The film - Mongrel Media

The film
Imagine an angel who memorized all the sights and sounds
of a city. Imagine them coming to life: busy streets full of
people and vehicles, activity at the port, children playing in
yards and lanes, lovers kissing in leafy parks. Then recall the
musical accompaniment of the past: Charles Trenet, Raymond
Lévesque, Dominique Michel, Paul Anka, Willie Lamothe.
Groove to an Oscar Peterson boogie. Dream to the Symphony
of Psalms by Stravinsky.
That city is Montreal. That angel guarding the sights and sounds
is the National Film Board of Canada. The combined result is
The Memories of Angels, Luc Bourdon’s virtuoso assembly of
clips from 120 NFB films of the ’50s and ’60s.
The Memories of Angels will charm audiences of all ages. It’s
a journey in time, a visit to the varied corners of Montreal, a
tribute to the vitality of the city and a wonderful cinematic
adventure. It recalls Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire in which
angels flew over and watched the citizens of Berlin. It has
the same sense of ubiquity, the same flexibility, the sense
of dreamlike freedom allowing us to fly from Place VilleMarie under construction to the workers in a textile factory
or firemen at work. Underpinning the film is Stravinsky’s
music, representing love, hope and faith. A firefighter has
died. The funeral procession makes its way up St. Laurent
Boulevard. The Laudate Dominum of the 20th century’s
greatest composer pays tribute to him.
Without commentary, didacticism or ostentation, the
film is a history lesson of the last century: the red light
district, the eloquent Jean Drapeau, the young Queen
Elizabeth greeting the crowd and Tex Lecor shouting
“Aux armes Québécois !” Here are kids dreaming
of hockey glory, here’s the Jacques-Cartier market
bursting with fresh produce, and the department stores
downtown thronged with Christmas shoppers. Look,
Morgan’s was still there on St. Catherine, now replaced
by The Bay.
You may recognize the films that provided these sights:
the Jones brothers of Golden Gloves by Gilles Groulx,
the church from Les Montréalistes by Denys Arcand.
The superb colour shots of modern buildings are from
Albédo by Jacques Leduc and Renée Roy. And the
gorgeous images of actress Geneviève Bujold, don’t
they seem familiar? Yes, they’re from Le temps des
amours by Hubert Aquin.
Director Luc Bourdon and his editor Michel Giroux
have assembled fluid, clear sequences, underlining the
beauty of the black-and-white images contrasted with
colour ones. The Memories of Angels also showcases
the singular beauty of Montreal, its architectural and
human wealth and the grandeur of its setting.
Production stills
The Memories of Angels is poetry, fiction, documentary
and essay rolled into one. It is also a joyous, touching
experience and a collective history whose threads
dance in one’s mind long after the closing credits.
T h e M e m o r ie s o f A n g e l s 2 p r e s s k i t
As the NFB gets ready to celebrate its 70th birthday, The
Memories of Angels recalls the talent of the filmmakers
who trained their cameras and microphones on the
world around them, as well as the amazing ability of an
artist to model new material from old. Like today’s DJs
and VJs who energize contemporary music and art, Luc
Bourdon draws from the fertile source of great Quebec
cinema and recycles the sights and sounds of the past,
lending them a new and unexpected texture. The film is
a jubilant re-think of time and space, where the ordinary
citizen receives the same tender regard as the famous:
Armand Vaillancourt, Félix Leclerc, Monique Mercure,
Alfred Desrochers.
Luc Bourdon
Director
Prolific filmmaker Luc Bourdon is one of Canada’s leading video artists. Over the last
25 years, he has made some fifty works ranging from documentary to drama and
experimental pieces. Many of his works, like Ne retenez pas votre souffle (1986),
Question de bande (1998), De la parole aux actes (2000) and La grande bibliothèque
(2005) focus on the arts and culture. All of his productions draw on the notions of
history and memory, themes that also form the crux of The Memories of Angels
(2008), Bourdon’s first work for the National Film Board of Canada.
