The Merry World of Leopold Z
The holiday season comes with a tradition of heartwarming stories. Cinema has long embraced these tales once shared by the fireside, sometimes transforming them. This program brings together a selection of such films, highlighting various approaches and celebrating Quebecois narratives.
Winner of the Grand Prize, Festival du cinéma canadien 1965
Montreal, December 24. As a snowstorm blows through the city, Léopold Z. Tremblay, a cheerful snowplower, is torn between his family and professional obligations. Reshaping a short documentary project into his first feature-length fiction film, Gilles Carle demonstrates his talent for storytelling in this masterpiece of Quebec cinema.
Gilles Carle
Gilles Carle was a Quebec graphic artist, director, screenwriter, editor, and producer. He joined the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in 1960, initially working as a documentalist and a screenwriter, before directing several documentaries, including Percé on the Rocks. In 1965, he made his first feature film, La vie heureuse de Léopold Z, although he had only been authorized to make a documentary. Reprimanded by his employer for this, Carle left the NFB and joined Productions Onyx, where he wrote and directed Le viol d'une jeune fille douce (1968), Red (1970), and Les mâles (1971). He then co-founded Productions Carle-Lamy with Pierre Lamy and went on to direct films such as La vraie nature de Bernadette (1972), starring Micheline Lanctôt, Daniel Pilon, and Willie Lamothe. In the 1980s, he adapted two Quebec literary classics for the big screen: Les Plouffe (1981) and Maria Chapdelaine (1983). His final feature films were produced in the 1990s. Known for his ability to craft complex yet authentic characters true to their cultural realities, Carle’s body of work is filled with tales, fantasy, and social fables imbued with humor.
Photo: Collections de la Cinémathèque québécoise
