Jacques Godbout (10)
Jacques Godbout
Jacques Godbout is one of the most important Quebecois artists and intellectuals who ever worked at the National Film Board of Canada. A writer, journalist and filmmaker, Godbout was born in Montreal on November 27, 1933, and authored several influential essays during Quebec’s Quiet Revolution. He has written 34 books to date, including poetry books, novels and children’s books. Godbout also co-founded Liberté (1959), the Mouvement laïque de la langue française (1962) and the Union des écrivains Québécois (1977).
In a filmmaking career spanning 55 years, Godbout made more than 30 films at the NFB, where he started as a producer and screenwriter in 1958. He debuted as a director in 1961, and among his notable early works are Strangers for the Day (1962, co-directed with Georges Dufaux), which depicts European immigrants arriving in Halifax, and People Might Laugh at Us (1964, co-directed with Françoise Bujold), a lovely film that alternates static and moving shots of Mi’kmaq children making birds and dolls using brightly coloured paper, which they hang in trees. From 1966 to 1974, Godbout directed four feature-length fiction films: Yul 871 (1966), Kid Sentiment (1968), Ixe 13 (1971) and La Gammik (1974). He continued to make films with the NFB until 2003, and one of his most intriguing works is the feature-length documentary Alias Will James (1988), which tells the incredible story of Ernest Dufault, a.k.a., Will James, a French-Canadian man who became a mythical American cowboy, and later took up the pen and became a Hollywood legend.
On May 12, 2016, Godbout was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, a prestigious honour and only one of his many awards and accolades, which include Chevalier of the Ordre national du Québec in 1998, a Governor General’s Award in 1967, the France-Quebec Literary Prize in 1962, and three honorary doctorates, from the University of Ottawa (2022), McGill University (2003) and UQAM (2009).
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Strangers for the DayGeorges Dufaux & Jacques Godbout 1962 27 minThis short documentary shows the reactions of European immigrants as they land in Halifax at the beginning of the 1960s. From the port, we follow them on a snowy journey by train to Montreal. -
Traitor or PatriotJacques Godbout 2000 1 h 22 minThis feature documentary is a portrait of Adélard Godbout, the largely forgotten man who was Premier of Quebec from 1939 to 1944. During his office, Godbout helped lay the groundwork for the Quiet Revolution of the 1950s and 1960s: instituting compulsory education, giving women the vote, creating Hydro-Québec and trying to free the province from domination by the clergy. Yet, during the conscription crisis, he favoured sending volunteers to fight Hitler: a sin for which many would never forgive him. Filmmaker Jacques Godbout takes a fresh look at his great-uncle's legacy.
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Last ResortJacques Godbout 1987 1 h 10 minThis feature length documentary by Jacques Godbout tackles a topic all too rarely explored in the media: terrorism in Canadian society. From Montreal to Vancouver, and Quebec City to Toronto, exasperated individuals find a new calling as self-style saviours of humanity and decide to mete out their own justice. Part reportage, part essay and part critical analysis of the phenomenon, this film includes first-hand accounts by Serge Daoust, Franco Piperno, François Schirm, Pierre Vallières and young militants from the journal Révoltes.
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Two Episodes from the Life of Hubert AquinJacques Godbout 1979 56 minThis feature documentary by Jacques Godbout retraces the life of Hubert Aquin, one of Quebec's most brilliant writers. The film revolves around 2 episodes in Aquin's life: the dramatic events leading up to the publication of his first novel, and the anguish of the months preceding his suicide. (Aquin ended his life in 1977.) An unusual montage technique intercuts excerpts from a feature film in which he was the lead actor with the recollections of people who knew him well.
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Kid SentimentJacques Godbout 1968 1 h 27 minBlending fiction with documentary, this French feature by Jacques Godbout takes a critical look at Quebec youth in the 1960s. An exploration of first loves, the film focuses on the exploits of one teenager, Kid Sentiment, who shies away from tenderness because she's embarrassed. Featuring the music of two members of the band, The Sinners.
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Alias Will JamesJacques Godbout 1988 1 h 23 minThis feature-length documentary tells the incredible story of Ernest Dufault, a.k.a. Will James, a French-Canadian man who became one of the most legendary cowboys of the American West. For over 30 years, as he went from cattle rustler to ex-convict, he managed to keep his secret. And when he took up the pen, he became a Hollywood legend. Watch this compelling exploration of the powerful attraction the West still holds for young adventurers.
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People Might Laugh at UsJacques Godbout & Françoise Bujold 1964 9 minOn the Gesgapegiag reserve (formerly known as Maria Reserve) in the Baie des Chaleurs region of Québec, Mi’kmaq children make birds and dolls of brightly coloured paper, which they hang in trees. But they are reluctant to have visitors see them, claiming, 'People might laugh at us.' The film is without comment except for the background music.
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Paul-Émile Borduas (1905-1960)Jacques Godbout 1964 21 minA film about the life and work of one of Canada's foremost modern painters. Borduas swung from religious painting to the purest of black-and-white abstraction. This film provides the opportunity to follow the development of his styles--surrealism, cubism, and automatism.
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The Fate of AmericaJacques Godbout 1997 1 h 21 minTwo well-known Quebec artists (filmmaker Jacques Godbout and playwright René-Daniel Dubois) look at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. Whose version of this historic event should prevail? Is history best served by documentary or fiction? We also meet Baron Georges Savarin de Marestan and Andrew Wolfe-Burroughs, direct descendants of Montcalm and Wolfe, both of whom died in the battle that would give birth to Canada and to the province of Quebec. In French with English subtitles.
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YUL 871Jacques Godbout 1966 1 h 10 minIn this feature film, an engineer from Paris flies to Montreal (on Air Canada Flight YUL 871), partly on business, partly in search of parents displaced by World War II, and partly because of the prevailing restlessness of the age. He achieves little that is conclusive, but in the short time between his arrival and departure he has a love affair, enjoys a flight over Montreal and the Expo pavillions, and is adopted by a little girl.