Photo: Carl Valiquet
Throughout the 1980s, Bourdon gained recognition through singular works that
underscored his originality and probing mind, like Distance (1984, co-directed with
François Girard), Touei (1985) and The Story of Feniks and Abdullah (1988). These
early works heralded the artist’s propensity for poetry in both language and form,
and his emphasis on sensations rather than on realistic representation. Plan de fuite/
Flight Plan (1995) and The Memories of Angels eloquently illustrate this.
Throughout his multi-faceted career, Bourdon has established himself as a tireless
experimenter, an artist who offers up immersive, impressionist worlds (see Classes
de maîtres, 2008, his film about the Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique du
Québec). His practice is marked by a consistent effort to reshape the moving image
through a playful approach to sound and image. He has occasionally departed from
the single-channel format to create video installations: his 1986 work Promenades
lumières, made with Josette Bélanger, was part of the Cent jours d’art contemporain
de Montréal; his 1992 piece Quinto et Hommage consisted of two installations shown
at Montreal’s Oboro gallery and elsewhere; and À mille lieux, a site-specific work,
showed at the Bonsecours Market as part of the celebrations for Montreal’s 350th
anniversary in 1992.
Ever ready to engage with other artistic forms, he has also worked in the theatre,
notably with René-Daniel Dubois for Michel Garneau’s Guerriers at Espace Go (1997)
and Eugène Ionesco’s Exit the King (1999). His consistent, multi-form work earned
him the 1998 Bell Canada Award from the Canada Council for the Arts. A noteworthy
presence in Quebec film and video, he has long been associated with artist-run
centres and arts organizations, notably as a member of Vidéographe from 1982
to 1998 and of Les Films de l’autre from 1990 to 1996. In addition to his film work,
he has taught videomaking at various universities since 1994. From 2000 to 2003,
he was artistic and executive director of the Festival du nouveau cinéma et des
nouveaux médias de Montréal (FCMM). He has also been part of numerous think tanks
and has helped organize many video events, including La quinzaine de la vidéo (1989,
1998), Heures exquises! (1993) and School’s Out (1995).
T h e M e m o r ie s o f A n g e l s 3 p r e s s k i t
Yves Bisaillon
Executive Producer
Yves Bisaillon was born in Montreal and holds a degree in Urban Planning from Université
de Montréal and in Communications from Université du Québec à Montréal. After working
in television as a journalist and director, notably for Radio-Canada, he joined the NFB as a
producer in 1997. His work includes Raymond Klibansky: From Philosophy to Life (FIFA Award
2002), Just Watch Me - Trudeau and the 70’ Generation, La Cueca Sola (best documentary at
Hot Docs 2004), The Cabinet of Doctor Ferron (best cultural documentary at Gémeaux 2004)
and What Remains of Us (selected at the International Critic’s Week, Cannes 2004; Jutra for
best documentary in 2005). His recent productions include Who Shot My Brother? (people’s
choice at FNC 2005), Nadia’s Journey (Caméra au poing Award, RIDM 2006) and Medicine
Under the Influence (best science and nature documentary, Gémeaux 2006).
Photo: Dominic Morissette
Colette Loumède
Executive Producer
After earning a law degree, Colette Loumède decided to work in cinema. Drawn to auteur
films, she began working with La Coopérative Vidéoscopique de Montréal, where she stayed
for ten years, occupying a variety of positions related to film creation and production. She then
moved to the private sector, joining Les Productions du Regard and Synercom Téléproductions
(a group of regional producers), following which she became project manager for SODEC
(Société de développement des entreprises culturelles du Québec).
Photo: Dominic Morissette
Between 2002 and 2007, she was executive producer of the NFB French Program’s
Documentary Studio A. Thanks to her extensive experience and in-depth knowledge of the
industry, she built numerous partnerships with national and international private film production
companies, produced or co-produced over 30 films and won many awards. Favouring auteur
documentary, Loumède produced or co-produced such documentary features as The Invisible
Nation by Richard Desjardins and Robert Monderie, Under the Hood: A Voyage into the World
of Torture by Patricio Henriquez (co-produced with Macumba International), The Dark Side of
the White Lady by Patricio Henriquez, Driven by Dreams by Serge Giguère (co-produced with
Les productions du Rapide-Blanc) and Between Two Notes by Florence Strauss (international
co-production with Les Films d’Ici and Amythos Films).
