Mon oncle Antoine

I have just watched the film ”Mon oncle Antoine”(1971), a Canadian portrait of a boy´s coming of age in a wintry 1940s rural Quebec. According to critics, this is one of the greatest Canadian films of all time. According to me, the director Claude Jutra (1930-1986) has made a fine and authentic cinematographic experience, where the camera works nicely together with the excellent cast. There are some scenes that are more intense than others, but sometimes the film gets a bit slow even for my taste. I had wanted to see more of the main actor Jacques Gagnin, who is playing the young boy Benoit. Apart from this film I can only find one more film where he appears (”La mort d´un bûcheron”, 1973). I have a tendency to be a bit critical about the soundtrack in many films, but the soundtrack in this film is better than usual. There are no real surprises in this film, so don´t get disappointed if you just find a good drama here. This is not one of the best films in my collection, but it still is a film I certainly would recommend if you are interested in coming of age films!

            

Synopsis: Benoit is a young boy who is living together with his uncle who is running a funeral company, and we´ll follow the boy when he is helping his uncle with the death of a 15 year old neighbor boy.