Robert Morin

Robert Morin is known for his very personal, dark, and pessimistic "interior views" of family, crime, law enforcement, and human suffering,^[3] with his work regularly moving back and forth between relatively conventional dramas with multi-actor casts, and experimental personal essay films in which Morin, or a single actor cast as a stand-in, stars in essentially a film-length philosophical monologue from the perspective of a character who, whether by choice or circumstance, has become an outsider to mainstream society.^[4]

After studying literature and communications, in 1971 he began to work as a cameraman, joining ORTQ in Rimouski, where he directed films and videos. In 1977, with a group of friends and colleagues, Morin founded La Coopérative de Production Vidéo de Montréal,^[5] where he continues to produce his own work. After creating close to 30 short films with his colleagues over 10 years, he directed his first feature-length film Scale-Model Sadness (Tristesse modèle réduit) in 1987.^[4]

His film Requiem for a Handsome Bastard (Requiem pour un beau sans-coeur) won the Toronto International Film Festival Award for Best Canadian Film at the 1992 Toronto International Film Festival,^[6] and received four Genie Award nominations at the 13th Genie Awards in 1992, including Best Picture and Best Director.^[7]

In 2026 his wife, André-Line Beauparlant, released This Love, These Days (Mon amour, c’est pour le restant de mes jours), a documentary film about their relationship.^[8]

Feature films

• Scale-Model Sadness (Tristesse modèle réduit) - 1987
• The Reception [fr] (La réception) - 1989
• Requiem for a Handsome Bastard (Requiem pour un beau sans-coeur) - 1992
• Windigo - 1994
• Yes Sir! Madame... - 1994
• Whoever Dies, Dies in Pain (Quiconque meurt, meurt à douleur) - 1998
• Opération Cobra - 2001
• The Negro (Le nèg') - 2002
• Yule Croak (Petit Pow! Pow! Noël) - 2005
• May God Bless America (Que Dieu bénisse l'Amérique) - 2006
• Daddy Goes Ptarmigan Hunting (Papa à la chasse aux lagopèdes) - 2008
• Diary of an Aid Worker (Journal d'un coopérant) - 2010
• The Four Soldiers (Les Quatre Soldats) - 2013
• 3 Indian Tales (3 histoires d'Indiens) - 2014
• Heaven Sent (Un Paradis pour tous) - 2016
• Infiltration (Le problème d’infiltration) - 2017
• Wild Feast (Festin boréal) - 2023
• Six Neorealist Portraits (Six portraits néoréalistes) - 2026

Short films

• La femme étrangère (The Woman from Elsewhere) (Documentary co-directed with Lorraine Dufour, 1988)
• Le voleur vit en enfer (The Thief Lives in Hell) (Short film co-directed with Lorraine Dufour, 1984)
• Mauvais mal (Evil Madness) (Short film co-directed with Lorraine Dufour, 1984)
• On se paye la gomme (We Treat Ourselves to the Best) (Short film co-directed with Marcel Chouinard, 1984)
• Toi t'es-tu lucky (And You, Are You Lucky?) (Short film co-directed with Lorraine Dufour, 1984)
• Le mystérieux Paul (The Mysterious Paul) (Short film co-directed with Lorraine Dufour, 1983)
• A Postcard from Victoria (Short film co-directed with Lorraine Dufour, 1983)
• Ma richesse a cause mes privations (My Wealth Caused My Deprivations) (Short film co-directed with Lorraine Dufour, 1982)
• Il a gagné ses épaulettes (He Won His Wings) (Documentary co-directed with Lorraine Dufour, 1981)
• Gus est encore dans l'armée (Gus Is Still in the Army) (Short film co-directed with Lorraine Dufour, 1980)
• Ma vie c'est pour le restant de mes jours (My Life Is for the Rest of my Life) (Short film co-directed with Lorraine Dufour, 1980)
• Le royaume est commencé (The Kingdom Has Come) (Short film co-directed with Lorraine Dufour, 1980)
• Même mort il faut s'organiser (Even Dead You Have To Get Organized) (Short film, 1977)