Mon Oncle Antoine
| Mon oncle Antoine | |
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| Directed by | Claude Jutra |
| Produced by | Marc Beaudet |
| Written by | Claude Jutra Clément Perron |
| Starring |
Jacques Gagnon Jean Duceppe Olivette Thibault Lionel Villeneuve Claude Jutra |
| Music by | Jean Cousineau |
| Cinematography | Michel Brault |
| Edited by | Claire Boyer Claude Jutra |
| Distributed by |
National Film Board of Canada Janus Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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104 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | French |
| Budget | CDN$750,000 |
Mon oncle Antoine (French pronunciation: [mɔ̃ nɔ̃kl ɑ̃twan]) is a 1971 National Film Board of Canada (Office national du film du Canada) French language drama film. Québécois director Claude Jutra co-wrote the screenplay with Clément Perron and directed what is one of the most acclaimed works in Canadian film history.
The film examines life in the Maurice Duplessis-era Asbestos Region of rural Québec prior to the Asbestos Strike of 1949. Set at Christmas time, the story is told from the point of view of a 15-year-old boy (Benoît, played by Jacques Gagnon) coming of age in a mining town. The Asbestos Strike is regarded by Québec historians as a seminal event in the years prior to the Quiet Revolution.
Jutra's film is an examination of the social conditions in Québec's old, agrarian, conservative and cleric-dominated society on the eve of the social and political changes that transformed the province a decade later.
Benoit is a young teenage boy living in rural Quebec. He works at the town general store belonging to his aunt Cecile and his uncle, Antoine, who is also the town undertaker. December 24 he begins work, setting up the store display much to the delight of the town and flirting with Carmen, the young girl his uncle and aunt employ whom they treat as an adopted child.
Madame Jos Poulin eldest son, Marcel, dies that day and she places a call to the store asking if Antoine can come to take care of the body. For the first time Benoit is allowed to go with him. After they load the body into a coffin they prepare to take it home. However, on the way home Benoit encourages the horse to run as quickly as possible causing the coffin to fall off the sleigh. He tries to get Antoine to help put the coffin back on the body, however Antoine who has been steadily drinking throughout the day is unable to lift the coffin. He confesses to Benoit that he hates dealing with the dead bodies and that he is miserable in his life, wishing that he had achieved his dream of owning a hotel in the U.S. like he wanted to. He further confesses that though he treats Benoit and Carmen like his own, he regrets that his wife was unable to give him children.
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