Mon oncle Antoine (1971)

Director:

Claude Jutra

Writers:

Claude Jutra (adaptation)
Clément Perron (story)

Release Date:

12 November 1971 (Canada)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Set in cold rural Quebec at Christmas time, we follow the coming of age of a young boy and the life...

Plot Keywords:

General Store | Coming Of Age | Quebec | Christmas | Changing Room

Awards:

4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

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
Jean Dubost	...	The Foreman
Benoît Marcoux	...	Carmen's Father
Dominique Joly	...	Maurice
Lise Talbot	...	The Fiancée
Michel Talbot	...	The Fiancé
Siméon Dallaire	...	A Customer
Sidney Harris	...	The Helper
Roger Garand	...	Euclide

Directed by
Claude Jutra

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Claude Jutra		adaptation
Clément Perron		story, adaptation and screenplay

Produced by
Marc Beaudet	....	producer

Original Music by
Jean Cousineau

Cinematography by
Michel Brault

Film Editing by
Claire Boyer
Claude Jutra

Set Decoration by
Denis Boucher
Lawrence O'Brien

Makeup Department
Rene Demers	....	makeup artist
Suzanne Garand	....	makeup artist

Art Department
Denis Boucher	....	props
Lawrence O'Brien	....	props

Sound Department
Arnold Gelbart	....	sound editor
Claude Hazanavicius	....	sound
Jacques Jarry	....	sound editor
Roger Lamoureux	....	sound re-recordist

Visual Effects by
Wally Howard	....	optical effects

Camera and Electrical Department
André-Luc Dupont	....	assistant camera
Michel Kieffer	....	assistant camera
Roger Martin	....	electrician
Guy Rémillard	....	electrician

Music Department
Jean Carignan	....	musician: violin (as Ti-Jean Carignan)
Michel Descombes	....	music recordist

Other crew
Leo Evans	....	location manager
Guy Lamontagne	....	title designer
Francesca Pozzy	....	script girl
Jean Savard	....	location manager

Production Companies

• Office national du film du Canada (ONF)

Distributors

• Standard Films (1974) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Gendon Films (1972) (USA) (subtitled)
• Janus Films
• National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Belgium:KNT | Canada:PA (Ontario) | USA:TV-MA (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Black Lake City, Québec, Canada

Company:

Office national du film du Canada (ONF)

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.

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 afraid of corpses. I've been afraid of corpses for 30 years! I work for everybody. Your aunt never gave me a child. I have to take care of other peoples' children. I raise Carmen and you. Haven't I done all I could for you?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Claude Jutra, an Unfinished Story (2002)

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.