The Act of the Heart

The Act of the Heart is a 1970 Canadian drama film written, directed and produced by Paul Almond, and starring Geneviève Bujold, Donald Sutherland, Monique Leyrac and Sharon Acker.

The Act of the Heart
Directed by	Paul Almond
Written by	Paul Almond
Produced by	Paul Almond Jennings Lang
Starring	Geneviève Bujold Donald Sutherland Monique Leyrac Sharon Acker
Cinematography	Jean Boffety
Edited by	James Mitchell
Music by	Harry Freedman
Production company	Quest Film Productions
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	November 24, 1970 (1970-11-24)
Running time	103 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English
Budget	$450,000 (Canadian)

Plot

Martha Hayes (Geneviève Bujold) is a devoutly religious young woman from Québec's Côte-Nord who fancies herself as some kind of a saint. She has come to Montreal to serve as a nanny to Russell (Bill Mitchell), the son of a widowed business woman (Monique Leyrac).

Martha joins a church choir and becomes attracted to Father Michael Ferrier (Donald Sutherland), an Augustinian friar who has selected her to sing solo in an interfaith concert. Russell accidentally dies. Martha suffers a crisis in faith and to Ferrier declares her love for him. Ferrier reciprocates and leaves the order so they can live together with Martha singing to support them. She is tormented by guilt for betraying her profound religious principles she immolates herself on a hill (Mount Royal) overlooking Montreal.

Cast

• Genevieve Bujold as Martha Hayes
• Donald Sutherland as Father Michael Ferrier
• Monique Leyrac as Johane Foss
• Sharon Acker as Adele
• Eric House as Choirmaster
• Ratch Wallace as Diedrich
• Billy Mitchell as Russell Foss
• Gilles Vigneault as Coach Ti-Jo
• Jean Duceppe as Parks Commissioner
• Suzanne Langlois as Housekeeper (uncredited)

Comment

The second of three films by Almond featuring Bujold, it aroused considerable difference in opinion upon its release, but it stands nonetheless as a profound statement on the universal themes of ritual, sacrifice and purification. A disappointment at the box-office, it nevertheless won six Canadian Film Awards - including Direction (Almond) and Lead Actress (Bujold).^[1] John Hofsess of Maclean's wrote, "Act of the Heart is the first Canadian feature film that compares in artistic quality and importance with the best of our literature, painting and music".