• Source: Mon oncle Antoine

Mon oncle Antoine (My Uncle Antoine) is a 1971 French-language Canadian drama film directed by Claude Jutra for the National Film Board of Canada.
The film depicts life in the Maurice Duplessis-era Asbestos Region of rural Québec before the Asbestos Strike of 1949. Set at Christmas time, the story is told from the point of view of 15-year-old boy Benoît (Jacques Gagnon) who is coming of age in a mining town. The Asbestos Strike is regarded by Québec historians as a seminal event in the years before the Quiet Revolution (c. 1959–1970).
The film is an examination of the social conditions in Québec's old, agrarian, conservative and cleric-dominated society on the eve of the social and political changes that transformed the province a decade later.
The film was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 44th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.




Plot


Benoît is a young teenage boy living in rural Quebec. He works at the town general store belonging to his aunt Cécile and his uncle Antoine, who is also the town undertaker. On 24 December, he begins work, setting up the store display much to the delight of the town and flirting with Carmen, the young girl whom his uncle and aunt employ, and treat as an adopted child.
Madame Jos Poulin's eldest son, Marcel, dies that day, and she places a call to the store asking if Antoine can come to take care of the body. For the first time, Benoît is allowed to go with him. After they load the body into a coffin, they prepare to take it home. However, on the way home, Benoît encourages the horse to run as quickly as possible causing the coffin to fall off the sleigh. He tries to get Antoine to help put the coffin back on the sleigh; however, Antoine who has been steadily drinking throughout the day is unable to lift the coffin. He confesses to Benoît that he hates dealing with the dead bodies and that he is miserable in his life, wishing that he had achieved his dream of owning a hotel in the United States as he had wanted. He confesses that, although he treats Benoît and Carmen like his own, he regrets that his wife was unable to give him children.
Angry with Antoine, Benoît manages to get him back in the sleigh and returns home. He runs up the stairs to get help from his aunt and discovers her embracing Fernand, the help, in her nightgown. Realizing what has happened, Fernand takes Benoît out in the sleigh to look for the body. Traumatized by seeing his aunt and Fernand together, Benoît is no help in remembering where the coffin fell off the sleigh. Eventually they make it back to the Poulin household where they find the entire Poulin family, including Jos, the father, who had been away working, around the coffin mourning the loss of Marcel. Jos looks at Benoît and the film ends.




Cast


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




Production


Sydney Newman viewed the unfinished film in 1970, and told Jutra that he should delay its release so he could do additional filming. The new shooting was done in February 1971, and added $40,000 onto the film's budget, $237,214 (equivalent to $1,783,077 in 2023) of which was paid for by the NFB, which remains the producer of record.




Release


The film debuted in July 1971 at the 7th Moscow International Film Festival, where Claude Jutra was nominated for the Golden Prize.
It has been designated and preserved as a masterwork by the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada, a charitable non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting the preservation of Canada's audio-visual heritage.
It was featured in the TV series Canadian Cinema, which aired on CBC Television in 1974.




Reception






= Box office

=
It was then released in theatres, grossing $700,000 (equivalent to $4,197,328 in 2023) by 1974. The viewership of the film rose to 2.5 million due to broadcasts by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in October 1973 and August 1974, the second-highest in the CBC's history.




= Critical response

=
Mon oncle Antoine has twice been voted the greatest Canadian film in the Sight & Sound poll, conducted once each decade. The Toronto International Film Festival placed it first in the Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time three times.
On 23 December 2008, Roger Ebert included Mon oncle Antoine on his "Great Movies" list.




= Awards and nominations

=
The film was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 44th Academy Awards, but was not chosen as a nominee. It was entered into the 7th Moscow International Film Festival.

Chicago International Film Festival: November 5 to 20, 1971
Gold Hugo for Best Feature Film
Silver Hugo for Best Screenplay, to Clément Perron
23rd Canadian Film Awards, Toronto: October 1, 1971
Best Picture, to Marc Beaudet and Claude Jutra
Best Performance by a Lead Actor, to Jean Duceppe
Best Supporting Actress, to Olivette Thibault
Best Achievement in Cinematography, to Michel Brault
Best Achievement in Direction, to Claude Jutra
Best Music Score, to Jean Cousineau
Best Original Screenplay, to Clément Perron
Best Overall Sound, to Roger Lamoureux
National Society of Film Critics Awards, New York 1972
Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award
Valladolid International Film Festival, 1971
San Gregorio Prize, to Claude Jutra
HEMISFILM, San Antonio TX:, February 9 to 11, 1976
Best Direction, to Claude Jutra
Best Actress, to Lyne Champagne
Best Performance by a Teen-Ager, to Jacques Gagnon
Toronto International Film Festival: September 6 to 15, 1984
Best Canadian Film




See also


List of Christmas films
List of submissions to the 44th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
List of Canadian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Roman du terroir, rural novels in Quebec literature




References






Works cited


Evans, Gary (1991). In the National Interest: A Chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada from 1949 to 1989. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802027849.




External links


Watch Mon oncle Antoine on the NFB website
Mon oncle Antoine at IMDb
Mon oncle Antoine at AllMovie
Mon oncle Antoine at Rotten Tomatoes
Close-up: Mon oncle Antoine critique of the film and its legacy
Mon oncle Antoine – article by Barry Keith Grant published in the June–September 2004 issue of Take One
Roger Ebert's Great Movies entry for the film
Mon oncle Antoine: Of Asbestos Mines and Christmas Candy – an essay by André Loiselle at The Criterion Collection

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