Les raquetteurs

Les raquetteurs is a 1958 Direct Cinema documentary film co-directed by Michel Brault and Gilles Groulx. The film explores life in rural Quebec, at a convention of snowshoers in Sherbrooke, Quebec in February 1958. The film is notable for helping to establish the then-nascent French language production unit at the National Film Board of Canada, and more importantly, the development of a uniquely Quebec style of direct cinema.[1]

Les raquetteurs
Directed byMichel Brault
Gilles Groulx
Written byMichel Brault
Gilles Groulx
CinematographyMichel Brault
Gilles Groulx
Production
company
Release date
1958
Running time
14 min 37 s
CountryCanada
LanguageFrench

The film incorporates agile camera work and a largely synchronous soundtrack, uninterrupted by any narration, in keeping with the ethos of direct cinema to avoid any imposed "truth" on events onscreen.[2]

Production

Grant McLean, then head of production for the NFB, had been angry that what was to have been a three-minute vignette had quadrupled in length and ordered the film to be used for stock footage. However, NFB producers Tom Daly and Guy Glover interceded on the young filmmakers' behalf.[3]

Release

At the time of its release, Les raquetteurs raised some concerns about its "nonofficial" style, and ruffled some feathers in Quebec for its portrayal of rural Quebecers.[4]

References
  1. "Les Raquetteurs". Canadian Film Encyclopedia. Film Reference Library. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
  2. Marshall, Bill (2000-10-10). Quebec National Cinema. McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 22. ISBN 0-7735-2116-X. Les raquetteurs NFB.
  3. Evans, Gary (Sep 30, 1991). In the National Interest: A Chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada from 1949 to 1989. University of Toronto Press. pp. 73. ISBN 0-8020-6833-2. Les raquetteurs NFB.
  4. Ellis, Jack C.; Betsy A. McLane (2005). A new history of documentary film. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 211. ISBN 0-8264-1751-5.
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