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Quebec Literature (16)
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Antonine Maillet - The Possibilities Are EndlessGinette Pellerin 2009 52 minMade famous in 1971 by the success of La Sagouine and achieving international celebrity after winning the Prix Goncourt for Pélagie-la-Charrette in 1979, Antonine Maillet has been the mouthpiece of the Acadian people throughout the world for fifty years. This documentary takes us from Bouctouche to Montreal by way of Moncton to discover a great writer who has rarely spoken of herself with such candour and generosity. An unforgettable autobiographical document. -
Backyard Theatre1973 27 minBackyard Theatre is a documentary about playwright Michel Tremblay and director André Brassard’s flavourful brand of Quebec theatre, which captured the earthy wit and joual (slang) of Montreal's East End working-class neighbourhood. The film features impromptu improvisation by the cast of Les belles-soeurs and Demain matin, Montréal m'attend, two genre-defining plays.
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The Cabinet of Doctor FerronJean-Daniel Lafond 2003 1 h 21 minThis feature-length documentary focuses on acclaimed novelist, playwright, essayist, political gadfly, and practicing doctor, Jacques Ferron. Using a combination of fiction and biography, the filmmaker takes viewers on a pilgrimage into the life and fictional world of the prolific author. The film reveals a complex and appealing man who was a Quebec nationalist, an ironic polemicist, and an anguished humanist devoted to social and political justice.
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CordéliaJean Beaudin 1979 1 h 55 minGuilty of loving life! A dramatization of an actual court case in turn-of-the-century Québec. A lively, outgoing woman is accused of murdering her husband in collaboration with the hired hand. The townspeople do not appreciate her robust personality and the proceedings in court degenerate to a judgment of her character. Filled with stunning visual imagery, this feature film captures the spirit of the time and place. Particularly useful for those interested in history, law or women's issues. With English subtitles.
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The Day Is ListeningFélix Dufour-Laperrière 2013 8 minThis short animation is set to the words of poet Hélène Dorion. In the film, a man and a woman's love for each other rivals only their affection for the written word. Literature accompanies the murmur of their lives and the harmony of their feelings. Filmmaker Félix Dufour-Laperrière’s imagery parallels Dorion’s words to articulate the familiar cycles of longing, loss, and desire.
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Eye Witness No. 68Walford Hewitson , Douglas Wilkinson , … 1954 10 minBirth of a Book: A look at the Canadian literary field showing authors who have made the grade, such as Morley Callaghan, Hugh MacLennan, Gabrielle Roy and Roger Lemelin. Eskimo Work Arctic Coal Mine: Baffin Island Inuit of Pond Inlet find easy cash and a ready market for the product of their surface coal mine. Dispatch Riders Perform Cycle Capers In Kingston, Ontario: the display team of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals stages a dare-devil motorcycling exhibition.
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Firewords: Louky Bersianik, Jovette Marchessault, Nicole BrossardDorothy Todd Henaut 1986 1 h 24 minThis feature documentary offers an intimate glimpse of three respected yet controversial Quebec writers. Now recognized at home and abroad, Louky Bersianik, Jovette Marchessault and Nicole Brossard have contributed greatly to the creation of a distinctive women’s literature. Confirming that fresh approaches to literature are still possible, they have helped to heighten awareness of the politics of language. Excerpts from their works vividly convey each woman’s style, concerns and rhythms. They examine personal and global issues from a feminist perspective: human relationships, work, justice, poverty, loneliness, women’s spirituality, and the future.
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The Legend of the Flying Canoe (La Chasse-galerie)Robert Doucet 1996 10 minNew Year's Eve, late 1800s. A group of loggers in an isolated lumber camp yearn to celebrate with their loved ones, but the river is frozen. If the men want to see their families, their only choice is to make a pact with the Devil to ride in a flying canoe. Original music and animation preserve the spirit of this Quebec legend.
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The Promised LandBernard Devlin 1962 1 h 52 minThis feature-length fiction, originally produced as a television miniseries and based on the novel Nuages sur les brûlés by Hervé Biron, explores the colonization of northern Quebec during the Depression-era 1930s. These historical dramas relive the toil, hardship and unexpected rewards of the pioneer. Folk singer Félix Leclerc appears in each episode. Part I: Encounters with the inhospitable wilderness while clearing a townsite. Part II: Struggles for leadership; log cabins are built and the women arrive. Part III: The dangers of frontier life: forest fire, accident, anxiety about bankruptcy, lack of tools, hard labour. Part IV: Big steps forward: the curé brings in teachers and is in turn presented with a new, though rough-hewn, church.
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Private EyesNicola Lemay 2011 14 minThis 3D stereoscopic animation tells the story of Matthew, a boy who is never afraid of the dark. Since he's been in darkness all his life, Matthew has eyes where other people only have hands, feet or ears. This week is Matthew's birthday and he's very curious about the surprise his parents are preparing for him. Can he find it?
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A Song for QuebecDorothy Todd Henaut 1988 55 minProduced in 1988, this feature documentary presents a living history of Quebec's last 40 years as seen through the eyes of one couple. Pauline Julien and Gérald Godin, two Quebec artists, share their perspectives on the events that have marked Quebec's evolution. Julien, a singer, and Godin, a poet, express their love and passion for the province (and each other) while providing a unique take on the Quebec nationalist movement.
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The SweaterSheldon Cohen 1980 10 minIn this animated short, Roch Carrier recounts the most mortifying moment of his childhood. At a time when all his friends worshipped Maurice "Rocket" Richard and wore his number 9 Canadiens hockey jersey, the boy was mistakenly sent a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey from Eaton's. Unable to convince his mother to send it back, he must face his friends wearing the colours of the opposing team. This short film, based on the book The Hockey Sweater, is an NFB classic that appeals to hockey lovers of all ages.
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The StreetCaroline Leaf 1976 10 minThis award-winning animation is a poignant interpretation of a short story by Montreal author Mordecai Richler. It makes a strong statement about how many families respond to their old and infirm members. In washes of watercolour and ink, filmmaker Caroline Leaf illustrates reactions to a dying grandmother, capturing family feelings and distilling them into harsh reality.
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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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The Ungrateful Land: Roch Carrier Remembers Ste-JustineCynthia Scott 1972 27 minHere is the village of Ste-Justine as one gifted man, novelist and playwright Roch Carrier, remembers it. In this small corner of Québec there is space in the landscape and in the vast spread of forest, but the fringe of rocks around every field speaks of the backbreaking hardship that was the lot of Carrier's father and of his grandfather before him. This is a nostalgic view of rural Québec.
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The WandererGeorge Ungar 1988 11 minThis animation short is an adaptation of Michel Tremblay's short story "The Devil and the Mushroom." A tale of supernatural power, greed and violence, it involves a sinister stranger who single-handedly transforms a quiet village into the scene of a phantasmagoric nightmare.
