What is the quintessential Canadian film? The answer is plural, not singular. Given my extensive knowledge of Canadian film, here are a few personal favourites.
- Bon Cop Bad Cop A film in English and French, a buddy comedy that involves hockey clues and making fun of Gary Bettman.
- Ginger Snaps A Canadian horror film that is smartly written on several levels but still scary.
- Goin' Down the Road The classic saga of a pair from the Maritimes coming to Toronto to find work. Extra points for the SCTV parody making all of this extra Canadian.
- Suck A film about vampires and rock and roll with cool cameos.
- Trigger A film where everybody knows everyone with fun cameos, shot quickly, set and filmed in Toronto with a very small budget.
- Last Night A film about the last 6 hours of the world that is filled with sex, guilt, family, and a hilarious David Cronenberg cameo.
A quintessential Canadian film should have some name recognition: some of those picks are relatively unknown.
The Sweet Hereafter is my go-to film when explaining Canadian film to Americans. The film had crossover appeal, recognizable Canadian stars, set in winter so it feels like Canada, and an unhappy story. Porky's could qualify since it's well-known on both sides of the border yet no one knows the film is Canadian.
Does the quintessential Canadian film have to be in English? Le film canadien par excellence peut-être en Français? (Can the quintessential Canadian film be in French?)
The Barbarian Invasions could qualify because the film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, features slams against health care, talks about mistresses, and death is the central theme.
C.R.A.Z.Y. A well-known coming of age film about a young gay man in the 1970s with an emphasis on Pink Floyd music. Featured as Canada's nominee for Best Foreign Language Film.
Gabrielle A young woman needing to establish independence to spend time with her boyfriend in a film set in Montréal. They are in a chorus set to sing a Robert Charlebois song with his help. Featured as Canada's nominee for Best Foreign Language Film.
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Evan Rissi wants to create your favourite Canadian film. His unscientific survey of 500 Canadians asking about their favourite Canadian film in the last 10 years didn't get much of an answer.
Chris Knight of the National Post in that same article gave his Top 10 films of the last decade. His picks and my picks are listed below. Knight is at a more distinct advantage in that he sees a wider variety of Canadian films. Then again, I have 4 of his selections on my list too.
The films on his list that I've seen are Café de Flore (2011); My Winnipeg (2007); Stories We Tell (2012); Tu Dors Nicole (2014); and Bon Cop Bad Cop (2006).
Films on his list that I have not seen are Pontypool (2008), a horror film set in a small Ontario town from Bruce McDonald; Sleeping Giant (2015), the Best Canadian First Feature Film winner at TIFF; Manufactured Landscapes (2006), the Best Canadian Feature Film at TIFF; A History of Violence (2005) from David Cronenberg; and WolfCop (2014).
My top 10 list since 2006 could have been a collection of Xavier Dolan, Sarah Polley, and Jean-Marc Vallée.
- Mommy (2014) The best of Xavier Dolan's films to date, a significant accomplishment.
- Take This Waltz (2011) The best English-Canadian film I've seen in the last decade.
- Café de Flore (2011) This is what we have missed from Jean-Marc Vallée.
- Starbuck (2011) Funny and heartwarming is a tricky combination but Patrick Huard makes a schmuck rather lovable. Knight had this at #11 on his list.
- Cloudburst (2011) Thom Fitzgerald's take on lesbians on the run is one of the funniest and dirtiest Canadian films I've ever seen.
- Bon Cop Bad Cop (2006) The sequel is coming next year but the original is one of the few to showcase both official languages in a single film.
- Tu Dors Nicole (2014) The more I think about a film, the better it probably is. A summertime treat that you should watch any time of the year.
- J'ai tué ma mère (2009) The film is raw in many points, but you start to see his brilliant way of writing for women of a certain age.
- My Winnipeg (2007) A bit hard to follow but a beautiful piece of filmmaking about a part of Canada we don't typically hear about on the big screen.
- C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) Since Knight sneaked in one from 2005, this was one of the first Quebecois films that I saw that made an impact. More film magic from Jean-Marc Vallée.
Stories We Tell (2012); Laurence Anyways (2012); Monsieur Lazhar (2011); and Felix and Meira (2014) came close. I had sentimental favorites that weren't quite good enough to make the list such as Trigger (2010); Picture Day (2012); Cas & Dylan (2013); All the Wrong Reasons (2013); Empire of Dirt (2013); and The Tracey Fragments (2007).
My list definitely leans Quebecois: 6 films are from Quebec with Bon Cop Bad Cop straddling the border while 3 films are from English Canada. 6 of the films have been released in the last 5 years with 4 of them from 2011.
I do like DEAD films according to Knight, DEAD as in Drab, Earnest, Affected Dramas, though 4 of my films would count as comedies.
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Rissi's overall point is poignant. Getting people to appreciate Canadian film requires an understanding about Canadian film. Film buffs understand definitions but regular filmgoers want to be entertained. Room and Take This Waltz are both Canadian films by definition. Take This Waltz feels more Canadian than Room but Room is more accessible to more casual filmgoers.
If he had shown those Canadians a list of Canadian films, which would have changed the dynamic of the survey, they could have pointed to a film on the list and say, "I liked that film."
The National Post story came out of a conversation on whether Telefilm Canada is biased toward more established filmmakers. The topic was on display at the debut of Breakfast at TIFF, a new conversation series about Canadian film.
If we had the previous decade to consider a Top 10 list, that compilation would be tougher and have more English-Canadian films. I haven't seen as many Quebecois films from that time, but the English Canada titles that leap to mind include The Sweet Hereafter, The Five Senses, Last Night, Ginger Snaps, Better Than Chocolate, Stardom, Marion Bridge, Lost and Delirious, and The Red Violin.
Chances are in Rissi's unscientific survey, more Canadians know those titles than films from the last 10 years.
The film world has changed; Brooklyn and Room are Canadian films even if that Canadian element isn't visible on screen. Independent films in the U.S. have a harder time finding their way to cable, ending up on streaming services such as Netflix. So quirky Canadian films are harder to find south of the border.
Guidance, which we featured from the 2015 Windsor wrapup, is in my local video store and on Netflix, a rare exception to the current landscape.
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The poignancy of reflecting back 10 years is significant for me since I've really paid attention to Canadian film since 2007, when I stumbled upon a small film festival in Windsor. I saw Breakfast with Scot that night. They said I should come back next year. And I have been back to the Windsor International Film Festival ever since that invitation.
The festival has grown considerably. The downtown theatre where I saw Breakfast with Scot on Ouellette is gone now. But my love for Canadian film has grown considerably.
Here are a couple of stories I wrote in those early days touting the wonders of Canadian film. Yes, finding these films aren't as easy on either side of the border. But it is getting easier and is worth the effort involved.
Why you should love Canadian film (2009)
Appreciating the world of Canadian film (2008)
If you have a submission for a quintessential Canadian film, let us know in the comments section. Or join the conversation on Twitter (@canadian_xing) with the hashtag #quincdnfilm.
video credit: YouTube/ParkExPictures
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