Adapted from the Gabrielle Roy short story "Tramp at the Door" ("Un vagabond frappe à notre porte"), the film stars Ed McNamara as Gustave, a Russian vagrant who arrives at the farm of Franco-Manitoban couple Albert (August Schellenberg) and Madeleine (Monique Mercure) Fournier pretending to be a long-lost relative from Quebec.
[1] The cast also included Joanna Schellenberg, Eric Peterson, Jean-Louis Hébert, Melissa Dixon, Ian Wilson, James Martin, Stan Thomas, Len Klady, Kelly Sisson and Dennis Young.
[5] John Haslett Cuff of The Globe and Mail wrote that "it's all technically well done with scrupulous attention to period detail, including the temporary revival of a vintage steam train, the "Prairie Dog Central."
Ron Orieux's cinematography is alternately lush and appropriately moody, imbuing the harsh, dreary Manitoba landscape with a beauty only a photographer could see.
Johanna Schellenberg, young as she is, is captivating and has one particularly lovely scene in a schoolroom where she recreates the character of Gustave for her teacher and schoolmates.