With and Without You: Video about a Father's Suicide

The main characters of a 90+ minute film I just saw comprise a normal French-Canadian middle class family. In fact, they seem like real nice people, the kind you'd like to have living next door.


The Beaudry family managed to take a year out of their busy lives to see the world. They used the time to get away from industrial civilization and the "rat race." All five members of the family enjoyed the trip - that is part of what the film is about.




A year after returning from the trip, Samuel Beaudry, the father, killed himself. How do we reconcile all the scenes of a life-loving man who loved his family with the event that ended his life?





With and Without You: A Father's Suicide, A Family's Journey is ostensibly about the Beaudry family and Samuel Beaudry's suicide, but, thanks to interviews with a variety of experts as well as with people close to the family, the film illustrates a number of concepts and harsh realities that are not well understood. They include the stress of our modern lives, the way that depression in males is normally masked, and, especially, the idea that just because a life ended in suicide doesn't necessarily mean that we can make other assumptions about the person who died.





One common reaction to suicide is that it is a selfish act. (That reaction, of course, is based in reality because loved ones are left behind.) But in With and Without You we see that Samuel was not a selfish person but his depression led him to believe that he had become a burden to his wife Maryse.



Maryse's narration of the film reveals her own gradual understanding and acceptance of what happened. Her remarkable insights, as well as the remarkable footage shot by her and Samuel of the family's good times on their trip around the world, make this an excellent film.


With and Without You won a Gold Ribbon Award from the Canadian Association of Broadcasters.

It is part of the Films on Demand database of streaming videos. Moraine Park students, staff, and faculty can access Films on Demand videos via the MPTC online catalog.

As always, contact a librarian if you need help.