Victoire (2023 film)

Victoire (La Cordonnière) is a Canadian drama film, directed by François Bouvier and released in 2023. 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).

The cast also includes Élise Guilbault in a small role as Victoire in her older age, as well as Madeleine Péloquin, Jeff Boudreault, Anick Lemay, Henri Picard, Nicolas Fontaine, Frédéric Millaire-Zouvi, Antoine Pilon, Martin Larocque, Louis-Georges Girard, Samuel Bouchard, Janie Faucher-Roy, Gabriel Sabourin, Éric Cabana and Marcel Sabourin in supporting roles.

The film opened theatrically in March 2023, before being added to video on demand platforms in May.

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.

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.