Sentence vie

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In theatres:	January 9, 2004
Running time:	1h 10m
Genre:	Documentary

In September 1981, Diane Charron became entangled in a friend's act of revenge and ended up stabbing a stranger to death in a blind fury. All her life, this girl from Pointe-Gatineau had endured neglect and abuse, including rape. She suffered epileptic seizures, ran away from home, and drank to numb her feeling of abandonment. Her one happy moment was the short time she spent in her teens with a woman she would come to call her "auntie." In a poignant interview, Madame Pichette, now 82, says she prays that this girl she once dreamed of adopting will one day be released on parole.

For her 40th birthday, Diane, chaperoned by two staff members from the Pinel Institute in Montreal, spends a happy day at a shopping centre, her first taste of freedom in seven years. Unfortunately soon after, Diane lapses into depression. She says she's unable to forgive herself for her crime and prefers to endure complete isolation rather than continue psychiatric treatment. The film retraces events from Diane's past, including the murder she committed and her abandonment by her birth mother. It also examines her life today as she shuttles back and forth between prison and psychiatric hospitals, a vicious circle from which her supporters hope Diane will break free.