Les raquetteurs

Les raquetteurs
Directed by Michel Brault
Gilles Groulx
Written by Michel Brault
Gilles Groulx
Cinematography Michel Brault
Gilles Groulx
Production
company
Release dates
1958
Running time
14 min 37 s
Country Canada
Language French

Les raquetteurs is a 1958 Direct Cinema documentary film co-directed by Michel Brault and Gilles Groulx. The film explores life in rural Quebec, at a convention of snowshoers in Sherbrooke, Quebec in February 1958. The film is notable for helping to establish the then-nascent French language production unit at the National Film Board of Canada, and more importantly, the development of a uniquely Quebec style of direct cinema.[1]

The film incorporates agile camera work and a largely synchronous soundtrack, uninterrupted by any narration, in keeping with the ethos of direct cinema to avoid any imposed "truth" on events onscreen.[2]

Production

Grant McLean, then head of production for the NFB, had been angry that what was to have been a three-minute vignette had quadrupled in length and ordered the film to be used for stock footage. However, NFB producers Tom Daly and Guy Glover interceded on the young filmmakers' behalf.[3]

Release

At the time of its release, Les raquetteurs raised some concerns about its "nonofficial" style, and ruffled some feathers in Quebec for its portrayal of rural Quebecers.[4]

References

  1. "Les Raquetteurs". Canadian Film Encyclopedia. Film Reference Library. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
  2. Marshall, Bill (2000-10-10). Quebec National Cinema. McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 22. ISBN 0-7735-2116-X.
  3. Evans, Gary (Sep 30, 1991). In the National Interest: A Chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada from 1949 to 1989. University of Toronto Press. p. 73. ISBN 0-8020-6833-2.
  4. Ellis, Jack C.; Betsy A. McLane (2005). A new history of documentary film. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 211. ISBN 0-8264-1751-5.

External links


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