In January 2007, Loumède was appointed documentary program director at the Institut
national de l’image et du son, where she pursues a parallel career as independent producer.
Producer
Christian Medawar holds a BA in Communications and a master’s degree in History. His 20odd years of experience in film encompass work in the private sector, mainly in advertising,
followed by work in the NFB’s English Program, which he joined in 1990 as production manager
and then line producer. In 1998, working with the French Program’s Toronto studio, he worked
on the films Just Watch Me: Trudeau and the ‘70s Generation and No Quick Fix.
Christian joined the NFB’s French Program in Montreal in 1999 to work as line producer
on such productions as Hubert Reeves: Star Teller and Bacon, the Film. He also worked on
the Gilles Groulx box set. In 2003, he was producer of the interactive Web project Parole
citoyenne and of the box set Michel Brault, œuvres 1958-1974 (Collection Mémoire). He is now
international producer at the Quebec Studio.
Photo: Michel La Veaux
T h e M e m o r ie s o f A n g e l s 4 p r e s s k i t
Christian Medawar
Credits
Director
Luc Bourdon
Editor
Michel Giroux
Sound design
Sylvain Bellemare
Frédéric Cloutier
Technical support – editing
Amélie Bolduc
Pierre Dupont
Martine Forget
Ochelle Greenidge
Isabelle Painchaud
Danielle Raymond
Karinelle Dugas
Carole Lalonde
Online editing
Denis Pilon
Re-recording
Geoffrey Mitchell
Opening and end credits designed by
Dave Black
Translation and subtitling
Kathleen Fleming
Anra Médiatextes
Rights research and release
Sylvia Mezei
Legal advisor
Dominique Aubry
Archival research advisor
Sylvie Ménard
Film librarians
Lorraine Laliberté
Katherine Kasirer
NFB film excerpts and stockshots
Les petites sœurs – Pierre Patry
Lewis Mumford on the City – Collective
Lonely Boy – Wolf Koenig, Roman Kroitor
Mademoiselle Barbara – Jack Zolov
Manger – Louis Portugais, Gilles Carle
Midinette – Roger Blais
Montreal – Vincent Paquette
Mon enfance à Montréal – Jean Chabot
Music Professor – Gil LaRoche
Notes sur la contestation – Louis Portugais
Notes sur une minorité – Gianfranco Mingozzi
On est loin du soleil – Jacques Leduc
Où êtes-vous donc? – Gilles Groulx
Our Street Was Paved with Gold – Albert Kish
Passage – Normand Grégoire
Petit discours de la méthode – Pierre Patry,
Claude Jutra
Pilgrimage – Terence Macartney-Filgate
Postcards from Canada – Kenneth Hirsch,
Hannele Halm, Tony Ianzelo, David Wilson
Pour quelques arpents de neige – Georges
Dufaux, Jacques Godbout
Québec – USA ou l’invasion pacifique – Michel
Brault, Claude Jutra
Québec...? (Archives nationales du Québec)
Royal River – Gordon Sparling, Roger Blais
Saint-Denys Garneau – Louis Portugais
Script to Screen – Claude Delorme
Ships in the Ice
Snow – Barrie McLean
Solange dans nos campagnes – Gilles Carle
Stop – Jean Beaudin
Stravinsky – Roman Kroitor, Wolf Koenig
Talent Showcase – Roger Blais, Sydney
Newman, Douglas Tunstell
The Canadians – Tom Daly
The Changing City – Kirk Jones
The Climates of North America – Joseph Koenig
The Days Before Christmas – Terence
Macartney-Filgate, Stanley Jackson, Wolf
Koenig, Georges Dufaux
The Ever - changing Lowlands – Tony Ianzelo
The Man on the Assembly Line – Morten Parker
The Invention of the Adolescent – Patricia
Watson
The Price of Fire – Bruce Parsons
Train 406 – Fergus McDonell
