A smidge annoying... clearly the sound track was added later, and the translation track is just a bit too peppy and energetic. a bit pompous and cavalier... too grandiose to be natural conversation. Apparently a true life story... so many issues discussed. sleeping with others, inter-racial relationships, which were still a big deal then, and of course, homosexuality. It's black and white, in every sense of the word! and french canadian. Written, directed, AND starring Claude Jutra. Claude plays claude. Johanne plays Joanne. Victor plays Victor... so much laughing, but we're not sure what everyone is laughing about. the story is kind of random and artsy, but it was the 1960s, and foreign, so a certain amount can be forgiven. and extra credit for dealing with some of these forbidden issues of the time. it's okay. part of the time, we're not sure what's really going on.. gets very dark. some things are lost in translation. only 200 votes on imdb, and including this one, now two reviews.
2 Reviews
Canada's very own SHADOWS
madsagittarian2 October 2002
Warning: Spoilers
(Warning: spoiler in second-to-last paragraph)
It is such a treat to look back on Canadian cinema circa 1963 to 1970. There is a fresh edginess in this period of our film history-- sort of a gentle blend between The French New Wave and American Independent Cinema. Everyone considers Claude Jutra's MON ONCLE ANTOINE to be his best film. Actually, his masterpiece is the full version of KAMOURASKA. But my favourite of his works is this delightful maiden effort about the hot and cold romance between a white bohemian boy and a black model.
In my summary, I compared it to John Cassavetes' SHADOWS (one of my favourite films). I mean this comparison less in terms of the interracial bohemian romance than how both of these pictures seem to make cinema young again. A TOUT PRENDRE was filmed with a volunteer crew and borrowed equipment (and perhaps not enough lights-- some scenes are dangerously underlit, yet almost pass as Neo-Realist). 40 years later, it remains an inspiring piece; this picture made me want to make my own movies more than, say, PULP FICTION did. It is so refreshing to see a guerilla picture that is so playful and jammed with energetic young ideas. Why does so much so-called Independent Film (whatever that term means any more...) have to be so nihilistic?
That said, however, A TOUT PRENDRE nonetheless ends on a melancholy note, as the young man walks off a pier and drowns. It is filmed so plainly; the act is thus even more shocking. Considering that Jutra himself is also the lead actor, and that nearly 25 years later he ended his own life by drowning, this scene is even more creepy.
But even so, what leaves the most impression is the bouncy energy that pervades this film. It is a pleasant reminder of when our film industry had so much promise. Even the finest directors of this period (Jutra, Paul Almond, Don Shebib, Allan King, etc.) ended up doing some of that horrible self-conscious tax shelter crap in the 1970's, which forever gave Canadian viewers a stigma about their own filmmaking. A TOUT PRENDRE still has a beguiling youthfulness inside it.
It is such a treat to look back on Canadian cinema circa 1963 to 1970. There is a fresh edginess in this period of our film history-- sort of a gentle blend between The French New Wave and American Independent Cinema. Everyone considers Claude Jutra's MON ONCLE ANTOINE to be his best film. Actually, his masterpiece is the full version of KAMOURASKA. But my favourite of his works is this delightful maiden effort about the hot and cold romance between a white bohemian boy and a black model.
In my summary, I compared it to John Cassavetes' SHADOWS (one of my favourite films). I mean this comparison less in terms of the interracial bohemian romance than how both of these pictures seem to make cinema young again. A TOUT PRENDRE was filmed with a volunteer crew and borrowed equipment (and perhaps not enough lights-- some scenes are dangerously underlit, yet almost pass as Neo-Realist). 40 years later, it remains an inspiring piece; this picture made me want to make my own movies more than, say, PULP FICTION did. It is so refreshing to see a guerilla picture that is so playful and jammed with energetic young ideas. Why does so much so-called Independent Film (whatever that term means any more...) have to be so nihilistic?
That said, however, A TOUT PRENDRE nonetheless ends on a melancholy note, as the young man walks off a pier and drowns. It is filmed so plainly; the act is thus even more shocking. Considering that Jutra himself is also the lead actor, and that nearly 25 years later he ended his own life by drowning, this scene is even more creepy.
But even so, what leaves the most impression is the bouncy energy that pervades this film. It is a pleasant reminder of when our film industry had so much promise. Even the finest directors of this period (Jutra, Paul Almond, Don Shebib, Allan King, etc.) ended up doing some of that horrible self-conscious tax shelter crap in the 1970's, which forever gave Canadian viewers a stigma about their own filmmaking. A TOUT PRENDRE still has a beguiling youthfulness inside it.
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