Mon oncle Antoine
| Mon oncle Antoine | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Claude Jutra |
| Produced by | Marc Beaudet |
| Written by |
Claude Jutra Clément Perron |
| Starring |
Jacques Gagnon Jean Duceppe Olivette Thibault Lionel Villeneuve Claude Jutra |
| Music by | Jean Cousineau |
| Cinematography | Michel Brault |
| Edited by |
Claire Boyer Claude Jutra |
| Distributed by |
National Film Board of Canada Janus Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | French |
| Budget | CDN$750,000 |
Mon oncle Antoine is a 1971 National Film Board of Canada (Office national du film du Canada) French language drama film. Québécois director Claude Jutra co-wrote the screenplay with Clément Perron and directed what is one of the most acclaimed works in Canadian film history.
The film examines life in the Maurice Duplessis-era Asbestos Region of rural Québec prior to the Asbestos Strike of 1949. Set at Christmas time, the story is told from the point of view of a 15-year-old boy (Benoît, played by Jacques Gagnon) coming of age in a mining town. The Asbestos Strike is regarded by Québec historians as a seminal event in the years prior to the Quiet Revolution. Jutra's film is an examination of the social conditions in Québec's old, agrarian, conservative and cleric-dominated society on the eve of the social and political changes that transformed the province a decade later.[1]
Critical acclaim
The film was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 44th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[2] It was also entered into the 7th Moscow International Film Festival.[3]
The film has twice been voted the greatest Canadian film ever in the Sight & Sound poll, which is conducted once each decade. The Toronto International Film Festival placed it first in the Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time three times.[1]
This film has been designated and preserved as a 'masterwork' by the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada, a charitable non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting the preservation of Canada’s audio-visual heritage.[4]
It was featured in the Canadian Cinema television series which aired on CBC Television in 1974.[5]
On 8 July 2008, The Criterion Collection released a special 2-disc collector's edition of the film.
On 23 December 2008, Roger Ebert put Mon Oncle Antoine on his Great Movies list.
See also
- List of submissions to the 44th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of Canadian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ellerman, Evelyn. "Mon Oncle Antoine Commentary". Canadian Film Online. Athabasca University. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
- ↑ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- ↑ "7th Moscow International Film Festival (1971)". MIFF. Retrieved 2012-12-23.
- ↑ http://avtrust.ca/masterworks
- ↑ Corcelli, John (August 2005). "Canadian Cinema". Canadian Communications Foundation. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
External links
- Watch Mon oncle Antoine at NFB.ca
- Mon oncle Antoine at the Internet Movie Database
- Mon oncle Antoine at AllMovie
- Close-up: Mon oncle Antoine critique of the film and its legacy NOTE: This link is recovered
- Mon oncle Antoine article by Barry Keith Grant published in the June–September 2004 issue of Take One
- Roger Ebert's Great Movies entry for the film.