 1993

Three years have passed since the end of Les Filles de Caleb. It was a long waiting period and the expectations were high. The mythical couple was back again. We would be reunited with Emilie and Ovila.

Waiting for Blanche was a painful experience for me as well as for the other fans of Ovila. We were all dying to see him again. But Blanche was beautiful series. As I had read the book, I knew what to expect. However I needed to see him and the rest of the characters, specially Emilie and Ovila again together.

To take over from Jean Beaudin's Les Filles de Caleb must have been a tough decision to make for Charles Binamé. To continue the story that had ended beautifully but in such a sad atmosphere, must not have been easy. But Charles Binamé made a great success of the series, while keeping the same crew, specially for the music and the photography. He also made a fine casting, taking special care of selecting the actors to portrait Emilie’s children who had reached their young adult lives. He also made a right move when he decided to give Blanche the main role instead of keeping Emilie under the lights.

But he made it tough on us, keeping us waiting so long to finally introduceus to Emilie and Ovila.

The action starts in St.Tite. At the Train Station, at the same place the other series has ended, while Ovila, hiding himself, could see through a small
window, his wife and kids leaving... Then months have gone by...Blanche and her younger sister are looking for him, watching every passengers coming out of the train. Then, she believes seeing him, although the man is walking in front of them, she thinks that she recognizes him. But the man will turn out to be a stranger.

She will bring back home a lot of stuff and amongst other things : eight wooden bird cages from Abitibi, hand made by Ovila.

While Blanche is away, Emilie has a discussion with Father Grenier. He tells her to come back to reason, trying to convince her that it is hopeless and that Ovila will never return. Emilie refuses to believe him and so do we. We understand so well how much she is longing for him, specially when she is playing their music while watching the horizon in the hope that he will show up.
The music will fade away but will play again when Blanche will bring in the famous parcels along with a letter for Emilien from his father. Émilie open it and give it to her son. She crumples the enveloppe with her hand, her eyes full of sorrow. No news for her from the man she wants back so much.

Then, it is a long wait again...In following Blanche, I was kept on toes all the time, thinking that Ovila was to appear to me any moment, because in the
book, Emilie and Ovila meet a few times before the Abitibi scene. But the producer and the writer made us wait a little longer.

Abitibi. Eight years later. Emilie learns that Ovila who is now a Forest Ranger at Lac Duparquet wants to marry an Indian girl who has been living with him for some time. She is outraged by this news. She leaves the younger kids to Blanche, and without saying anything, takes the next train for Abitibi.

The scene of the Return.

It’s wintertime. Emilie can hardly walk through the deep pine forest. It is a naked, grayish, white landscape. Emilie is wearing a long dark coat, a long wool scarf around her neck, a blue scarf, almost the same blue as her wedding gown. Finally, Emily followed by the camera, will discover Ovila standing on the door step. It is a good shot, taken far away, filled with music : their
theme song, which sounds like a heart beat.

Ovila is standing tall on the door step of his log cabin. He looks like the Abitibi country : tranquil and silent, with the strength of wilderness. He has broader shoulders, he still stands tall and straight, even after he had suffered a leg injury during a hunting party but he is limping and finds it hard to walk around. He has a long beard and lots of hair, kind of wild look. The fiery look of his eyes has vanished and I have noticed that he had to adjust his vision to make sure to recognize Emilie. She stops a few feet away from the cabin. Ovila comes down painfully the four steps to meet her.
They are facing each other during a long silent moment, ; Emilie will break up the silence :

"I’ve been searching for you." (Émilie)

"I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. " (Ovila)

" You’re limping ." (Émilie)

" It’s a hunting accident" ( Ovila)

He caresses Emilie’s cheek with his hand, just like in the old days, but under these circumstances it has a different meaning. Emilie’s feelings are mixed up between yesterday’s happiness and today’s sorrows :
" Is it true, Ovila ?Tell me it’s not true..."

Ovila whispers Émilie with his accent of yesteryear, and that makes her more desperate :

" You just can’t get married, Ovila. You have a wife, me, Emilie Pronovost..."

Then it become obvious that the roles have changed. Ovila has a different look in his eyes, now he can look at her straight in the eyes without fear. His voice makes him sound sure of himself which prove that life away from her along with the solitude of the wild have really changed him.

