The Wars
6.1
Robert Ross (Brent Carver) lives a protected adolescence in a well-off Toronto suburb. Secretive and withdrawn, he shares his thoughts only with his sister Rowena (Anne-Marie MacDonald) who is mentally disabled. He feels compassion for his weak and conventional father. He avoids any confrontation with his mother (Martha Henry), a dominating woman whose despondency at having given birth to a handicapped child has turned to bitterness. Rowena occupies a central position in Robert's existence of daydreams and make-believe. When she dies, Robert clashes openly with his family, and decides to take himself in hand. It's 1914. He enrolls in the Canadian army, and, after training in Alberta and Montreal, he finds himself in England and France. The war becomes another way for him to resolve his conflicts, his dramas, his passions--his wars.
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Cast
53 people
Brent Carver
Robert Ross
Known for
Lilies
Millennium
Kirsten Bishop
Peggy Ross
Known for
Visiting Hours
Robin Phillips
W Paterson Ferns
Timothy Findley
Also in
The Wednesday Play
Festival
Jackie Burroughs
Miss Davenport
Known for
Heavy Metal
The Dead Zone
Robert Linnell
Shirley Douglas
Mrs. Lawson
Known for
Dead Ringers
Lolita
Christoph Mattner
William Hutt
Mr. Ross
Known for
The Statement
Richard Nielsen
Domini Blythe
Lady Barbara d'Orsey
Known for
Vampire Circus
The Trotsky
Robin Phillips Director · Timothy Findley Writer Glenn Gould Composer
Budget $4.1M · First release September 1, 1982 · Produced in Canada, Germany
Box office
Budget
$4,100,000
Production
Nielsen-Ferns
Production
Polyphon
Production
Polyphon Film-und Fernsehgesellschaft
Production
Canada · Germany
Produced in
Languages
Original language
English
Spoken on screen
English
Release dates
Canada · September 1, 1982
Premiere
Canada · November 20, 1983
Theatrical
No release date listed for United States.
Canada
March 21, 2024 · Limited theatrical · International Film Festival of Ottawa
Germany
March 20, 1983
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Some details come from TheTVDB.