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Pierre Perrault (19)
Pierre Perrault
He made his cinematic debut with Au pays de Neufve-France, a series of 13 short documentaries for television, produced by Crawley Films. Pour la suite du monde (1962) (For Those Who Will Follow), co-directed with Michel Brault, was his first production for the NFB. This extraordinary film, which was selected for the official competition at Cannes, represents the culmination of the direct-cinema technique created at the NFB; its appearance also marks the moment when the French-language production team truly came into its own. Perrault made two more films about the people of Ile-aux-Coudres before turning his attention first to Acadia, then to Abitibi, where he directed four films about the aftereffects of the region's colonization 40 years before, during the Depression. After Abitibi he made two films on the Lower North Shore (Basse-Côte-Nord) about the Innu and their ancestral territory. His next project was his 1982 feature La bête lumineuse (The Shimmering Beast), which is one of the greatest achievements of his filmography; much more than just a documentary, the film focuses on a moose hunting party as a powerful metaphor for the masculine condition. Perrault's next three films were about the Saint Lawrence River and Jacques Cartier's voyages of exploration; they were followed by two documentaries shot on Ellesmere Island. Pierre Perrault was a path-breaker and an inspiration; his immense body of work is unique in our cinema history: poetic, metaphorical, and philosophical, his films are packed with epic, larger-than-life characters, and his themes are universal.
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Tickets s.v.pPierre Perrault 1973 9 minAn incident from the early days of Québec's quiet revolution, tailor-made for the cartoonist. It is the story of a Montréal commuter train, a unilingual ticket collector and a bilingual passenger. The passenger appears on screen himself to describe his bid to have tickets requested in French as well as in English. What ensued, and how even the railway president became involved, is illustrated with wit and humor. -
Soiree at St.HilarionRené Bonnière & Pierre Perrault 1960 29 minA virtual prisoner of the winter snows that block its roads, the village of St.Hilarion, to justify its name, revels in the joys of the jig and the "turlutte", the lilting songs that tell the humorous tale, ever new and yet essentially always the same, about the sorry fate of the one who gives into temptation.
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The Land of Jacques CartierRené Bonnière & Pierre Perrault 1960 29 minDid Cartier dream of making a country from this land of a million birds? In his records of his exploration he certainly marvelled at seeing the great auks that have since disappeared from Isle aux Ouaiseaulx, the razor-bills and gannets that are gone from Blanc-Sablon, and the kittiwakes from Anticosti, all the winged creatures of all the islands which he described as being "as full of birds as a meadow is of grass". And that's not even counting the countless snow geese.
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On the SeaRené Bonnière & Pierre Perrault 1960 29 minThree communities at the foot of the Charlevoix cliffs, Petite-Rivière, île-aux-Coudres and Les Éboulements, practise the myriad trades of the sea. Its men are sailors, stevedores, longshoremen for the coasting trade. In winter, they becomes caulkers, carpenters and timer-cutters who will build a new vessel if required, or repair, caulk and paint the over 150 wooden schooners that ply the St. Lawrence River.
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Three SeasonsRené Bonnière & Pierre Perrault 1960 29 minAll along the North Shore from Saint-Tite-des-Caps to the bay of Sept-îles, logging starts with the construction of the camps. But the good logs once used for the legendary log cabins are now turned into planks, beams and rafters in the sawmill that has replaced the side axes and board saws. It takes three seasons to harvest the logs. First the autumn for felling the trees with the chain saws that have taken over from the bow saws and two-handed saws. Then the winter snows to make it easier for the horses to haul the logs to the ice-covered rivers. And finally the wild waters of spring that carry the logs to the wooden schooners that will take them to the mill.
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WhaleheadRené Bonnière & Pierre Perrault 1963 29 minShows Tête-à-la-Baleine, Québec, a village with a double life--one on the North Shore mainland during winter months, the other on mossy islands of the Gulf to which the entire population moves for summer fishing.
