This program showcases seminal works and sometimes lesser-known gems from Québec's cinematic heritage.
This screening will be presented with French subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Jacques Godbout signs a witty parody, capitalizing on the popularity of the Cyniques, on staging choices that make full use of artificiality (cardboard sets, absence of extras) and on François Dompierre's music that skillfully plays the pastiche card (from Verdi to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg). The result is delightful, with Godbout's script following the humor of the Cyniques and pushing the implausibilities of the plot to the point of absurdity as well as the underlying Catholic morality.
Jacques Godbout
Jacques Godbout is a Québécois novelist, poet, essayist, children's writer, and filmmaker born in Montreal in 1933. By his own admission a bit of a dabbler, Godbout has become one of the most important writers of his generation, with a major influence on post-1960 Quebec intellectual life. After completing his classical studies at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, he obtained a master's degree in literature from the Université de Montréal in 1954 before teaching philosophy and French at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia until 1957. Returning to Canada in 1958, he became an advertising executive before joining the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) as a filmmaker and scriptwriter. He directed several films during his career, including four feature films and several documentaries. He was one of the founders of the literary magazine Liberté and the Union des écrivaines et des écrivains québécois (UNEQ), in addition to working on the founding of the Mouvement Souveraineté-Association, which would give rise to the Parti Québécois. He published several essays during Quebec's Quiet Revolution, then wrote novels that explored the possibilities of Quebec identity.
