| The True Nature of Bernadette | |
| Native Name: | |
| Director: | Gilles Carle |
| Producer: | Gilles Carle Pierre Lamy |
| Starring: | Micheline Lanctôt |
| Music: | Pierre F. Brault |
| Cinematography: | René Verzier |
| Editing: | Gilles Carle Susan Kay |
| Runtime: | 115 minutes |
| Country: | Canada |
| Language: | French |
The True Nature of Bernadette (French: '''La Vraie Nature de Bernadette''') is a 1972 Canadian drama film directed by Gilles Carle. It was entered into the 1972 Cannes Film Festival.[1] The film was also selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 45th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[2] In 1984 the Toronto International Film Festival ranked the film tenth in the Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time.[3] The film won Canadian Film Awards for Best Director, Actress (Micheline Lanctôt), Supporting Actor (Donald Pilon) and Musical Score.
A Montreal housewife leaves her husband and comfortable home in order to practice vegetarianism and free love, which she finds in a Quebec farm.
The film was shot from 18 October to 29 November 1971.
The True Nature of Bernadette and A Fan's Notes were the first privately-funded Canadian films shown at the Cannes Film Festival. The film was theatrically released on 6 May 1972, in Montreal. The film was seen by 282,992 people in France.