The Courage & the Glory
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NATIONAL CIN E M A The Toronto retrospective The courage & the glory limism. The legacy of the Retrospec- personal films. This high ratio justifies funding bodies. "The politics of Tele- by Gail Henley tive could be that it clarified the past to the low-budget personal film as the film Canada are no good," says Carle. make the future more perceptible. glory of Canadian cinema. A related 'They favour producers. There will be First of alt, what became ahundantly conclusion, drawn from the top 25 films, $235 million in the next four years for The Retrospective - that is how it quickJy clear right from the beginning is that reveals that the "major plaver" behind producing films and only one million of became nicknamed - just as quickly Canadian film is as diverse as the coun- each of these films was none other than that will go to script-writing. But writing became the only real event of the 9ih try itself, and therein lies probably the a filmmaker ; and so it was that auteurs and authorship is where it ail starts." Annual Festival of Festivals in Toronto : kernel of a new realization of film in such as Claude Jutra, Gilies Carle, Don a giant celebration, whose purpose, Carle feels particularly well-placed to Canada. For too long there has been an Owen, Jean-Pierre Lefebvre, Denys value and success proved all the cynics re open the discussion since his feature attempt to find a homogeneous entity Arcand, Francis Mankiewicz, Michel wrong. films were among the first to reflect that would define our films and per- Brault, Jean Beaudin, Pierre Perrault, It was the largest attempt at Canadian contemporary Canadian cinema. "We haps ourselves. However, the sheer Don Shebib, Phillip Borsos, and Michael cincma. anytime, anywhere. There started something, (referring to the Que- mass of styles available within our tra- Snow were the real stars of the Festival. were over 200 Canadian films mi fea- becois features on the '60s) and that was dition defies the concept of a single The filmmakers were feted; their tures and 148 shorts t screened in 10 cut short by the tax-sheltering policy. homogenous centre, of the definitive films, in re-struck prints, were shown to days ; every day the film audience had a We started something again in the 70s, Canadian film As a result, programmers full houses; and a tuur, sponsored by choice of over 12 Canadian programs and that is now being cut short by the Piers Handling, coordinator of the Labatt's, will take both filmmakers and somewhere in Festival village. With new policy of big movies made for Retrospective, and programmers Peter films to all the major centres across traditionally only 2% of total screen time television. They think that television Harcourt, Kay Armalage, and Bruce Canada from October through Decem- in the cinemas across the country scree- will save the cinema, I believe the con- Elder chose to put together different ber. Afterwards, an international tour ning Canadian movies, the Retrospec- trary : television will put censorship programs that prcsetiled the range of will take the Ten Best to major centres tive gave audiences the rare oppor- into film." strengths of Canadian film. in the II.S, and Europe, tunity to go to a cinema to see their own Despite this diversity, the program- Filmmakers introducing their films Paul Almond, filmmaker, this films "foreign" movies. For them, the Retro- mers wanted lo highlight the major has become standard Festival of Fes- included in the Retrospective were spective was an enjoyable overall look accomplishments of Canadian cinema tivals format, a special practice that has Isabel and Act of the Heart) believes the at Canadian cinema from the very he- and thus the focal point of the Retro- personalized the Festival and delights Retrospective contributed in a very ginning to 1984, For filmmakers, the 9th spective became a pantheon of the best the audiences. In introducing La Vraie important way to the discussion. Annual Festival of Festivals was a lime films ever made in Canada. Selected in Nature de Bernadeffe, Gilies Carle (be- not only to look a I the history and tradi- "The Retrospective let us see very poll of over 300 film critics, national and sides Bernadette in the Ten Best, his tion of Canadian films hut to assess clearly what a distinctive voice was international, teachers and industry films included in the Retrospective where I hey stand in relation to that tra- speaking out through motion pictures professionals, the Ten Best, in order, were (Jed and La Tete de Normande dition. It uas the first lime in Canadian in the late '60s, early'70s. Our films were were : Mon Oncle Antoine ; Gain'Down St-Onge), spoke intensely on the film as good