Denys ArcandQuebec Auteur

Quebec Cinema: 1960-1990

New interventionist Liberal government of Quebec ended drought in feature film production

Pierre Perrault (1927-99): Documentarist who brought rural traditions into Quebec’s identity (The Realm of Time 1967)

Michel Brault (1928-) Cinematographer and Director who created visual moods (Les Ordres 1974)

Jean Pierre Lefebvre (1941-) Film critic/poet turned filmmaker (Le Revolutionnaire 1965)

Quebec Auteurs, 1960-90

Gilles Carle (1929-): Cultural animateur, whose humor, irony, and social caricature created a cinematiic sociology of ordinary life (The Happy Life of Leopold Z 1965)

Claude Jutra (1930-86): Shy Genius who gave Canada the enduring classic, Mon Oncle Antoine

Denys Arcand (1941-): Helped create a major body of work that was the second wave of Quebec’s feature film industry.

Changes in 1960 Quebec

1960 Montreal: 64 cinemas, 54 of which showed only English-language films.

1960 Canada: 558 features screened, none of which were Canadian.

1960 Population: 18 million in Canada, 5 million in Quebec

Young took on the challenge to create Quebec feature films

Context for Change

Liberal government had launched a “Quiet Revolution” after 1960 election, calling for secularization of society and nationalization of industry

Quebeckers could control their economy for the first time and had educational skills to do it.

Future belonged to those who could overthrow the conservative past.

1961 law allowed children to attend matinees for first time since 1927.

Other Changes

French-language features began to appear, both from the National Film Board and from independent producers

By end of 1960s, almost 50 feature films in French had been released, more than double made during first wave (1944-53).

Quebec’s cinema has been associated with political change (a quiet revolution) in a period when cultural creativity joined hands with political concerns.

Factors Facilitating Change

First, there was a rise of the film auteur, which claimed that the best in film came from the vision of individual filmmakers

Initiated by French cinematic culture of 1950s opposed to US studio system

Auteurism integral to the New Wave cinema in France (see Truffault—The 400 Blows, Godard, Chabrol, Rohmer)

Auteur Theory: Andre Bazin (France) and Andrew Sarris (US)

Other FactorsA second factor was the theme of liberation during the 1960s

Provided post-war generation with a sense of self and mission

Social and political issues engaging the young were crucial (from young love to revolutionary change)

While film may be categorized in many ways, the issue of French as an oppressed language in Canada became paramount to this new generation (national liberation—indigenous language and state control)

Struggle between English and French rooted in European imperialism of the 16th-20th centuries, and the end of WWII launched an intense period of anti-colonial struggle (Fr. Lost Algeria and Vietnam, Br. Lost African colonies and India)

Third Factor: Direct Cinema

The Third Factor: Theory and Practice of cinema direct

Revolutionizing documentary filmmaking in Britain and US (Michel Brault: “A cinema that eaves-drops”)

National Film Board: “Candid Eye” series

Use hand-held cameras and portable synchronized sound recorders to reach deeply into recesses of human activities

Techniques gave filmmakers a sense of vitality, putting them in “direct” contact with their subjects.

In lieu of voiceover, people in films spoke for themselves

Gave viewer a a sense of the camera and involvement

Results of Direct Cinema

Quebec directors preferred improvised dialogue

Emphasized the importance of what was expressed in a scene by using non-professional actors (more authentic)

Drew on their own lives and stories for inspiration (filmmakers’ subjective self conveyed mood of spontaneity)

NFB moved to Montreal in 1956, The Snowshoers. Dir. Michel Brault and Gilles Groulx 1958=first expression of direct cinema from Quebec in documentary form

Films affirmed the validity and distinctiveness of Quebec society

Denys Arcand

In 1980s: Interpreter of Quebec who was embraced in Canada and beyond

Career began at NFB in mid-1960s but ran into difficulty with documentary on textile industry, On est au coton 1970/1976 because of industry objections to film’s revelation of exploitation of garment workers

Co-wrote and directed La Maudite Galette (1972)

Auteur debut? Gina (1974)

Directed Le Crime d’Ovide Plouffe (1984)

Denys Arcand, Auteur

Films that created his reputation as Quebec’s leading director in 1980s:

Le Declin de l’empire americain (1986): Won the International Critics Prize at Cannes

Nominated for Academy Award in foreign lng category

Won nine Genies, including best director and screenplay

Received international distribution in three versions: French, subtitled English, dubbed English

The Fall of the American Empire

Narrative: simple story of a group of middle-class academics and their spouses gathered in the countryside one weekend with a surface discussion of middle-age issues of sexuality and fidelity

Setting: contemporary 1980s

Direct Cinema effects: heightened tensions in the dialogue, modeled after The Big Chill

Critical meditation on the direction of Quebec society after the successes of the Quiet Revolution: a gloomy view of French-Canadian history that draws on Arcand’s Catholicism (human nature is unchangeable and permanently flawed; historical progress is an illusion, especially in terms of spirituality)

Other Arcand Films

Jesus de Montreal (1989): Shows Arcand’s highly developed sense of social justice without belief that things can be changed. Inspired by an actor who auditioned for Decline and told Arcand of the degrading life he and fellow actors had to lead in commercials and porno films while also performing in the Passion Play for tourists.

Love and Remains (1993) English language

Stardom (2000)

Les Invasions barbares (2003) : Sequel to Decline