"It has been a long time since you’ve stopped being my wife...otherwise, you would have come down here to live with me..."

Emilie feels insulted : "And our kids, Ovila, how would you have fed them ? With tree branches and rocks...They have been waiting for you for 8 years.
8 years, Ovila. Every day they have been asking me : Where is Daddy ? When is he coming back ? You don’t understand how I was feeling when I had
to send my little girls to work in a factory, because we had nothing to eat ! Your own children became orphans, Ovila. The only bread that you have ever
given them was called poverty and shame."

Ovila did not budge. He stood there looking straight ahead, without emotion. If he heard Emilie’s voice, it was like listening to the breeze of the sea which
brings up the wind in a lament. We can hear it without decoding the words. Ovila is not deaf to what she has to say, but for him, his own misfortune
seems to be most important.

"I’ve waited for you a long time. If you had come up here with the kids, I would have built a house...I would have..."

Emilie cut short his daydreaming :" Stop giving me those stories, Ovila"

"You’ve never had any confidence in me, Emilie. Each time I look up in your eyes, I saw my failures. Although I was trying hard, I’ve never been up to your expectations..."

Emilie looked down, acknowledging that he was right.

"So, I have stopped trying... Give me back my freedom, Emilie. "

Emilie replies with a soft but helpless tone in her voice :
" Even if I want to set you free, Ovila, I can not do it, because your freedom has never belong to me."

She looks away and sees Moon Ray, the Indian girl who lives with him. She leaves Ovila, and she goes away walking heavily in the snow. She is only 45 years-old but looking much older.

One evening, Blanche will see her father for the first time in 13 years. It is a beautiful scene. One night, having trouble with his leg, he goes in to see the Nurse. It is almost darkness, his daughter is sitting in front of him taking care of his wound. In answer
to her questions, he replies with a murmured yes. But later in one phrase, he will reveal himself.

"It is an old wound." says she.

Blanche can not see his face, as it is too dark in the room. His voice murmurs another yes, and then he adds with a clear voice :

"It’s a hunting accident."

Even in the dark, she recognizes him, yes it is his voice, his young voice. But her heart already knows, and she raises her eyes to confirm it :
Dad...
I have sighed with her.

In the next scene, they are having a meal, facing each other with Clovis Lauzier in between. Clovis is Blanche boy friend, they will eventually get married. Clovis does not know anything of their past and naturally he will say some stupid things. Blanche remains silent even she feels mad about her father, while Ovila keeps his head down, busy eating away. Blanche looks like her mother. Ovila, with his head over his plate, is watching her with the same look he used to give Emilie, from under, like a child who is afraid of looking up because he feels guilty. If his eyes are tired, his forehead has remained clear, no trace of troubles, just as if he had never grew old.

He answers Clovis questions, slowly weighing each word. He plays around with his fork, just like he did when he had to face Emilie. They both feel embarassed and Blanche will end up this torture and will retire to her room.

Later on, Ovila will join her. In the light of an old oil lamp, with Blanche, turning her back to him, Ovila will try to give her some explanations. Then facing him,
crying, she will tell him why it is impossible for her to forgive him.

" It’s too late now. I have been waiting for so long. Months after months. I had so much hope... it’s hard to kill hope. And all I ever received from you, was
an empty bird cage...Finally, I came to the conclusion that I did not have a father anymore."
(Blanche)

Ovila was listening, silent, showing a tremendous calm.

Then he murmurs :

« You’re my daughter, you’re like me. You can’t deny that. I watched you when you were treating your patient, you were so kind and careful with him, I felt so proud. You cannot deny this. And crazy Pronovost, the one who lives in the bush...well, he is also Blanche’s father, you can’t take that away from me. »

He covers her up, adding: "Sleep tight, little girl."

" Good night, Dad" (Blanche)

He smiles and wishes her a good night.

The next morning, when Blanche wakes up, Ovila has already left, leaving her a wooden bird that he had sculpted himself. That’s Ovila all right. The
bush poet. A bird to fill in for an absentee, to help cure a wound. Ovila was deadly hurt with her phrase : all that you have left me, was an empty bird cage...Now, she finds the bird, the bird that came along with her dear father who she was sure had gone away for ever.