Mon Oncle Antoine [2 Discs] [Special Edition] [Criterion Collection]

Overview

"Claude Jutra's emotionally powerful story of a young man coming of age in a Quebec mining town in the 1940's, Mon Oncle Antoine has become a celebrated touchstone of French Canadian cinema, and the film has been given a definitive home video presentation with this DVD release from the Criterion Collection. Mon Oncle Antoine has been transferred to disc in its preferred widescreen aspect ratio of 1.66:1, letterboxed on conventional televisions and enhanced for anamorphic playback on 16x9 monitors. Michel Brault, the film's cinematographer, supervised and approved the transfer, and the results are beautiful, with Brault's camerawork achieving a scruffy realism that also finds room for a painterly use of light, shade and color, and it has been served well in this edition. The audio is presented in both the original French and an unintentionally comical dubbed English track; both have been mastered in Dolby Digital Mono and the fidelity is excellent. Optional English subtitles are also included. Disc one of this package contains the feature and the original theatrical trailer, while disc two includes a documentary produced for the Canadian television series On Screen on the making of Mon Oncle Antoine, another documentary, Clause Jutra: An Unfinished Story, a slightly pretentious but heartfelt exploration of the director's brilliant but troubled life and career, and A Chairy Tale, a short film Jutra directed in collaboration with Norman McLaren. And the booklet features an essay from film historian Andre Loiselle, who discusses the picture's place in the pantheon of Canadian cinema as well as providing background on the historical events that color the story. While Mon Oncle Antoine has been a staple of Canadian broadcasting and repertory cinemas for years, it's been little seen in the United States, and this release from Criterion allows Jutra's masterwork to be seen in a manner that truly celebrates its outstanding qualities."

Product Details

Release Date:	07/08/2008
UPC:	0715515030823
Original Release:	1971
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:44:00
Sales rank:	21,324

Special Features

Disc One:; New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director of photography Michel Brault; Optional English-dubbed soundtrack; Theatrical trailer; New and improved English subtitle translation; Disc Two:; On Screen!: "Mon Oncle Antoine," a 2007 documentary tracing the making and history of the film; Claude Jutra: An Unfinished Story, a 2002 documentary by Paul Baillargeon, featuring interviews with Brault, director Bernardo Bertolucci, and actors Geneviève Bujold and Saul Rubinek; A Chairy Tale, a 1957 experimental short co-directed by Jutra and Norman McLaren; Plus: a new essay by film scholar André Loiselle

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jacques Gagnon	Benoit
Jean Duceppe	Antoine
Olivette Thibault	Cecile
Claude Jutra	Fernand, Clerk
Lyne Champagne	Carmen
Lionel Villeneauve	Joe Poulin
Helene Loiselle	Mme. Poulin
Mario Dubuc	Poulin Child
Lise Burnelle	Poulin Child
Alain Legendre	Poulin Child
Serge Evers	Poulin Child
Robin Marcoux	Poulin Child,Carmen's Father
Monique Mercure	Alexandrine
Georges Alexander	the Big Boss
Rene Salvatore Catta	the Priest
Dominque Joly	Maurice
Lise Talbot	the Engaged Couple,The Engaged Couple
Simeon Dallaire	A Client
Sydney Harris	the Helper
Roger Garland	Euclide
Lionel Villenueve	Joseph Poulin
Jean Cousineau	Composer

Technical Credits

Claude Jutra

Clément Perron

Marc Beaudet	Producer
Claude Jutra	Director,Screenwriter
Clément Perron	Screenwriter
Claude Hazanavicius	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Considered a French-Canadian classic, Claude Jutra's affecting but somewhat overpraised coming-of-age tale concerns a 15-year-old lad growing up in a 1940s-era Quebec mining town. Benoit, whose relatively innocent hijinks include peeping in shop dressing rooms, sipping altar wine, and snacking on communion wafers, gets a major life lesson when he rides along with his mortician uncle to pick up a young boy's body. For most collections. Lots of extras, too.

—Jeff T. Dick

Library Journal