Montréal vu par...

Directed by Denys Arcand, Michel Brault, Atom Egoyan, Jacques Leduc, Léa Pool, and Patricia Rozema

Canada, 1991 (fiction, 125 minutes, colour, English / French)

Also known as "Montreal Sextet", "Montréal vu par... six variations sur un thème", "Montrealin tarinoita"

Image: © National Film Board of Canada

Film Description:
"Six of Canada's most talented filmmakers have joined forces to offer a truly unique cinematic tribute to Montreal on the occasion of it's 350th birthday. [...] In all of its glorious diversity, piercing idiosyncracy and stately beauty, Montreal Sextet adds up to a resounding collective chorus of Bonne Fête, Montréal!"
-- Festival of Festivals (source)

Film Description [in French] :
"Six réalisateurs, une seule ville : Montréal. Le film se compose de six histoires, ironiques ou passionnées, provocatrices ou humoristiques, chacune reflétant le regard singulier de l'auteur sur cette île d'Amérique si riche en contrastes."
-- Office national du film du Canada (source)

Film Credits (partial):
Written by:	Patricia Rozema, Marie-Carole de Beaumont, Jacques Leduc, Hélène Le Beau, Michel Brault, Atom Egoyan, Léa Pool, Paule Baillargeon
Produced by:	Denise Robert, Michel Houle, Peter Sussman, Doris Girard, Larry Raskin, Yves Rivard, Daniel Louis
Principal Cast:	Sheila McCarthy, Charlotte Laurier, Alexandre Hausvater, Jean-Louis Millette, Normand Chouinard, Monique Mercure, Hélène Loiselle, Jean Mathieu, Maury Chaykin, Arsinée Khanjian, Anne Dorval, Sylvie Legault, Domini Blythe, Rémy Girard, Raoul Trujillo
Cinematography:	Guy Dufaux, Pierre Letarte, Jean Lépine, Éric Cayla, Pierre Mignot, Paul Sarossy
Film Editing:	Susan Shipton, Pierre Bernier, Jacques Gagné, Dominque Fortin, Alain Baril
Production Company:	Cinémaginaire Inc., Atlantis Films Limited, Office national du film du Canada / National Film Board of Canada

(sources)

Notes about Montréal vu par...

Shown at the Festival of Festivals (Toronto) in 1992.
Léa Pool directed the segment Rispondetemi; Patricia Rozema directed the segment Desperanto.

(sources)

Quotes about Montréal vu par...

"What is exceptional about this short film [Desperanto, Patricia Rozema's contribution to Montréal vu par...] is that in addition to examining the linguistic and cultural differences that divide Canada, Rozema analyzes the presentation of these differences (through speech and gesture) in the media."
-- Robert L. Cagle (source)

"Using a female Chaplinesque character, the film [Desperanto, Patricia Rozema's contribution to Montréal vu par...] critiques the cultural and linguistic divide of the two solitudes with humour, entertainment, and a self-deprecating persona that appeals to both female and male viewers—especially English Canadians, who can readily identify with her awkwardness and sense of inferiority in the face of francophone snobbery. Rozema's use of the comedic genre allows the audience to laugh at the typical English Canadian anxieties."
-- George Melnyk (source)

Bibliography for Montréal vu par...

Book Chapters

Melnyk, George. "The Gendered City: Feminism in Rozema's Desperanto (1991), Pool's Rispondetemi (1991), and Villeneuve's Maelström (2000)." In Film and the City: The Urban Imaginary in Canadian Cinema, 77-100. Edmonton: AU Press, 2014.

Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites

Dussault, Serge. "Six Montréal dans un même film...." La Presse, November 2, 1991. [in French]

Web Sites about Montréal vu par...

"IMDb: Montréal vu par...." Internet Movie Database, Inc. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102468/combined.
Office national du film du Canada. "NFB -- Montréal vu par...." Office national du film du Canada. http://www3.onf.ca/collection/films/fiche/index.php?id=28496. [in French]