We recently reflected on the top Canadian films of the decade. The end of the 2010s marked 50 years of significant Canadian film growth. The Canadian film industry existed long before 1970 but didn't really come into significance until 1970.
There is the recently updated TIFF all-time list of Canadian films. I've seen every film on the 2015 list. The only film I are missing from the 2004 list is Good Riddance | Les Bons débarras (1980) from Francis Mankiewicz. Films I have not seen from the 1993 list include Good Riddance, The Grey Fox (1983) from Phillip Borsos and The Adjuster (1991) from Atom Egoyan.
I've only seen 5 of the 10 films from the 1984 list. Good Riddance and The Grey Fox were on the list along with Pour la suite du monde (1963); Nobody Waved Goodbye (1964); and The True Nature of Bernadette (1972). I have seen Mon oncle Antoine (1971); Goin' Down the Road (1970); The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974); Les Ordres (1974); and J.A. Martin Photographer (1977).
As we learned from finally finding Goin' Down the Road (1970), the older films are flat out hard to find outside, and perhaps inside, Canada.
Top 10 best Canadian films in the 2010s
Canadian film review: Goin' Down the Road
TIFF ranks top Canadian films
We randomly found a couple of lists of what they felt were the best Canadian films of all time. Let's see how many of these films we have seen:
We found this list of the Top 20 Canadian movies.
1. The Sweet Hereafter (1997) Atom Egoyan
2. Mon Oncle Antoine (1971) Claude Jutra
3. Jesus Of Montréal (1989) Denys Arcand
4. Wavelength (1967) Michael Snow
5. Dead Ringers (1988) David Cronenberg
6. Exotica (1994) Atom Egoyan
7. Leolo (1992) Jean-Claude Lauzon
8. Videodrome (1983) David Cronenberg
9. The Decline Of The American Empire (1986) Denys Arcand
10. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001) Zacharias Kunuk
11. The Barbarian Invasions (2003) Denys Arcand
12. Last Night (1998) Don McKellar
13. I've Heard The Mermaids Singing (1987) Patricia Rozema
14. Tales From The Gimli Hospital* (1988) Guy Maddin
15. My Winnipeg (2007) Guy Maddin
16. Away From Her (2006) Sarah Polley
17. The Five Senses (1999) Jeremy Podeswa
18. Kissed (1996) Lynne Stopkewich
19. The Grey Fox* (1982) Phillip Borsos
20. The Red Violin (1998) Francois Girard
The films I have not seen are marked with an *. This is a great list. A little too English-oriented with only 4 French language titles. Wavelength is an experimental short film.
This list feels a bit more sophisticated.
1. My Winnipeg (2007) Guy Maddin
2. The Decline Of The American Empire (1986) Denys Arcand
3. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001) Zacharias Kunuk
4. Hard Core Logo (1996) Bruce McDonald
5. Leolo (1992) Jean-Claude Lauzon
6. Shivers (1975) David Cronenberg
7. I've Heard The Mermaids Singing (1987) Patricia Rozema
8. Stories We Tell (2012) Sarah Polley
9. The Sweet Hereafter (1997) Atom Egoyan
10. The True Nature Of Bernadette* (1972) Gilles Carle
The films I have not seen are marked with an *. I've heard a bit about Carle but haven't found any of his films. Only 2 French films on this list.
The Sweet Hereafter; Leolo; The Decline Of The American Empire; Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner; I've Heard The Mermaids Singing; and My Winnipeg appear on both lists. Sarah Polley and David Cronenberg have different films on each list.
Can't vouch for the 3 films on the lists that I haven't seen. The films on these lists are all very good. I can't imagine a list of top Canadian films without Xavier Dolan or Les Ordres (1974).
CanadianCrossing.com film reviews
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
Even though we had the list of the Top 10 Canadian films of the 2010s, compiling an all-time Canadian film list still feels like a daunting task. Have I seen enough Canadian films to truly be able to judge? Have I seen the best of the best?
I do have a sense of my top favourite Canadian films with an unofficial placeholder in the English and French categories. Both films are mentioned in this article. I might have to set out to do the best 50 Canadian films of the last 50 years. Will have to do a bit of research to narrow down that list.
photo credit: Goin' Down the Road
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