''The Cat in the Bag'' (french: Le chat dans le sac) is a 1964 drama film by

Gilles Groulx Gilles Groulx (August 30, 1931 in Montreal, Quebec – August 22, 1994) was a Canadian film director. He grew up in a working-class family with 14 children. After studying business in school, he went to work in an office but found the white-co ...

, which played a seminal role in the development of

Quebec cinema The history of cinema in Quebec started on June 27, 1896 when the Frenchman Louis Minier inaugurated the first movie projection in North America in a Montreal theatre room. However, it would have to wait until the 1960s before a genuine Quebec ...

. The film's themes, improvisational style, hand-held camera work and evocative music signalled the emergence of a new generation of Quebec films and filmmakers. The film mixes Direct Cinema documentary techniques and distancing devices similar to those employed by Jean-Luc Godard to tell the story of a young man's struggles to come to terms with his place in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

society and Quebec's place in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

.The protagonist, a journalist played by , struggles with the question of whether to change society or accept it the way it is. An American girl, an actress who runs a theater, does not share the troubles and struggles between the two. Claude leaves

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

for the Quebec countryside to reflect on his life, and with the distance between them, their love fades.

Cast

* Barbara Ulrich as Barbara * Claude Godbout as Claude * Manon Blain as Manon J'sais-pas-qui * Véronique Vilbert as Véronique * Jean-Paul Bernier as Jean-Paul * André Leblanc as Toulouse * Paul-Marie Lapointe as Messieurs - ont joué trois personages * Jean-V. Dufresne as Messieurs - ont joué trois personages (as Jean V. Dufresne) * Pierre Maheu as Messieurs - ont joué trois personages

Production

In 1963,

presented Grant McLean, the director of production at the

National Film Board The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary fi ...

, with a film outline that did not even fill an entire page. The film was shot on a budget of $45,982 ().

Critical response

Critic Robert Daudelin stated that “At last we were confronted by a film which really belonged to us, one in which we were happy to recognize ourselves and see ourselves close up. twas (and remains) the image of our most recent awakenings.” It received the Grand Prix at the 1964

Montreal International Film Festival The Montreal International Film Festival was an annual Canadian film festival, which took place in Montreal, Quebec from 1960 to 1967.

. ''Le Chat dans le sac'' was identified as a “culturally significant film” by the AV Preservation Trust through the 2002 Masterworks programme. It was screened at the 18th Berlin Film Festival in 1968 as part of Young Canadian Film, a lineup of films by emerging Canadian filmmakers. It was later screened at the 1984 Festival of Festivals as part of Front & Centre, a special retrospective program of artistically and culturally significant films from throughout the history of Canadian cinema.

Carole Corbeil Carole Corbeil (1952 – 2000) was a Canadian arts critic and novelist.John Levesque, "Voice-Over a smash success". ''Hamilton Spectator'', May 9, 1992. Born in Montreal to Québécois parents, her writing was often informed by the cultural disp ...

, "The stars are coming out for Toronto's film festival". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', September 6, 1984.

References

Works cited

External links