Workshop: Denys Desjardins et Jacques Leduc
During the Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal last november, my wife Jocelyne Clarke attended a workshop on a really unique film series called ‘Chronicle of Everyday Life,’ with Jacques Leduc, Denys Desjardins and Richard Brouillette. Jocelyne is a filmmaker ( her most recent film is ‘Edith and Michel’) and she has participated in the programming at the Rencontres since the beginning. Here is her report from the workshop:
Jocelyne Clarke
I ceased counting the number of times the word “freedom” was uttered when referencing this outstanding work in the annals of Quebec documentary.
Started in the early 70’s, officially produced in 1977 by Jacques Bobet at the NFB, the project was conceived and directed by Jacques Leduc in collaboration with a few dozen other illustrious craftsmen from our cinema. The result was a four and a half hour opus, divided into 8 films of lengths varying from 10 to 82 minutes.
The idea behind the project was to revisit direct cinema at a moment when it was already heavily “contaminated” by mass TV (which Leduc describes as a’ transmission method ‘ and not a ‘cinematographic language ‘), and to reflect on the times through the main axes of life – love, money, food, home, hearth, death. Small filmmaking teams went out in search of serendipitous moments : a parade of men in underwear, houses being built in the suburbs, a group of well-to-do women doing charitable works. Unusual yet essential stereotypes of urban life in those still innocent times. The material was organized as it came in, in an organic back-and-forth between filming and editing, and was divided into themes, which finally became the days of the week.
Footage that was too precious to leave out, but did not fit into the final structure, was edited into an epilogue for the series – Le plan sentimental – remarkable for its visual improvisation as well as its elaborately constructed soundtrack.The workshop discussion eventually led to the question: could such a work be made today? No categorical answer was forthcoming, but it was generally agreed that today’s televisual requirements – fixed lengths for films, detailed scripts, releases, – definitely limit such freedom, without completely destroying it. Today we have the technological advantages that come with small, inexpensive tools, undreamt-of distribution channels – (all that’s lacking are salaries for filmmakers). Jacques also brought up how film subjects in the 70’s had a much less reflexive relationship with the camera than today, in the wake of reality shows and all manner of idols.
A remarkable series, too little appreciated by the public, which really deserves to be re-issued in a DVD package.
For more information, check out the NFB website, search in the collections under “series”, or search individual titles as follows.
Lundi – Une chaumière, un coeur.
Mardi – Un jour anonyme.
Mercredi – Petits souliers, petits pains.
Jeudi – À cheval sur l’argent
Vendredi – Les chars.
Samedi – Le ventre de la nuit.
Dimanche – Granit
Hors série – Le plan sentimental.
