PIERRE HEBERT: COMING INTO HIS OWN

MILA LUKA The animation style of Pierre Hébert somewhat parallels — the evolution of Quebec’s national identity through the Begone Dull Care (1949) Quiet Revolution, arguably impacting it. At the same Op Hop - Hop Op (1966) Au pays de Zom (1983) time, drawing from Norman McLaren and Len Lye, Chants et Danses du Monde Hebert employed the technique of drawing directly on Inanimé - Le métro (1985) La Plante Humaine (1996) film, creating abstract shapes moving to music. While he La statue de Giordano Bruno evolved from the foundations McLaren and Lye created, (2005) Hébert departs from his role models, for example, add- ing live performance to his creations. His development as an animator occurred while Quebec’s autonomy was being forged under the umbrella of federalist institu- tions. This paradox invites us to ask to what extent do his films reflect Quebec’s political environment, specifically Quebec urban life? Hébert’s use of live performance, his utilization of pastiche, and his wielding of unconven- tional film style indelibly situate him as a postmodern Quebecois filmmaker. A brief history of all three ani- mators provides the necessary context to contextualize Hébert’s influences and career trajectory. Norman McLaren was born in Scotland in 1914 and, after joining John Grierson at the General Post Office Film Unit (GPOFU) in 1937, where he made his first ani- mated film drawing directly on film. The technique of painting, drawing and scratching directly on film was made without a camera, and would thus become his sig- nature, distinguishing him as an auteur. McLaren artic- 3 ulated his priorities as: keeping the technology between conception and finished work to a minimum, personally

Mila Luka is a 3rd year undergrad student handling the mechanisms, treating the limitations of minoring in Film Studies, Art History, and Writng technology as a growing point for ideas, and allowing & Rhetoric. Her partcular area of interest lies in contemporary art and flm.

MILA LUKA 39 for improvisation at the time of shooting. Maximum freedom and autonomy is found Evolution links the sub-narratives of the storytellers within the film, who all speak through delimiting, questioning and suspending the exclusive character of the devices different languages, to include an African wanderer, a Rabbi, as well as a native Indian. that support cinema (Graça 2006). In other words, McLaren found it liberating to elim- Marina Estela Graça maintains that while language makes possible the communication inate the camera from film production. New Zealander Len Lye also joined the GPOFU and representation of concepts and objects, it also inhibits the experience of, and refer- around the same time and adopted the same technique of scratching directly on film ence to world states not foreseen in a semantic system (Graça 2004). Hébert overcomes (Horrocks, 58). These two individuals were both highly influential for Hébert. Norman this through the use of alternating syntagmas, where each of the storytellers recounts McLaren was a pioneer in his oeuvre, and spent his career refining and experimenting the tale of evolution and a great flood. The storytelling highlights the importance of within the boundaries he himself created, while achieving an auteur status. Hébert language; at the same time the stories the individuals recount are similar despite their built upon McLaren’s practice, pushing boundaries, constantly experimenting, while respective cultural distinctions. The similarities found across the fables challenge the using the ingenious techniques that McLaren pioneered. conception of unique identity among nations, an issue that often divides cultures, Some background on Pierre Hébert provides context for his later work, he was unifying the film’s fragments. Hébert overcame the challenge of language by linking born in Montreal in 1944. After studying anthropology and archaeology he joined the the similarity between distinct cultures. NFB in 1965 under the mentorship of Norman McLaren. One of his earliest films, Op This language challenge nevertheless raises a key issue experienced by Quebec Hop - Hop Op (1966) replicated McLaren’s visual style by directly drawing on film. filmmakers, namely funding and marketing. Co-producing with France offers one However, it didn’t match McLaren’s synesthesia of sight and sound in films such as solution to these is issues. However, with additional funding comes the responsibility Begone Dull Care (1949). In Op Hop images are paired with the music of Oscar Peterson, to ensure the final product is marketable in both nations. Bill Marshall contends that creating a playful, joyous experience. While his drawings are reminiscent of McLaren, if the postmodern marks the triumph of flow in which places no longer have bound- Hébert’s use of tribal music has more in common with Len Lye. This type of music aries, but are imagined as articulated movements in networks of social relations. This impacts the viewer differently then McLaren’s work, evoking agitation, tension, and means public space is now marked by its non-coincidence. This has implications for nervousness. We could surmise that this effect reflects the minor and unstable status Quebec’s cultural identity and cinematic representation of Montreal. The city of Mon- afforded Quebec at this time. While Hébert incorporates lessons learned from McLaren treal is masqueraded as locations outside of Quebec, such as New York, Paris,Vienna, and Lye, he still succeeds in distinguishing his own work from theirs. or even as a futuristic no-place (Marshall 299-300). La Plante Humaine was funded by While McLaren focused on muscle memory to control formal differences between both Canada and France. The setting is urban, as evidenced by the library and bag lady, successive movements, and Lye embraced the consciousness of movement, Hébert’s as well as the gangs and requisite shootings. While purported to be generic through material was concerned with the collision of languages and technologies (Graça 2006). lack of signage and distinguishing features, an important factor in the coproduction Nowhere is the divergence from McLaren more evident than in Hébert’s stress on agreement, the city is easily identifiable as Montreal with its tenement stairs and park language. Language is absent in McLaren’s films, whereas it figures prominently in spaces. That said, it could easily be Paris or New York. Some may argue that the dys- Hébert’s. This prominence is emblematic of how language is key to Quebec’s national topic, melancholic feel ascribed to the city gives more of a modernist sense than the identity, indeed the characteristic that most distinguishes Quebec them from the rest utopic postmodernism of what Marshall describes as a typically urban, vibrant, con- of Canada. In this way Hébert’s emphasis on language parallels Quebecois concerns sumerist city (Marshall 302). during the Quiet Revolution. In addition to the urban setting, Hébert focuses on the quotidian moments of his Indeed, Hébert’s La Plante Humaine (1996) is exemplary in this regard. Words and protagonist Mr. Michel. Through the television, which itself is a character, we learn language are foregrounded as a distinguishing feature of the protagonist, Mr. Michel, that during the Gulf War the media used stock footage that not only failed to repre- as well as a storytelling device to highlight the constructed nature of communication sent current events, but also left viewers without a true picture of the human aspect, through media. Mr. Michel is a librarian by profession and books figure prominently namely the killing and death experienced by human beings. It emphasizes how we in the film. He refers to a book by Da Vinci to interpret the evolution of world events. were provided with the communication that the media chose to depict. Similarly, a

