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Cinema of Quebec

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For organization that promotes and develops Cinema of Quebec, seeQuébec Cinéma.
Cinema of Quebec
No.ofscreens714 (2022)[1][2]
Number of admissions (2022)[1][3]
Total11,326,518
National films995,072 (8.8%)
Gross box office (2022)[1][4]
Total$108.5 million

The history ofcinemainQuebecstarted on June 27, 1896 when the FrenchmanLouis Minierinaugurated the first movie projection in North America in aMontrealtheatre room. However, it would have to wait until the 1960s before a genuine Quebec cinema industry would emerge. Approximately 620 feature-length films have been produced, or partially produced by the Quebec film industry since 1943.

Due to language and cultural differences between the predominantlyfrancophonepopulation of Quebec and the predominantlyanglophonepopulation of the rest of Canada, Quebec's film industry is commonly regarded as a distinct entity from its English Canadian counterpart. In addition to participating in Canada's nationalGenie Awards,the Quebec film industry also maintains its own awards ceremony, thePrix Iris(formerly known as Jutra). In addition, the popularity of homegrown French language films among Quebec audiences, as opposed to English Canadians' preference forHollywoodfilms, means that Quebec films are often more successful at the box office than English Canadian films — in fact, the top-grossing Canadian film of the year is often a French language film from Quebec.[5]

Before theOffice national du film[edit]

From 1896 to the 1960s, the Catholic clergy tried to control what movies Quebecers could see. Two methods were employed: censorship and prohibition of attendance by children under 16. In 1913, theBureau de censure de vues animées(Office of censorship for motion pictures) began regulating the projection of movies in Quebec. In 1927, the Laurier-Palace Theatre burned down, killing 78 children.[6]The church then almost succeeded at closing down all projection rooms in the province. However, the Parliament of Quebec passed a law preventing only children under 16 from attending movie projections. This law would be repealed only in 1961.

Nevertheless, some films were produced in Quebec during this period. Those were mostly documentaries, some of which were made by priests (Albert Tessier) and civil servants (Herménégilde Lavoie).[7]Joseph-Arthur Homieris considered the first director of feature-length films in Quebec, and his 1922 production,Madeleine de Verchères,was based on the life of the 17th-century Quebec heroine,Madeleine de Verchères.In the 1940s and 1950s, the first commercial attempts at cinema happened. Two production houses were at the origins of all the movies of this period:Renaissance FilmsandQuébec Productions.Most of the commercial feature films came primarily from four directors:Fyodor Otsep,Paul Gury,Jean-Yves Bigras,andRené Delacroix.Notable films of this period includeThe Music Master(Le Père Chopin,1945),A Man and His Sin(Un homme et son péché,1949),The Nightingale and the Bells(Le Rossignol et les cloches,1952),Little Aurore's Tragedy(La petite Aurore l'enfant martyre,1952),Tit-Coq(1953), andThe Promised Land(Les brûlés,1959).

After theOffice national du film[edit]

TheNational Film Board of Canadawas established by the Parliament of Canada in 1939.[8]Its office moved from Ottawa to Montreal in 1956.[8]In 1957, the new commissioner,Albert Trueman,recommended the creation of a separately funded French production wing. MinisterJ. W. Pickersgillrejected Trueman's recommendation as Ottawa feared that two separate organizations would develop under the same roof. This decision intensified the campaign of the Quebec French language press for an autonomous French language branch.Guy Robergewas appointed as the NFB's first francophone Commissioner in April 1957. The French branch of theNational Film Board of Canadawas established and the NFB became autonomous in 1959.

Direct CinemafilmmakersMichel Brault,Pierre PerraultandGilles Groulxall made their debut at the NFB. That decade also saw the beginnings of directorsClaude Jutra,Gilles CarleandDenys Arcand.

The 1960s and 1970s[edit]

Two key changes in the late 1960s paved the way for a new era in Québécois cinema. First, in 1967, Quebec's (religious) censorship bureau was replaced by a film ratings system administered by the province. The other phenomenon was the introduction, in 1967, by the federal government, of its Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC, to becomeTelefilm Canada). This allowed a greater number of films to reach the screen through government subsidy.

