Marc Seguy’s blog

Growing up in Canada, a staple of our culture is the National Coat Board’s presence in the inception of Canadian film presentations, which time again portrayed lifestyles unfamiliar to me, though painting kind of romantic images against a backdrop of the harsh reality of life in some remote regions of this country. Produced with help from the NFB and twice voted the best Canadian covering, director/actor/writer Claude Jutra’s masterwork, Mon Oncle Antoine, tells the coming of age story of a childish boy in a pint-sized Quebec mining town during the 1940s. Written by Jutra and Clément Perron (whose 1973 film Taureau I’d like to woo on DVD sooner than later) and shot on location in Quebec at the Thetford Mines, as well as Infernal Lake City, the film chronicles the events of one pivotal Christmas season in this small community.

Jos Poulon (Lionel Villeneuve), father of five, is fed up with his job at the asbestos lode, and decides to abandon his derivation to go apply in the beams camp for the winter, leaving his wife (Hélène Loiselle) and eldest son to run their mundane farm and attend to the children. Young Benoit (Jacques Gagnon) lives several miles away in township with his aunt Cecile (Olivette Thibault) and uncle Antoine (Jean Duceppe) at the general store, which is the center of their community. He helps out at the church, assisting his uncle, who is also the town mortician. While Antoine should be the pillar of the community, he as a substitute for spends most of his day drinking in the overdue renege room, while his nephew Fernand (Jutra) attends to the books and runs the store, with the help of Benoit and a young girl, Carmen (Lyne Champagne), who shares both the attentions of Benoit and the unwelcomed leers of Fernand.

As Christmas moves ever nearer, the perennial window display at the store becomes the center of concentration, though wedding plans and the appearance of a budding corset for the community debutante (Monique Mercure) also paint hobby, primarily from the young boys wishing to snitch a perfection at Alexandrine as she tries on her latest acquiring.

When the eldest Poulon son falls terminally destruction and Benoit’s uncle is called upon to go out like a light to their farm, the events that follow at one’s desire be a communique as Benoit learns to look at sentience in a new way, and begins to understand the personalities and relationships of his elders, and his own growing responsibilities in the community.

It is nice to survive help more films from my homeland making their way to DVD, but the truancy of titles like Why Shoot The Counsellor (1977) and The Little Moll Who Lives Down The Lane leave me leaving much to be desired more. A charming theatricalism, balancing seriousness with a comedic touchy, portrayed in a very natural, and very Canadian technique. Mon Oncle Antoine counters the foibles of small municipality life with its realities, in a sensitive and touching film.