as Australian cinema, as any film hislory Ihat the film community the Road; Las Rons Debarras; The business past and present, "La Vraie European cinema ; they offered a wide, co Dec lively could pause to reflect on Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz ; The Nature de flernadeffe was made IS rich experience for the film-going whal has shaped the landscape. For Grey Fox Les Ordres; J.A Martin pho- years ago. We had such freedom working public. Those were the good years' some, il was jubilation at being found tographs ; Pour la Suite du monde; outside the regulations. Cm hopingJais everybody talks about. Then there was again ; for others a dialectic on where Nobody Waved Good-bye; and La Vraie freedom will come back. That would be the change at the CFDC — the men who we've been and where we're going; for Nature de Bernadette. One of the ob- the greatest thing." could get the most money could hire the inusl. a renewed sense of hope and op- vious conclusions from the Ten Best For Gilies Carle, the Retrospective best directors and best actors and make (excepting the documentary, Pour la reignited the passionate argument.over the most commercial movies ; ironically the future orientation of Canadian they made the worst dog . At that time Cm'/ Henley is a screenwriter living in Suite du monde and the high-budget s cinema that has long been on-going a film that was made with any reference Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz) is Toronto and author of the best-selling between filmmakers and government to Canada was the kiss of death novel Where The Cherries End Up. (hat eight of the 10 films are low-budget, 6/Cinema Canada-November 1984 money in a mini-series. At the film was a long period of live to six years festival there were wonderful films where everyone was trying to make from Italy, France, England, or Germany American films. funded by their television. But in 'The Retrospective, however, has Canada, it hasn't happened." helped us rediscover that powerful Larry Kent, filmmaker, (his films in- voice of our film culture. Now we are at cluded in the Retrospective were The the point of a clash of visions - out of Bitter Ash, When Tomorrow Dies, High this, in the future, will come a good and Sweet Substitute) is one of the film- synthesis. The clash occurs between the makers who have been labelled part of avowed intent to provide television fare the lost generation from the '60s which for Canadians, and the intention of the resurfaced with the Retrospective. "Tele- Broadcast strategy which wanted to film does not want to make feature provide a more substantial Canadian films, that's not what it wants to do," voice, to Canadians and to the rest of the says Kent. "The message I got from the world. And therein lies the clash of Trade Forum is it wants to do North ideologies, in the Retrospective, we've American material. They're not in- been witnessing one hundred distinc- terested in the filmmakers : they moved tive Canadian features; we're looking at immediately to the producers and now a cultural Canadian monument. But have moved to the broadcasters. It was what is to happening to the Canadian deliberate. They're not interested in us. distributor or the Canadian filmmaker If you compare it to the theatre, what today7 They are being dictated to by counts to them is the theatrical com- network programmers wanting to put pany, i.e., the people who run the thea- all their money to prime-time televi- tres, not the playwrights." sion." For Kent, the Retrospective was a Rene Malo, independent film distrib- wonderful event, not only because of its utor. and executive producer of Sonatinc size but because of the regenerative I which was screened in the Perspective enthusiasm and hunger of the audien- Canada program I and a guest panelist at ces to rediscover or discover Canadian the Trade Forum on the subject of films. "Audiences came in large num- Canadian distribution, added fuel to the bers to see the films,' say Kent, "to see discussion with his remarks from the films about themselves and thev were podium He stands squarely in sympa- delighted. It gave them a fresh aware- thy with the low-budget personal film- ness and nationalistic pride in our own maker. ",\'o great films have come out of culture. Only the government and Tele- series television, no matter how what film seem to be the ones not interested country in the world It's the indepen- dent filmmaker who makes the films in Canadian films." that make the culture. Truffaut - that's Don Owen, filmmaker, ibesides who you remember " ,\'obodv Waved Good-bye, one of the 'An immense and powerful ideological Ten Best, his recent film Unfinished battle is being waged,' says Paul Business was in the Perspective Canada Almond.