MON ONCLE ANTOINE (1971)

The holiday season in a small Quebec village is the backdrop for this legendary bittersweet slice-of-life comedy. Orphaned 14-year-old Benoit (Gagnon) arrives to live with a foster family and becomes a part of the comical foibles and the heartbreaks of a small asbestos mining town in the 1940s. In the fi lm’s set piece, Benoit goes with his uncle Antoine (Duceppe) to collect the remains of a young lad, who must be buried despite an unrelenting snowstorm. Gagnon gives a hauntingly realistic portrayal of a young boy discovering life’s funny and tragic turns. Often chosen as the fi nest Canadian film of all time, Mon Oncle Antoine won eight Genies, including Best Film, Director and Actor. “A ‘memory’ film of tremendous force, an experience that is as physical as it is emotional.”—Kent Jones and Kathleen Murphy, Blame Canada Series, Walter Reade Theatre, New York City