Commercial directors such asDenis Hérouxbecame known for his filmsValérieandDeux femmes en or[fr],two comedies with erotic overtones showing popular success not seen in Quebec since Jean-Yves Bigras'La Petite Aurore l'enfant martyre(1952).[9]

The seventies also marked a high in national filmmaking seen from an artistic perspective, an assessment supported byopinion pollssuch as the TIFF List ofCanada's Top 10 Films of All Time,which has included several films from that decade every year that the poll was taken. Arcand and Carle had critical (especially atCannes) and some commercial success with films such asGina(Arcand) andLa vraie nature de Bernadette(Carle). In 1971, director Claude Jutra released one of the most critically praised Quebec film to date,Mon oncle Antoine.However, his next movie, an adaptation ofAnne Hébert'sKamouraska,was a commercial and critical failure. It should be mentioned that this film suffered re-editing done to accommodate theater owners. A two-hour-long restored version, seen in 2003, shows more artistic coherence. In 1977,Jean Beaudin'sJ.A. Martin Photographewas selected atCanneswhereMonique Mercure,the female star of the film, won Best Actress (tying withShelley Duvallfor3 Women).

In 1971, a group of filmmakers in Montreal established theAssociation coopérative de productions audio-visuelles(ACPAV), which would play an important role in Quebec cinema over the next decades by funding and releasing the earliest films by many emerging Quebec directors.[10]

The 1980s[edit]

The victory of the "no" camp in the referendum on sovereignty association was a turning point in Québécois history and culture.Denys Arcandmade one of his most acclaimed picture with the NFB,Le confort et l'indifférence,about the result of the referendum. He then proceeded to direct two movies that were nominated for best foreign picture at theAcademy Awards:1986'sThe Decline of the American Empire(Le Déclin de l'empire américain)and 1989'sJesus of Montreal(Jésus de Montréal).[11][12]

After 1980, a lot of artists felt that the struggle to build a nation that had animated early Quebec cinema was lost. Québécois filmmakers began to make movies that were no longer centred on the Québécois identity. The 1986 success, at home and abroad, ofLe déclin...marked another turning point in the movie history of the province. The government-funded movie industry tried to repeat Arcand's success with international co-productions, big budget movies and so-called "mass audience movies".

Meanwhile, directorRobert Morinmade himself known with personal movies likeRequiem for a Handsome Bastard(Requiem pour un beau sans-coeur).Claude Jutra committed suicide in the 1980s after a struggle with Alzheimer's disease, and Gilles Carle became too sick to direct.

The 1990s and 2000s[edit]

1990-2002 saw the solidification of Quebec's movie industry. Independent films such asDenis Villeneuve'sMaelström,Denis Chouinard'sL'Ange de goudron,andUn crabe dans la têtecaught the media's attention. In 1994,Pierre Falardeau'sOctobretold a fictionalized version of the October Crisis from the point of view of the Chenier Cell, the FLQ terrorist cell who in 1970 kidnapped and executed Quebec minister and Deputy Premier Pierre Laporte.

Home-made blockbusters came in 2000s and begin to dominate their home market, putting American blockbusters in second place.Séraphin: un homme et son péché,directed by Charles Binamé, was a major success at the box office in 2002. The next year, 2003, was called "the year of Quebec cinema's rebirth" with Denys Arcand winning the foreign film Oscar forThe Barbarian Invasions(Les Invasions barbares),the sequel ofThe Decline of the American Empire(Le Déclin de l'empire américain),and withGaz Bar BluesandSeducing Doctor Lewisgaining both critical and public acclaim. In 2005,C.R.A.Z.Y.was released, grossing a considerable amount in such a small market, and garnering widespread praise from critics. In 2006, the Quebec-made action-comedyBon Cop, Bad Cop,a film with dialogue in both French and English, took over the title of most popular Canadian film at the Canadian box office. Sales forBon Cop, Bad Cophave totalled $13 million across the country. The previous Quebec film to hold this honour wasLes Boys.In 2007, Arcand'sDays of Darkness(L'Âge des ténèbres)was selected as the closing film for the Cannes Film Festival.

In 2009,De père en flic(English:Father and Guns) matched the movieBon Cop Bad Copto become the highest-grossing French language film in Canadian history.

