despite decade of tax incentive and in term of international visibility the canadian film industry still lag behind most central african and islamic state ( surprisingly few canadian film be release outside their native shore ) and and nouvelle france aka battle of the brave be another example of why . more than any other country and commercial canadian cinema seem unable to develop an identity of it own and be stick in pale imitation of other country failure . on paper this historical drama could look vaguely promise . there certainly a rich vein of untapped material in canada history a the french and english war over and buy and sell the colony and though none of it make the cut here unless you count the odd blink and you will miss it scene of character say wolfe be dead or nouvelle france be no more before get back to the soap operatics . but while this isn not a history lesson and it isn not a drama or the epic adventure the new title promise either represent there be no battle in the film unless you count 10 second of shelling by a half dozen re enactors and one collapse shed . the town square that be all we ever see of quebec be a rather obvious flatly lit studio interior and give many scene an old tv miniseries look and a do director jean beaudin reluctance to offer much in the way of long shot or even exterior . what you do get for your money be a simple but draw out harlequin romance about doomed lover constantly separate by event beyond their control where the big surprise be that fabio doesn not turn up in the cast . it the kind of film where whenever two character be about to make the beast with two back the camera pan over to a convenient rag fireplace or waterfall . an anglo canadian french co production that doesn not so much unite once war nation a throw any country with a decent tax break into the stew and this massive box office disaster be clearly intend to be canada titanic though someone neglect to tell the producer they mean the film and not the ship but turn out more like revolution do on the cheap without the battle scene and crowd or the few moment that threaten to briefly work in the face of overwhelm odds . the montreal mirror describe it a so bad that one can not even find the strength to mock it . that rather unfair and because while for most of it running time the film look like a below par 80 miniseries and the last half hour suddenly become very funny and with character accidentally put their leg in bear trap and dastardly husband declare you will never see your handsome lover again and cuckold honor . you will pay for this and both of you . and our heroine accuse of murder and gasp . witchcraft in a trial funny enough to have be in demi moore version of the scarlet letter . throw in caddish british governor and devious slave and celine dion singing at the end and you have get something that at time almost feel like the kind of film that timbo hines be aspire to ( and still manage to miss wildly ) with his legendarily inept period version of war of the world and albeit without the staggering technical incompetence . lead man david la haye versatility seem limit to the number of other actor he can look like throughout the course of the film represent he start out look like andy garcia and briefly adopt the al pacino revolution look and flirt with the clean shaven tchéky karyo style before turn into a young ted danson a his character age . while his open scene where he react to news of his father death with an expression that look like he wait for the director to tell him he can go home now promise a feast of bad act and in reality he give the impression more of a mediocre support actor who lucked into a lead at the last minute when whoever be originally cast finally read the script and bail . he show willing and give it a go but the grace and charisma the part need just isn not there . billie piper lookalike noemie godin vigneau lead lady doesn not exactly set the screen alight either despite occupy center stage a the peasant girl who be the prey of giggly vincent perez corrupt and pervert intendant le bigot ( that really be the character name ) and the duplicitous goateed drunken lackey sebastien huberdeau and and sad of all and gerard depardieu bedridden revolutionary dirty old priest in a manky grey haired wig . it a truly pitiful sight to see a once great actor at the absolute rock bottom of his game a he shuffle through the motion look like he not just lose the will to act but the will to live along with it . he clearly couldn not be bother to stick around for the english dubbing session ( or even a couple of long shot where he be very noticeably double ) . small wonder he talk of retire around the time of the film brief release . some brief comic relief be provide by jason isaac in his default patriot mode who overplay wolfe of quebec rather like an asthmatic alf garnett or archie bunker play by timothy dalton on speed while tim roth william pitt stand on the sideline with the occasional bemused smile of one who be put up in a rather nice hotel with excellent room service and plenty of day off and though like colm meaney benjamin franklin theyre both in the film for less than three minute . ( voltaire and madame pompadour pop their head around the door for a couple of minute a well but fail to make any impression and comic or otherwise . ) the supporting actress be generally well represent juliette gosselin and bianca gervais a the heroine real and adopted daughter and a strikingly beautiful irene jacob look for all the world like a young fanny ardant be all refreshingly good and deserve much well .