Vital Signs (2009 film)

Vital Signs (French: Les signes vitaux) is a Canadian drama film, directed by Sophie Deraspe and released in 2009.[1] The film stars Marie-Hélène Bellavance as Simone, a young woman who responds to the death of her grandmother by abandoning her university studies to volunteer as a caregiver for the dying in a palliative care centre, while simultaneously juggling her casual relationship with musician Boris (Francis Ducharme).[2]

The cast also includes Marie Brassard, Suzanne St-Michel, Danielle Ouimet and Danielle Fichaud.

The film was noted for the casting of Bellavance, a double leg amputee, in a role where her disability was part of the fabric of the character's life but not the primary narrative focus of the story, as well as for depicting Simone as a character who still had a sexual life instead of the more common film portrayal of disability as a barrier to sexuality.[3]

The film premiered at the Festival du nouveau cinéma in October 2009.[4] It was subsequently screened at the Whistler Film Festival, where it won the Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature Film and Bellavance won the award for Best Performance in a Canadian Film.[5] It went into general theatrical release in 2010.[1]

The film received three Prix Jutra nominations at the 13th Jutra Awards in 2011, for Best Film, Best Supporting Actress (Brassard) and Best Make-Up (Joan-Patricia Parris).[6]