Mon oncle Antoine (1971)

Set in cold rural Quebec at Christmas time, we follow the coming of age of a young boy and the life of his family which owns the town's general store and undertaking business.

Director:

Claude Jutra

Writers:

Claude Jutra (adaptation), Clément Perron (story)

Stars:

Jacques Gagnon, Lyne Champagne, Jean Duceppe

5 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jacques Gagnon	...	Benoit
Lyne Champagne	...	Carmen
Jean Duceppe	...	Uncle Antoine
Olivette Thibault	...	Aunt Cecile
Claude Jutra	...	Fernand, Clerk
Lionel Villeneuve	...	Jos Poulin
Hélène Loiselle	...	Madame Poulin
Mario Dubuc	...	Poulin's son
Lise Brunelle	...	Poulin's daughter
Alain Legendre	...	Poulin's son
Robin Marcoux	...	Poulin's son
Serge Evers	...	Poulin's son
Monique Mercure	...	Alexandrine
Georges Alexander	...	The Big Boss
Rene Salvatore Catta	...	The Vicar

Storyline

Set in cold rural Quebec at Christmas time, we follow the coming of age of a young boy and the life of his family which owns the town's general store and undertaking business.

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Plot Keywords:

general store | coming of age | quebec | christmas | changing room | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

French

Release Date:

12 November 1971 (Canada)

Also Known As:

My Uncle Antoine

Filming Locations:

Black Lake City, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 750,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Office national du film du Canada (ONF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A critics poll held once a decade, since 1984, at the Toronto International Film Festival has named this movie the greatest Canadian film of all time 3 decades in a row.

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Quotes

Benoit: [Benoit and his uncle Antoine try to recover a casket that has fallen off their sleigh. Antoine is in a drunken state] Don't let go!
Uncle Antoine: I can't, Benoit. Sometimes you just can't.
Benoit: Yes, you can! My arm's in a cast and I can do it. We're almost there. Don't give up. You can do it.
Uncle Antoine: [Dejectedly, and in a drunken stupor] What am I doing here, Benoit? I'm not happy. I'm not made for the country. I hate it here. I wanted to buy a hotel in the States. Your aunt wouldn't let me. She says no to everything. I'm...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The actor who plays the Big Boss is billed as Georges Alexander in the original French language version, but as George Alexander in the dubbed English version.

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Connections

Featured in Weird Sex and Snowshoes: A Trek Through the Canadian Cinematic Psyche (2004)

User Reviews

A great example of a film that illustrates the gulf between the critics and the general public

"Mon Oncle Antoine" is a coming of age film set in a very rural and grim portion of French-speaking Canada. It gives you some insight into the dreadful bleakness of this sort of setting and the film consists of a couple days in the lives of two families--one soon about to experience a tragedy and the other consisting of an aunt and uncle who run a combination general store and funeral parlor.

At the Toronto International Film Festival, every decade a panel of critics have voted on what they consider to the best Canadian film of all time. Well, "Mon Oncle Antoice" has won this distinction for three straight decades--winning over such brilliant films as "Barbarian Invasions" and "Jesus of Montreal"! Well, after seeing "Mon Oncle Antoine" I can't help but think that there is sometimes a HUGE gulf between what the critics and the public love, as I have no idea whatsoever why this film has received this distinction, as it's a very ordinary film. If I didn't know better, I'd think that Canadian films are terrible--but this isn't true. The other two films I listed above are exceptional--and "Barbarian Invasions" won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film--and richly deserved it. But as for "Mon Oncle Antoine", the film seemed exceptionally slow paced and, at times, a bit pointless and unrelentingly grim.

Before you just assume I hate foreign films or have no tolerance for art films, I should mention that I have reviewed close to a couple thousand such films. It's just that this one simply did not appeal to me and it just seems very overrated. Just my two-cents worth.