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Winter Crossing at L'Isle-Aux-CoudresRené Bonnière & Pierre Perrault 1960 29 minOn an island the road ends where it begins, at the wharf. The wharf is the link to the rest of the world, until winter cuts it off. But the islanders know the winter sea and its movements. They judge the ice by its colours, avoiding the open channels, fighting through the slushy fragil ice, catching their footing on the chunk ice, and running all-out across the solid ice to the North Shore.
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The Jean RichardRené Bonnière & Pierre Perrault 1963 29 minThe building of a goélette, the wooden coastal freighter of the St. Lawrence River. Although ships of steel may replace these sturdy wooden vessels, the Jean Richard, shown in construction in this film, is still one ship built with all the old pride in craftsmanship.
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Canadian DiamondsRené Bonnière & Pierre Perrault 1960 29 minWhen Cartier wintered at Cap Rouge near Québec City in 1641, he claimed to have detected diamonds in the surrounding hills. Was he so very wrong? Three centuries later, 15,000 men have come to excavate the iron mountains of the Canadian tundra where the rust of those diamonds still sparkles.
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Ka Ke Ki KuRené Bonnière & Pierre Perrault 1960 29 minThis early work from Pierre Perrault, made in collaboration with René Bonnière, chronicles summer activities in the Innu communities of Unamenshipu (La Romaine) and Pakuashipi. Shot by noted cinematographer Michel Thomas-d’Hoste, it documents the construction of a traditional canoe, fishing along the Coucouchou River, a procession marking the Christian feast of the Assumption, and the departure of children for residential schools—an event presented here in an uncritical light. Perrault’s narration, delivered by an anonymous male voice, underscores the film’s outsider gaze on its Indigenous subjects. The film is from Au Pays de Neufve-France (1960), a series produced by Crawley Films, an important early Canadian producer of documentary films.
Alexis Joveneau, a Catholic priest with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, worked in the Innu community of Unamenshipu (La Romaine) between 1960 and 1985, and appears in five NFB productions: Attiuk (1960), Ka Ke Ki Ku (1960), Le goût de la farine (1977), Le pays de la terre sans arbre ou le Mouchouânipi (1980) and La grande allure II (1985). Joveneau is seen in several scenes of Ka Ke Ki Ku, teaching Innu children and providing Innu-aimun/French translation.
In November 2017, during Canada’s National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, a number of Innu women from Unamenshipu testified that they had been sexually and physically abused by Joveneau, who died in 1992. Many other women subsequently came forward with similar allegations, and on March 29, 2018, a request for a class action was filed in Quebec Superior Court on behalf of the women against the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The class action was authorized on November 16, 2021. The Oblates named in the suit include Alexis Joveneau, Omer Provencher, Edmond Brouillard, Raynald Couture and Édouard Meilleur.” -
The Shimmering BeastPierre Perrault 1982 2 h 7 minA moose hunt is the pretext for this film. Nine men and their Indian guide withdraw to the wilderness to spend one week together away from their daily routines. The film charts the social dynamics of this diverse group, how they relate to one another--alternately revealing and disguising their feelings. A rich mix of personalities lends relief to the human topography in this documentary about an annual event that brings out the best and worst in men. The filmmaker chose not to embellish what the camera recorded.
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Beluga DaysPierre Perrault , Bernard Gosselin , … 1968 14 minFrom the lower St. Lawrence, a picture of whale hunting that looks more like a round-up, with a corral, whale-boys and all. In 1534, when he stopped at the island he named l'Île-aux-Coudres, Jacques Cartier saw how the Indigenous People captured the little white beluga whales by setting a fence of saplings into off-shore mud. In the film, the islanders show that the old method still works, thanks to the trusting "sea-pigs," the same old tide, and a little magic.
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Winter Sealing at La TabatièreRené Bonnière & Pierre Perrault 1963 29 minLife in a north-shore village where everybody's name is Robertson and where everyone hunts for seal. In December the seals come in great herds from Greenland, and for two weeks in this peaceful village it's all hands to the lines.