Trans-Canada Journey – Graham Parker
Trans Canada Summer – Ronald Dick
Tu enfanteras dans la joie – Bernard Devlin
Un jeu si simple – Gilles Groulx
Une job steady...Un bon boss – Ian McL aren
Urbanisme – Le plan d’aménagement – Louis
Portugais
Vivre sa ville – Jacques Godbout
Voir Miami – Gilles Groulx
When Your Time Is Your Own – Ernest Reid
Winter in Canada – Guy L. Côté
YUL 871 – Jacques Godbout
T h e M e m o r ie s o f A n g e l s 5 p r e s s k i t
5,000 Miles – Rex Tasker
A City Is – James Carney
A Is for Architecture – Robert Verrall, Gerald
Budner
À Saint-Henri le cinq septembre – Hubert Aquin
Adultes avec réserve – Jack Zolov, Marc
Beaudet
Âge de pierre – Jacques Languirand
Albédo – Jacques Leduc, Renée Roy
Alfred Desrochers, poète – Claude Fournier
Artist in Montreal – Jean Palardy
Au bout de la ligne – David Millar
Au bout de ma rue – Louis-Georges Carrier
Au hasard du temps – Jacques Giraldeau
Au parc L afontaine – Pierre Petel
Autobiographical by A.M. Klein – Richard Notkin
Blades and Brass – William Canning
Ça n’est pas le temps des romans – Fernand
Dansereau
Canada Calling – David A. Smith
Canadian Profile – Allan Wargon
Caroline – Clément Perron, Georges Dufaux
Chantons maintenant – Claude Jutra
Circulation à Montréal – Bernard Devlin
City Scene – George Kaczender, Gordon
Burwash
Collège contemporain – Pierre Patry
De Montréal à Manicouagan – Arthur Lamothe
Dimanche d’Amérique – Gilles Carle
Élément 3 – Jacques Giraldeau
En octobre – Jacques Bobet
Entre tu et vous – Gilles Groulx
Fabienne sans son Jules – Jacques Godbout
Free Fall – Arthur Lipsett
Freeze-In – F. Whitman Trecartin
Golden Gloves – Gilles Groulx
Helicopter Canada – Eugene Boyko
Huit témoins – Jacques Godbout
Il était une guerre – Louis Portugais
Il y eut un soir...Il y eut un matin – Pierre Patry
Image, que me veux-tu? – André Martin
Impressions of Expo 67 – William Brind
Industrial Canada – Guy L. Côté
Inland Seaport – Ronald Weyman
Introducing Canada – Tom Daly
Je chante à cheval avec Willie L amothe –
collective
Jeunesses musicales – Claude Jutra
Jour de juin – Marcel Martin
L’homme multiplié – Claude Godbout, Georges
Dufaux
L’homme nouveau – Yves André, Claude Péloquin
L a beauté même – Monique Fortier
L a bourse et la vie – Jean Dansereau
L a communauté juive de Montréal – Fernand
Dansereau
L a crèche d’Youville – Bernard Devlin
L a fin des étés – Anne Claire Poirier
L a forme des choses – Jacques Giraldeau
L a loi de la ville – Michel Bouchard
L a p’tite Bourgogne – Maurice Bulbulian
L a télévision est là – André Martin, Éric de
Bayser
L a vie heureuse de Léopold Z – Gilles Carle
Le Canada industriel – Guy L. Côté
Le chat dans le sac – Gilles Groulx
Le plan sentimental – Jacques Leduc
Le retour – Bernard Devlin
Le temps des amours – Hubert Aquin
Le vieil âge – Jacques Giraldeau
Legault’s Place – Suzanne Angel
Les administrateurs – Fernand Dansereau,
Jacques Godbout
Les amoureux de Montréal – Jacques Giraldeau
Les Dieux – Jacques Godbout, Georges Dufaux
Les enfants du silence – Michel Brault
Les Habitations Jeanne-Mance – Eugene Boyko
Les mains nettes – Claude Jutra
Les Montréalistes – Denys Arcand
With
The Commodores
Igor Stravinsky
Armand Vaillancourt
Oscar Peterson
Gisèle Mackenzie Laflèche
Denise Provost
Jean Brousseau
J. Léo Gagnon
Yvan Leroux
John Newmark
Lionel Daunais
Félix Leclerc
Dominique Michel
Charles Trenet
