Action: The October
Crisis of 1970
A gripping account of the crisis that shocked Canada
Action: The October Crisis of 1970 (1973)
In October 1970, the long-brewing tension between French and English Canada explodes onto the world stage after a group of Québécois seperatists violently kidnap two prominent political figures, holding them ransom and issuing a now-famous manifesto. With a nation on the brink, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau responds by invoking the controversial War Measure Act, suspending civil liberties in Québec, jailing hundreds without trial, and unleashing the Canadian Armed Forces on the streets of Montréal. As tensions mount, local and federal leaders are forced to reckon in real time with shocking acts of political violence and unprecedented abuses of government power.
A masterclass in urgent historical filmmaking by National Film Board veteran Robin Spry (One Man), Action: The October Crisis of 1970 is a bracing portrait, expertly encapsulating a dizzying, watershed moment through archival material, news reports, and first-hand, on-the-ground footage. In league with the great political documentaries of the ‘60s and ‘70s – and complemented here by its companion film, Reaction: A Portrait of a Society in Crisis – Action remains a riveting account of the upheaval that shook Canada to its very core.
Special features
• Scanned and restored in 2K from the 16mm interpositive by the National Film Board of Canada
• Alternate French language audio track
• New audio commentary featuring writer and film programmer Justine Smith
• Audio commentary assembled from archival interviews with director Robin Spry
• Making Action (2025, 18 min.) – New interview with NFB curator Marc St-Pierre
• Tensions and Contradictions (2025, 16 min.) – New interview with professor Zoë Druick
• Reaction: A Portrait of a Society in Crisis (1973, 58 min.) – Spry documentary exploring a sampling of English-speaking Québec’s perspective on the October Crisis
• Booklet featuring a new essay by film critic/professor Tom McSorley and an essay by film journalist A. Ibrányi-Kiss
• Reversible cover artwork
• English SDH subtitles
Canadian International Pictures
From arthouse to Canuxploitation, Canadian International Pictures (CIP) is devoted to resurrecting vital, distinctive, and overlooked triumphs of Canadian and Québécois cinema. We are focused on the country’s original cinematic boom years – spanning the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s – occasionally venturing past that period (and the country’s borders) to highlight the films of Canada’s most inspired actors and filmmakers.