40 CAMÉRA STYLO ALEXANDRA MCCALLA 41 dual message regarding the role of language in forging national identity is offered. consciousness that the author has a body” (Graça 2004). Similar to the self-reflexivity While Hébert highlights the importance of language in distinguishing a nation, he in le direct, Hébert crosses the mimetic divide when he inserts his hands. By defini- also demonstrates the similarities between cultures. Furthermore, Hébert disrupts the tion, crossing the mimetic divide occurs whenever the spectator crosses “the fourth premise that animation equals fantasy and live action film equals realism in La Plante wall” of the performance stage. Marina Estela Graça describes it as appearing between Humaine . This is achieved by positioning the life of Mr. Michel in animated form and “an exterior space which is internalized and an internal space which is externalized” juxtaposing the live action filmic sub-narratives of Mr. Michel’s dream life, the Afri- (Graça 2004). can storyteller, and the Gulf War footage on television. In reversing the typical order, After 1986 Hébert took a further step ‘into the frame’ with live scratched anima- Hébert suggests then subverts common beliefs of what is reality and what is fantasy. tion, a technique in which computers are used to create animated images and sound The lines become sufficiently blurred to question the relevance of the term animation with live musicians in front of an audience (Graça 2006). His experimentation with live (Hébert 185). Hébert maintains the premise that in order for all arts to maintain their animation, whereby he performs on stage or among spectators and in dialogue with autonomy, cinema has to loosen its structure. He posits: other artists, causes us to question the nature of cinema (Graça, 2004). In La statue de Giordano Bruno (2005) Hébert challenges the claim that the multimedia disciplines of How can the interaction of different arts within the complex of cinema, photography, cinema, video, and computer must remain separate and autonomous. through critical analysis, be useful to the current interweaving of arts and Hébert contends that with digital technology distinctions between the arts no longer media? [...] Multi-disciplinary practices tend to set themselves in real time apply in the same ways. Digital technology creates photographic manipulations, chal- theatrical presentations where they can be fully transparent, fully free, and fully problematic both in terms of technical and human presence [...] lenging old paradigms of live action realism. He extends his subversion of the common Interactivity is a way to be even more deeply submerged. (Hébert 185-187) belief that live action filmic representations give the impression of realism due to their photographic nature, suggesting that when the technical apparatus is concealed, ani- Does this suggest the allegory that Quebec is a distinct society within Canada? In order mation bases itself on fantasy (Hébert 181-184). Hébert’s innovations go against McLar- for Quebec to maintain its autonomy, Canada needs to loosen its structure. We could en’s premise of keeping the technology between conception and finished work to a say that Hébert’s challenging conceptions of filmmaking parallels Quebec’s pushing minimum. Indeed, Hébert embraces the technology by foregrounding the use of the the boundaries of the of the English Canada hegemony in order to create a distinct digital in his live animation performances. Hébert’s movement away from the standard society. In challenging these norms, Hébert distinguishes himself among animators. conventions of animation signals his becoming, similar to how the centrifugal move- The use of live action in film is a distinctive feature of Hébert’s works. Most film- ment of Quebec away from Canada creates a distinct society within a federalist umbrella. makers, including McLaren and Lye, do not incorporate filmic or photographic images In addition to functioning as an allegory for Quebec’s independence from Can- into their animated films. Hébert’s Chants et Danses du Monde Inanimé - Le métro ada, La statue de Giordano Bruno foregrounds the heresy of the Catholic church. The (1985) blends filmed footage shot on the subway, animation drawn while traveling on a subversion of religious motif in La statue de Giordano Bruno highlights the heresy subway, and musical accompaniment paralleling the subway ride, slowing and soften- prevalent in the Catholic faith and challenges traditional beliefs and allegiance to the ing when entering the station. The music was spontaneously performed by the musi- Catholic church. In doing so Hébert gestures towards modernity rather than post- cians, and no effort was made to synchronize the details. The practice of engraving modernity, as Marshall contends that the transition from authoritarian Catholicism directly on the film stock makes the lines unstable, creating a jittery, frenetic feel echo- in Quebec occurred under the signs of modernity. (Marshall, 304). Hébert highlights ing the movement of the subway train. Here animation and music work together to the sacred statue and public reactions to it, marking shifts within Quebecois culture. create the sense that the viewer is riding the subway. We could name this observation A key difference between modernism and postmodernism is the use of pastiche. animation, depicting the anonymity of individuals in an urban setting. In contrast Hébert makes use of pastiche in many of his films, La Plante Humaine for instance, to the anonymity depicted, this is the film where Hébert started putting his hands in offers numerous intertextual references to other works. They includes direct refer- his films, literally. This insertion of himself brings a new dimension to the film, “the ences to Da Vinci’s book when switching between the evolution sub-narratives, and