Alfred Desrochers
René Lecavalier
Raymond Lévesque
Geneviève Bujold
Jean Faubert
Pauline Julien
Etienne Aubray
François Tassé
Patricia Nolin
Paul Anka
Barbara Ulrich
Gérald Godin
Charles Denner
Danielle Jourdan
Mouffe
Carol-Lynne Traynor
Monique Mercure
Claude Godbout
Paul Tex Lecor
Jean Drapeau
Willie Lamothe
and many other participants
Musical excerpts
“Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho”
Performed by The Commodores
“Symphony of Psalms”
Played by the CBC Symphony Orchestra
Composed and conducted by Igor Stravinsky
With the permission of Boosey and Hawkes /
CMRRA
Piano boogie-woogie
Performed by Oscar Peterson
“J’ai laissé mon cœur”
Performed by Gisèle Mackenzie Laflèche
Written by Michel Emer
With the permission of BMG Music Publishing
Canada
“Mamma”
Written by Cesare Andrea Bixio and Geo Koger
With the permission of PeerMusic Canada /
CMRRA
“À St-Henri”
Written and performed by Raymond Lévesque
With the permission of Industrie musicale enrg. /
SODRAC
“Le soleil et la lune”
Performed by Charles Trenet
Written by Charles Trenet and Albert Lasry
With the permission of Éditions Raoul Breton
“Chanson du temps perdu”
Performed by Hélène C. Savard
Written by Gilles Vigneault
With the permission of Éditions Vent qui vire /
SODRAC
“Bozo les culottes”
Written and performed by Raymond Lévesque
With the permission of Éditions Gamma Ltée /
SODRAC
Thanks to
Michelle Chanonat
Don McWilliams
Yvon Rivard
Carol Faucher
Pascale Ferland and René Roberge
Claudette, Daniel and Line
Estate of Igor Stravinsky
Standard Radio Montreal
NHL Productions
Paul Anka
Marketing officer
François Jacques
assisted by
Solen Labrie Trépanier
Administrator
Manon Provencher
Production coordinator
Nathalie Cloutier
Administrative assistants
Dominique Brunet
Lise Lévesque
Technical coordinator
Richard Cliche
Associate producer
Maryse Chapdelaine
Associate producer, development
Christiane Germain
“Mattinata Fiorentina (Maria Mia)”
Written by Giovanni D’Anzi, Michele Galdieri
and Carl Sigman
With the permission of EMI Robbins Catalog Inc.
Producer, development
Colette Loumède
“Put Your Head On My Shoulder ”
Written and performed by Paul Anka
With the permission of Chrysalis Music Group
Producer
Christian Medawar
“Qui bat la mesure du cœur”
Performed by Monique Mercure
Written by Georges Dor
With the permission of Éditions Emmanuel Inc. /
SODRAC
“Le patriote”
Written and performed by Paul Tex Lecor
With the permission of Éditions Gamma Ltée /
SODRAC
“Chérie tu me demandes si je t’aime”
Written and performed by Willie Lamothe
With the permission of Densta Music /
SODRAC
and music by:
Eldon Rathburn
Yvan Landry
René Thomas
Kenneth Campbell
François Dompierre
Stéphane Venne
Pierre Mercure
Jean Lapointe
Jérôme Lemay
Frank Duboise
Executive producers
Yves Bisaillon
Colette Loumède
The Memories of Angels
French Program
Quebec Studio
A production of
the National Film Board of Canada
www.nfb.ca
© 2008 NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA
T h e M e m o r ie s o f A n g e l s 6 p r e s s k i t
“Au parc Lafontaine”
Performed by le Trio Lyrique
Written by Pierre Petel, arranged by Alan MacIvor
“Frère Jacques”
Performed by John Newmark
Arranged by Maurice Blackburn
“Les trottoirs”
Performed by Dominique Michel
Written by Raymond Lévesque
With the permission of Éditions musicales
Patricia Sarl / Semi Société / SODRAC