Michel Brault

Michel Brault, OQ (25 June 1928 – 21 September 2013) was a Canadian cinematographer, cameraman, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He was a leading figure of Direct Cinema, characteristic of the French branch of the National Film Board of Canada in the 1960s. Brault was a pioneer of the hand-held camera aesthetic.

Career

His early cameraman work with Gilles Groulx ('' Les Raquetteurs''), Claude Jutra ('' À tout prendre'', '' Mon oncle Antoine'') and Pierre Perrault (''Pour la suite du monde'') virtually defines the look of classic Quebec cinema. He became involved with filmmaking while still at university and joined the National Film Board of Canada in 1956, working on the celebrated ''Candid Eye'' series. From 1961–62 he was in France, where he worked with directors such as Jean Rouch and Mario Ruspoli, and shot the influential ''Chronique d’un été'' with Raoul Coutard and others. In France, he is considered an originator and one of the purist practitioners of cinéma-vérité.

Brault returned to Quebec and the NFB, but quit the Board in 1965 when Pierre Juneau, the director of French production, refused to okay his first fiction feature, '' Entre la mer et l'eau douce''. Since he pursued a very successful freelance career in feature films, documentaries, shorts and television. His cinematography ranged from the gritty cinéma-vérité style of ''À tout prendre'' to the lyricism of '' Kamouraska'', and his directorial work from the terse documentary stylings of '' La lutte'' to smoothly proficient television dramas such as '' Les noces de papier'', which was entered into the 40th Berlin International Film Festival. He won Canadian Film Awards for lensing ''Mon oncle Antoine'' and '' The Time of the Hunt (Le Temps d’une chasse)'', and Genie Awards for his work on '' Good Riddance (Les Bons débarras)'' and ''Threshold''. ''Orders (Les Ordres)'' (1974), which he directed, shot and wrote, won for him the CFA for direction and he shared the best director award at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival. The film seamlessly fuses documentary and fiction styles while dramatizing the trauma of innocent people caught up in the October Crisis of 1970. It is still regarded as a masterpiece of Canadian cinema.

Death

Brault died of a heart attack on the afternoon of 21 September 2013, while en route to the Film North – Huntsville International Film Festival, where he was to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. According to festival founder Lucy Wing, Brault had arrived at Pearson International Airport after a flight from his home in Montreal, accompanied by his son, Sylvain. Brault had begun the drive north to Huntsville by limousine when he began to feel ill, approximately one hour after his arrival in Toronto. A Ceremony of Commemoration was held for Brault on 4 October 4, 2013 at the Église Saint-Mathieu in Beloeil, Quebec. Among those present for this homage were the provincial premier, Pauline Marois, and Brault's leading lady from ''Entre la mer et l'eau douce'', Genevieve Bujold.

Personal life

His son, Sylvain Brault, is one of Quebec’s top cameramen, and his daughter, Anouk, is a producer.

Honours and distinctions

* 1964 - Film of the Year, Canadian Film Awards
* 1974 - Prix L.-E.-Ouimet-Molson
* 1975 - Prix Victor-Morin
* 1975 - Best Director, Canadian Film Awards
* 1975 - Best Director Award (Cannes Film Festival)
* 1980 - Molson Prize
* 1981 and 1983 Genie Award for Best Achievement in Cinematography (also nominated in 1988)
* 1986 - Prix Albert-Tessier
* 1990 - Best director prize at the Flanders International Film Festival
* 1993 - Prix Luce-Guilbeault
* 1996 - Governor General's Performing Arts Award
* 2003 - Prix Guy-L'Écuyer
* 2003 - ''Officer'' of the Ordre national du Québec
* 2005 - Prix Jutra

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