42 CAMÉRA STYLO ALEXANDRA MCCALLA 43 Gilles Groulx’s film In the land of Zom when the television reports on the death of the Russian king, as well as an homage to Norman McLaren’s Narcissus by implicit Works Cited reference through the mirror motif. Through “borrowing” Hébert re-contextualizes

for his own purpose. In addition to pastiche, Hébert mixes high and low culture with Graça, M. E. “Between looking and gesturing”, La Statue di Giordano Bruno. Pierre Hébert the academic background of Mr. Michel, political statements, multicultural references 7th Internatonal Literature and Humanites (Animator & Director). 2005. DVD. Conference, EMU, Cyprus. 2004. Web. 26 juxtaposed with images of the bag lady, and the use of the television as a focal point May 2013. La Plante Humaine. Hébert, P. (Animator & for everyday life. Finally, Hébert’s style is self-refexive: it switches between animation Director). Montreal, Canada: Natonal Film and live action, combining the two, as well as unusual editing in the form of an iris Graça, Marina Estela. “Cinematc moton by hand.” Board. 1996. DVD. Animaton Studies – Vol.1, 2006. Web. 26 out to transition between sequences of animation and live action. In La statue de Gior- May 2013. dano Bruno, the insertion of his own hand also indicates postmodernist self-refexivity. Le Metro, Chants et Danses du monde inanimé / Hébert, Pierre. “Cinema, Animaton and the Other Songs and Dances of the Inanimate World: While there are modernist influences in Hébert’s films, especially those that resem- Arts: An Unanswered Queston.” The The Subway. Hébert, P. (Animator & Director). ble his mentor Norman McLaren who is situated in as a modernist, Hébert’s films are Sharpest Point, Animaton at the End of Montreal, Canada: Natonal Film Board. decidedly postmodern. Cinema. Eds. Chris Gehman and Steve Reinke 1985. DVD. Toronto: YYZ Books/Otawa Internatonal Pierre Hébert and Norman McLaren both employ scratch animation as their foun- Animaton Festval/Images Festval, 2005. Marshall, Bill. Quebec Natonal Cinema. Montreal dation. While continuing to build upon and experiment with this practice McLaren Print. & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, consistently adhered to the conventions he developed. True to form, we could approxi- 2001. Print. Horrocks, Roger. Art That Moves, The Work of mate McLaren’s self confdent auteur persona as characteristic of a federalist hegemony, Len Lye. Auckland: Auckland University NFB Site. Natonal Film Board of Canada, 2006. building a foundation without wavering. In contrast, Hébert’s work, while founded Press, 2009. Print. Web. 7 June 2013. on the principles pioneered by McLaren, meanders down a variety of paths and exhibits a restlessness that parallels that of a minor nation within a country trying to fnd its iden- tity, namely Quebec. This restlessness is evidenced by the number of times his style has changed; frst closely following McLaren’s style, then favouring political activism and anti war messages in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, and moving into a multi-disciplinary approach in the mid 1980’s and beyond. The multi-disciplinary approach, which includes observation animation, and his groundbreaking work with computer assisted live per- formance animation. While it is possible to locate recurring elements of both content and form in his work, Hébert has not settled on a signature style. His foundation and experimentation has resulted in his coming of age through frst acquiring traditional skills, then speaking out against the state, and fnally the gaining the confdence to ini- tiate groundbreaking work. Hence his process is similar to Quebec’s process of becoming a nation. Indeed, as Quebec pushed to separate but had trouble defning what a separate identity and autonomy would look like under a federal umbrella, Hébert sought his own identity while still borrowing from McLaren and Lye, all under the funding of the NFB. Hébert’s trajectory stands as an allegory for Quebec’s seeking autonomy under a federal umbrella. That which distinguishes Quebec and Hébert from hegemonic complacency also presents challenges that can only be overcome in the process of becoming.

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