"Although Canada has continued to produce a number of interesting films with uniquely Canadian content, the majority of them are either shot out of the country with CFDC funding or use Canadian locales to represent other locations entirely..." -David A. Cook, A History of Narrative Film
Under the auspices of the Toronto International Film Festival Group, an pristine print of the late Claude Jutra's 1971 masterpiece, Mon Oncle Antoine is being circulated. It is a welcome opportunity to re(visit) a film that eschews the two criticisms made above. The film is shot entirely in rural Quebec in a town that essentially plays itself as opposed to Nova Scotia playing Long-Island (Love and Death on Long Island) or Toronto playing New York (Take your pick...). As the Canadian cinema begins to earn some very real, long overdue international recognition at increasingly pretigious venues Jutra's film serves as a reminder of a proud film heritage. The film is truly world class, in its aesthetic as well as its technical merits; the climatic conditions under which many of the scenes were shot are truly savage. The film has been taglined as 'the greatest Canadian film ever...', a dubious honour and an ironic example of marketing hyperbole, given our usual predilection for understatement; an approach that for once would have been appropriate.
At the risk of dispelling whatever tame interest there exists for this film, it can best be described as a coming of age chronicle. In every sense of the term, the themes of self-discovery and identity permeate the film. This is exposed not just through the trajectory of the young protagonist, but through the state of things in the very town itself. The finances of the general store, for instance are increasingly put into question suggesting its days are numbered. Each of the principal characters struggles through awkward attempts to define themselves, their existence and to accomodate certain uncomfortable realities. Joe's clumsy farewell scene is an excellent example. Their roll in the hay is almost certainly an event from their past and its reincarnation is both uncomfortable and very touching. It is an extremely eleagant way to underscore the deep felt change that Joe's leaving represents. It is such change that is at the very heart of the film. Unlike the repetitive cyclic change of seasons (deftly integrated into Will There be Snow For Christmas) this is the permanent and enduring change of a natural disaster. This is the very process that the towns and the characters undergo through the course of the film. Jutra thoroughly integrates this theme into the film allowing for a multitude of allusions to emerge. The result is a depiction of veritable coming of age; not the banal musings on dating partners and sex that populate so many other films on the same subject.
Many aspects of the film allude to documentary filmmaking, including the style of the film itself. The camera is never sure about anything ultimately giving the film the feel of an interrogation not an assertion. This is particularly significant since it is via the documentaty tradition that Canadian filmmaking was born. Jutra punctuates his film with a number of sustained shaky zooms. A number of key scenes in the film as well as the opening and closing shots are photographed this way. But the device is more than simply homage to the early traditions of Canadian cinema. The themes of change and of self-interrogation are particularly well served by the technique. The shaky zooms are extremely self-conscious but not at all certain or sure. Contrast these to Kubrick's expertly executed creeping zooms from 'The Shining'. Both are instances of virtuoso filmmaking where the director achieves remarkable density through the use of a rigorous and coherent code. At other times in the film Jutra uses long-take shooting to turn things over to the remarkable cast who sing along or share moments of tortured intimacy. The gut-wrenching moment of discovery for the young protagonist late in the film, for instance is perfectly handled in this way.
Mon Oncle Antoine, sets an unassuming mandate for itself: it is a chronicle of painful transition of a people and a place. The film is free of pretense and fullfills this mandate exceptionally well. The narrative structure of the film is elliptical but never opaque. The dialogue is not weighed down with pseudo-philosophy or other annoyances. At the center of this chronicle of change and evolution is the Antoine of the title. The young protagonist's uncle who is perhaps the only character that is spared the uneasy task of revaluating themselves and their lives. Thoroughly content, or so it seems, he fullfills his tasks as the town's undertaker and general store owner in an aloof but sympathetic manner. As the film progresses however, Jutra unveils his scheme, and the viewer comes to know a man who is not the pillar of certitude he appeared to be. Although certain elements of the film are left ambiguous, the film is never unclear. It is the ambiguities that reinforce that feelings of apprehension and confusion that precede any momentous change.
The film could reluctantly be called a precursor to Jean-Claude Lauzon's Leolo. While direct comparison of the films would be reductionist both constitute examples by Quebecois filmmakers to reveal uncertainties about their time and place through stories centered around a child. It is interesting to speculate as to how big an influence Jutra's film may have been on Lauzon. At any rate, Mon Oncle Antoine cannot help but strongly influence any who chose to see it. It is a fine choice, to celebrate Canadian filmmaking's past, present and future. -- -Omar Odeh http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/3920
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