From 1950 to 1970
It was in the late 1950s, during the Quiet Revolution, that Quebec cinema began to break away from English-speaking Canadian cinema, in search of its own identity. Aided by public funding, it gained not only local recognition, but also an international reputation thanks to the quality of its productions. The documentary Les Raquetteurs (1958), by Michel Brault and Gilles Groulx, is considered the first major work in Quebec film. Following a snowshoeing convention in Sherbrooke in the 1950s, this short film was part of the "candid eye" wave of humorous filming of subjects without their knowledge, opening the door to documentary works that were even closer to reality. In 1964, Gilles Groulx returned with Le Chat dans le sac, his first feature-length fiction film, in which a young couple wander through 1960s Montreal, asking themselves big questions about politics and love. This film, in which non-professional actors improvise dialogues, has a Nouvelle Vague feel to it. As for Michel Brault, he directed two iconic works of Quebecois 7th art, Les Ordres (1974) and Mon amie Max (1994). Brault worked on several of his films with Pierre Perrault (director ofUn pays sans bon sens (1970), a true exponent of cinéma vérité), notably on Pour la suite du monde (1963). In the 1970s, when the trend was towards documentary films featuring working-class environments and ordinary people, filmmaker Gilles Carle stood out for his popular films, such as Les Mâles (1970), La Vraie nature de Bernadette (1972), La Mort d'un bûcheron and later Maria Chapdelaine (1983). Other films from this period include Claude Jutra's Mon oncle Antoine (1971) and Kamouraska (1973), and Jean Beaudin's J. A. Martin, photographe (1976, Cannes Film Festival award).
From the 1980s to the present day
For Quebec cinema, the 1980s were equally rich in compelling works. In 1984, Micheline Lanctôt won the prestigious Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival for her work Sonatine, and filmmaker Denys Arcand won over European and American audiences with Le Crime d'Ovide Plouffe. He returned two years later with the critically acclaimed comedy Le Déclin de l'Empire américain (1986, the first part of a triptych imagined by the filmmaker) and won a nomination at the Cannes Film Festival and in Hollywood in 1989 for Jésus de Montréal. Numerous works by talented directors also caught the critics' eye: Jean-Claude Lauzon's Un zoo la nuit (1987) and Léolo (1992), François Girard's Trente-deux films brefs sur Glenn Gould (1993) and Le Violon rouge (1998), André Turpin's Un crabe dans la tête (2001, winner of three Prix Jutra and two Prix Génie), Zacharias Kunuk's Atanarjuat, la légende de l'homme rapide (2001, Caméra d'or at Cannes) and, in 2003, Jean-François Pouliot's La Grande Séduction. The same year, Denys Arcand scored a major coup with Les Invasions barbares (the second part of his triptych), which won a host of international awards: best actress for Marie-José Croze and best screenplay at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival; three Césars for best film, best screenplay and best director; and the Oscar for best foreign-language film in 2004. L'Âge des Ténèbres (2007), the last opus in the trilogy, was much less appreciated than its predecessors. More recently, Arcand directed the feature-length Le Règne de la beauté (2014) and La Chute de l'Empire américain (2018), in which the director revisits his obsession with the end of our civilization. Without any special effects, it's the details of how our society works that interest the famous director. Other films of recent years include À tous ceux qui ne m'lisent pas (2018, Yan Giroux), in which we discover modern-day Quebec through the eyes of cursed poet Yves Boisvert; La Grande noirceur (2019, Maxime Giroux) ; La Femme de mon frère (My Brother's Wife ) by Monia Chokri, Prix coup de cœur du jury in the Un certain regard category at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival; or 14 jours 12 nuits (14 Days 12 Nights ) by Jean-Philipe Duval, Canadian selection for the 2021 Oscars, and Les Oiseaux Ivres (The Drunk Birds) by Ivan Grbovic, same selection for 2022.
Three Quebec pillars
Among Quebec's proudest achievements are three directors who have brought worldwide renown to the city of Montreal: Jean-Marc Vallée, Denis Villeneuve and Xavier Dolan. The former is credited with such works as C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005), the hugely successful Café de Flore (2011), Dallas Buyers Club (2013), starring Matthew McConaughey as a violent, macho, homophobic cowboy, adept at rodeo, alcohol, cocaine and sex, who finds himself diagnosed HIV-positive, Wild (2014) and Demolition (2015). In 2017, he directed the hit series Big Little Lies, and a year later was named Companion of the Order of Arts and Letters of Quebec. He died suddenly in 2021, leaving many projects unfinished.
In another, darker and more mysterious style, Denis Villeneuve has been collecting awards since 1991. Villeneuve's string of successes includes Un 32 août sur Terre (1998), Maelström (2000), a film about the sudden misfortunes of a spoiled child, Polytechnique (2008), which won 5 Jutra Awards at the 2010 gala, Incendies (2010), Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2013), Sicario (2015, in official selection at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival), Arrival (2016), Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and Dune, Part 1, released in 2021.
Finally, Xavier Dolan, a true genius of the new generation of directors, has nothing to envy his Quebec colleagues. J'ai tué ma mère (2009) is this young prodigy's highly acclaimed feature debut. Dolan also directed the critically acclaimed Les Amours imaginaires (2010), as well as Laurence Anyways (2012), which tells the story of the impossible love between a man and a woman after the man decides to have a sex change. This was followed by Tom à la ferme (2013), Mommy (2014), Grand Prix du jury at Cannes and César 2015 for Best Foreign Film, Juste la fin du monde (2016), Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, and The Death and Life of John F. Donovan (2018). His latest feature Matthias et Maxime was released in 2019 and nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes. In 2023 he releases his first series: La Nuit où Laurier Gaudreault s'est réveillé.