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TurlutteRené Bonnière & Pierre Perrault 1960 29 minIn a valley on the North Shore of the St. Lawrence, the seasons unfold with their chores and pleasures: children gathering roses for honey, an old uncle's wine, pressing apple cider, three brothers shelling broads beans, their flails beating time, grandmother's spinning wheel, the old stone mill, the rushing rivulets of spring, a silvery catch of capelin washed up on shore by the May Moon.
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White-Whale Hunters of Anse-Aux-BasquesRené Bonnière & Pierre Perrault 1960 29 minOn the North Shore of the St. Lawrence, the Otis family hunts for white whales and seals with rusty old rifles in hand-crafted boats. This is the traditional method of the Basque whalers who frequented the coast in the 16th century.
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AttiukRené Bonnière & Pierre Perrault 1963 29 minThe people of Unamenshipu (La Romaine), an Innu community in the Cote-Nord region of Quebec, are seen but not heard in this richly detailed documentary about the rituals surrounding an Innu caribou hunt. Released in 1960, it’s one of 13 titles in Au Pays de Neufve-France, a series of poetic documentary shorts about life along the St-Lawrence River. Off-camera narration, written by Perrault, frames the Innu participants through an ethnographic lens. Co-directed by René Bonnière and Pierre Perrault, a founding figure of Quebec’s cinéma direct movement.
Alexis Joveneau, a Catholic priest with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, worked in the Innu community of Unamenshipu (La Romaine) between 1960 and 1985, and appears in five NFB productions: Attiuk (1960), Ka Ke Ki Ku (1960), Le goût de la farine (1977), Le pays de la terre sans arbre ou le Mouchouânipi (1980) and La grande allure II (1985). Joveneau is seen in several scenes of Ka Ke Ki Ku, teaching Innu children and providing Innu-aimun/French translation.
In November 2017, during Canada’s National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, a number of Innu women from Unamenshipu testified that they had been sexually and physically abused by Joveneau, who died in 1992. Many other women subsequently came forward with similar allegations, and on March 29, 2018, a request for a class action was filed in Quebec Superior Court on behalf of the women against the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The class action was authorized on November 16, 2021. The Oblates named in the suit include Alexis Joveneau, Omer Provencher, Edmond Brouillard, Raynald Couture and Édouard Meilleur.” -
Pour la suite du monde (English Version)Pierre Perrault & Michel Brault 2000 1 h 45 minThis feature-length documentary is the unrehearsed story of what happened when old-timers from Île-aux-Coudres, a small island in the St. Lawrence River, were persuaded to revive a local whale-catching practice. Through the magic of words and the mystery of the catch, the film uncovers a spirituality rooted in the moon and the rhythm of the tides. More than a documentary, it is a fresco of the myths and legends among the traditional fishing communities of Quebec. In French with English subtitles. This film was made by Pierre Perrault, Michel Brault and Marcel Carrière.
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Acadia Acadia ?!?Michel Brault & Pierre Perrault 1971 1 h 57 minIn the late 1960s, with the triumph of bilingualism and biculturalism, New Brunswick's Université de Moncton became the setting for the awakening of Acadian nationalism after centuries of defeatism and resignation. Although 40% of the province's population spoke French, they had been unable to make their voices heard. The movement started with students-sit-ins, demonstrations against Parliament, run-ins with the police - and soon spread to a majority of Acadians. The film captures the behind-the-scenes action and the students' determination to bring about change. An invaluable document of the rebirth of a people. In French with English subtitles.
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Acadia Acadia?!?Michel Brault & Pierre Perrault 1971 1 h 15 minThis feature-length documentary is an on-the-spot record of the student protests that shook the Université de Moncton in 1968-69. Led by students desiring greater recognition of the French fact in New Brunswick, the protests spawned street marches, petitions and a sit-in, but also many discussions among students seeking to re-establish an Acadian identity.