The 2010s[edit]

The 2010s were marked by three consecutive Academy Award nominations for Quebecois films in theForeign Languagecategory,[13]namely forIncendies(2010),Monsieur Lazhar(2011) andWar Witch(2012).War WitchdirectorKim Nguyenproclaimed "People around the world are looking at Quebec cinema now and waiting for the next director to come out of here. This has a tremendous impact on a country's recognition outside of its borders".[13]University of Berlinfilm scholar Claudia Kotte wroteIncendies,Monsieur Lazhar,Inch'Allah(2012) andWar Witch,represent a break from focus onlocal historyto more global concerns.[14]

In May 2016,Xavier Dolanbecame the first Quebec filmmaker to win theGrand Prixat theCannes Film Festival,forIt's Only the End of the World.[15]It also later wonBest Filmat theinaugural Prix Iris,[16]which replaced the Jutra Awards for Quebec films, with new categories for Casting, Visual Effects, Revelation of the Year and Documentary Editing and Cinematography, and a Public Prix, chosen by viewers' votes.[17]

Bibliography[edit]

Books[edit]

Fradet, Pierre-Alexandre and Olivier Ducharme,Une vie sans bon sens. Regard philosophique surPierre Perrault,foreword byJean-Daniel Lafond,Montréal, Nota bene, 2016.

Evans, Gary. John Grierson and the National Film Board: The Politics of Wartime Propaganda. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1984.

Evans, Gary. In the National Interest: A Chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada from 1949 to 1989. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991.

  • Pallister, Janis L.The Cinema of Québec: Masters in Their Own House.Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1995.

Issues[edit]

Films[edit]

  • From NFB to Box-Office,2009 documentary byDenys Desjardinsabout the development of Quebec cinema, from the founding of the National Film Board of Canada to the creation of theCanadian Film Development Corporationin 1968
  • Rubbo, Michael(1972)."OK... Camera"(Documentary film about the Quebec film industry).NFB.ca.National Film Board of Canada.Retrieved11 January2012.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abchttps://statistique.quebec.ca/en/fichier/frequentation-cinemas-2022.pdf[bare URL PDF]
  2. ^"Chiffres clés de l'exploitation cinématographique, Québec, 2008 à 2012".Institut de la statistique du Québec. Archived fromthe originalon 9 November 2013.Retrieved9 November2013.
  3. ^"Résultats d'exploitation cinématographique selon le pays d'origine des films, Québec, 2008-2012".Institut de la statistique du Québec. Archived fromthe originalon 9 November 2013.Retrieved9 November2013.
  4. ^"The Economic Contribution of the Film and Television Sector in Canada"(PDF).Motion Picture Association - Canada. p. 29. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 9 November 2013.Retrieved9 November2013.
  5. ^James Adams (February 1, 2011)."Resident Evil: Afterlife is top-grossing Canadian flick".The Globe and Mail.Toronto.RetrievedAugust 19,2011.
  6. ^Fahrni, Magda (Fall 2015)."Glimpsing Working-Class Childhood through the Laurier Palace Fire of 1927: The Ordinary, the Tragic, and the Historian's Gaze".The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth.8(3): 426–450.doi:10.1353/hcy.2015.0047.S2CID146643958– via Project Muse.
  7. ^Véronneau, Pierre (2014-01-30)."Quebec Film History: 1896 to 1969".The Canadian Encyclopedia.Retrieved2020-06-01.
  8. ^ab"National Film Board of Canada".The Canadian Encyclopedia.2011-11-03.Retrieved2020-06-01.
  9. ^"Canuxploitation Article: Maple Syrup Porn: The Secret History of Quebec Popular Cinema".
  10. ^"Les 50 ans de l’Association coopérative de production audiovisuelle (ACPAV)".CTVM.info,February 6, 2021.
  11. ^"The 62nd Academy Awards | 1990".Oscars.org.5 October 2014.Retrieved2020-06-01.
  12. ^"The 59th Academy Awards | 1987".Oscars.org.Retrieved2020-06-01.
  13. ^abChris Knight, "Canadian director Kim Nguyen on his Oscar nomination for War Witch (Rebelle): ‘We’re clearly the underdog’Archived2013-02-16 atarchive.today,"National Post,10 January 2013, URL accessed 6 August 2013.
  14. ^Kotte, Claudia (2015). "Zero Degrees of Separation: Post-Exilic Return in Denis Villeneuve'sIncendies".Cinematic Homecomings.Bloomsbury Academic. p. 288.
  15. ^Bélanger, Cédric (22 May 2016)."Dolan passe à l'histoire".Le Journal de Québec.Retrieved17 August2016.
  16. ^Kelly, Brendan (4 June 2017)."Xavier Dolan's Juste la fin du monde dominates Gala Québec Cinéma".The Montreal Gazette.Retrieved4 June2017.
  17. ^Lussier, Marc-André (4 June 2017)."Gala Québec Cinéma: remise en jeu".La Presse.Retrieved4 June2017.

External links[edit]

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