Victoire (French: La Cordonnière) is a Canadian drama film, directed by François Bouvier and released in 2023.[1] Adapted from Pauline Gill's series of historical novels about the life of Victoire Du Sault, a 19th-century shoemaker in Montreal who was one of Quebec's first women ever to launch her own business, the film stars Rose-Marie Perreault as Du Sault, and centres on her early romantic relationship with older businessman Georges-Noël Dufresne (Pierre-Yves Cardinal) before being married off to his son Thomas (Nicolas Fontaine).[2]
The film opened theatrically in March 2023,[2] before being added to video on demand platforms in May.[3]
Critical response
Maxime Demers of Le Journal de Montréal rated the film 3 out of 5, praising it as technically well-made but criticizing the fact that it focused far too strongly on Du Sault's romantic life rather than her actual accomplishments as a pioneering businesswoman.[2]
Marc-André Lussier of La Presse offered a similar assessment, noting that because the real-life Victoire Du Sault is relatively little-known to contemporary audiences, the film was essentially missing a chapter in her life by focusing on her family dramas rather than her career.[4]