The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
With fifteen films made over more than forty years, Micheline Lanctôt is an essential figure in Quebec cinema. From L’homme à tout faire to Autrui, from Sonatine (Silver Lion, 1984) to Une manière de vivre, this conviction-driven filmmaker, known for her precise writing, has often borne witness to her times, always one step ahead. It's high time we revisit her films on the big screen to fully appreciate their impact. Key films from her acting career round out the program.
Winner of the Golden Bear, 1974 Berlin International Film Festival
In 1948, Duddy Kravitz, a young Jewish man born into a modest family on Saint-Urbain Street, uses every means at his disposal to extricate himself from his condition. Kotcheff's film manages to preserve the corrosive tone of Mordecai Richler's novel, as Duddy's financial success is accompanied by his moral bankruptcy. Richard Dreyfuss' edgy acting and Micheline Lanctôt's charm and vitality play a big part in the film's success, which won a Golden Bear at the Berlinale.
Ted Kotcheff
Ted Kotcheff was a Canadian director and producer of film, television, and theatre. He worked at various times in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He was known for having directed such films as the seminal Australian New Wave picture Wake in Fright (1971), the Mordecai Richler adaptations The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974) and Joshua Then and Now (1985), the original Rambo film First Blood (1982), and the comedies Fun with Dick and Jane (1977), North Dallas Forty (1979), and Weekend at Bernie's (1989). Kotcheff was nominated for a Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction, a Gemini Award for Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series, and twice for the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'or. He won the Golden Bear at the 1974 Berlin International Film Festival for The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, and the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series for his work on Play for Today. He received the Directors Guild of Canada's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011, and the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's Board of Directors' Tribute Award in 2014. He was described by the Toronto International Film Festival as a "talented, multi-faceted journeyman director in the tradition of Leo McCarey or Robert Wise".
