Gina [Stone Cold Revenge] (Denys Arcand, 1975)
Dec
11
1952
Gina (Céline Lomez) stripping in front of a silver tinsel curtain. The silhouette of a woman is visible in the foreground. DP: Alain Dostie.
L'ange et la femme [The Angel and the Woman] (Gilles Carle, 1977)
Dec
3
.webp)
Gabriel (Lewis Furey) and the woman he named Fabienne (Carole Laure). DP: François Protat.
A caregiver*
A woman is brutally murdered and taken home by a young man. This man – this angel – takes away her wounds, returns her to life, and nurses her. They fall in love.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for December has a few dateless themes. This is one of them.
The Devil at Your Heels (Robert Fortier, 1981)
Sep
25
1976
The location of the jump site, marked with a hand painted billboard: KEN CARTER'S JUMP SITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION SAT. SEPT. 25 76 SEE A MAN JUMP A COUNTRY MILE! DP: Barry Perles.
“In all my years of practice, I've never seen anything so sweet. A rosebud.”
Sweet Movie (Dušan Makavejev, 1974)
Sep
13
International Chocolate Day
The most virgin, Miss 1984 (Carole Laure), bathing in chocolate. DP: Pierre Lhomme.
Chocolate for International Chocolate Day (Milton S. Hershey's birthday)
– Dr. Mittelfinger
Miss Canada, winner of the “most virgin” contest, escapes her rich, milk tycoon husband into a world of anarchy, lust, and sugar.
Red [The Red Half-Breed / Red the Half Breed] (Gilles Carle, 1970)
Sep
2
A counter at a Québécois branch of the Banque de Montréal – oddly enough using its English-language name. A wall calender reads September 2. DP: Bernard Chentrier.
The Music of the Spheres (G. Philip Jackson, 1983)
Aug
28
1994
Archive footage from the future dated August 28, 1994. DP: Nadine Humenick.
La mort d'un bûcheron [The Death of a Lumberjack] (Gilles Carle, 1973)
Jul
12
1920
Blanche Bellefeuille (Denise Filiatrault) in front of a wall covered in catholic knickknacks. Through a door, nightclub entrepreneur Armand St. Amour (Willie Lamothe) can be seen asleep, his beloved cowboy boots carefully placed next to his improvised bed. DP: René Verzier.
“This film tells a story of rebels (played by real rats) and cops (played by real cats). After a long domination by cats, the rats escape from prison (this is their rebellion) and find refuge in Canada. There, they feed on organic produce from a garden where the grass hasn’t been sprayed with DDT.”
Rat Life and Diet in North America (Joyce Wieland, 1968)
Jul
4
Independence Day
Rats – gerbils actually – nibbling on the Stars and Stripes (via). DP: Joyce Wieland.
A movie set in the USA for Independence Day (USA)
– Jonas Mekas, via
French-Canadian patriot Joyce Wieland tells a fable of freedom.
Coincidentally, the Canadian city of Trois-Rivières, scene of the final battle of the American Revolutionary War, also celebrates an Independence Day on the fourth of July.
La maudite galette [Dirty Money] (Denys Arcand, 1972)
Jun
16
Berthe (Luce Guilbeault) points a rifle offscreen. Next to her a perpetual wall calendar from Desjardins with the date. It's June 16. DP: Alain Dostie.
La maudite galette [Dirty Money] (Denys Arcand, 1972)
Jun
1
Oscar the Grouch Day
Rolland (René Caron) and Berthe (Luce Guilbeault). She's had it with these money troubles. DP: Alain Dostie.
A character who's a grouch for Oscar the Grouch Day (USA)