Claude Jutra
Encyclopedia
Claude Jutra was a Canadian actor
, film director
and writer
. The Prix Jutra are named in his honor because of his importance in Quebec cinema history. He was born and raised in Montreal
, Quebec
.
Claude Jutra was born in Montreal
, Quebec
and studied to be a doctor before turning to his first love, the cinema. In 1954 he went to work at the National Film Board of Canada
where he trained in all facets of filmmaking
. In 1958 he went to France
to work with François Truffaut
and Jean Rouch
.
With financing and production provided by the National Film Board of Canada
, Jutra co-wrote and directed the acclaimed 1971 film Mon oncle Antoine
as well as directing several cinema verite
shorts such as La lutte and The Devil's Toy. He also co-directed with Norman McLaren
and starred in the pixilation
short A Chairy Tale
.
In 1984, he was awarded the Prix Albert-Tessier
, given to individuals for an outstanding career in Québec cinema.
Jutra was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease
in the early 1980s. He died, an apparent suicide, in 1986: his body was found in the St. Lawrence river some months after he disappeared, with a note in his pocket reading "I Am Claude Jutra." http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-68-2210-13294-11/on_this_day/arts_entertainment/twt
, directed the feature documentary Claude Jutra: An Unfinished Story in 2002.
Articles
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and writer
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
. The Prix Jutra are named in his honor because of his importance in Quebec cinema history. He was born and raised in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
Claude Jutra was born in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
and studied to be a doctor before turning to his first love, the cinema. In 1954 he went to work at the National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
where he trained in all facets of filmmaking
Filmmaking
Filmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...
. In 1958 he went to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to work with François Truffaut
François Truffaut
François Roland Truffaut was an influential film critic and filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry. He was also a screenwriter, producer, and actor working on over twenty-five...
and Jean Rouch
Jean Rouch
Jean Rouch was a French filmmaker and anthropologist.He is considered to be one of the founders of the cinéma vérité in France, which shared the aesthetics of the direct cinema spearheaded by Richard Leacock, D.A. Pennebaker and Albert and David Maysles...
.
With financing and production provided by the National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
, Jutra co-wrote and directed the acclaimed 1971 film Mon oncle Antoine
Mon oncle Antoine
Mon oncle Antoine is a 1971 National Film Board of 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...
as well as directing several cinema verite
Cinéma vérité
Cinéma vérité is a style of documentary filmmaking, combining naturalistic techniques with stylized cinematic devices of editing and camerawork, staged set-ups, and the use of the camera to provoke subjects. It is also known for taking a provocative stance toward its topics.There are subtle yet...
shorts such as La lutte and The Devil's Toy. He also co-directed with Norman McLaren
Norman McLaren
Norman McLaren, CC, CQ was a Scottish-born Canadian animator and film director known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada...
and starred in the pixilation
Pixilation
Pixilation is a stop motion technique where live actors are used as a frame-by-frame subject in an animated film, by repeatedly posing while one or more frame is taken and changing pose slightly before the next frame or frames. The actor becomes a kind of living stop motion puppet...
short A Chairy Tale
A Chairy Tale
A Chairy Tale is a 1957 animated short film co-directed by Norman McLaren and Claude Jutra, and starring Jutra and a most uncooperative chair....
.
In 1984, he was awarded the Prix Albert-Tessier
Prix Albert-Tessier
The Prix Albert-Tessier is an award by the Government of Quebec that is part of the Prix du Québec, given to individuals for an outstanding career in Québec cinema. It is awarded to scriptwriting, acting, composing music, directing, producing and cinematographic techniques. It is named in honour of...
, given to individuals for an outstanding career in Québec cinema.
Jutra was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
in the early 1980s. He died, an apparent suicide, in 1986: his body was found in the St. Lawrence river some months after he disappeared, with a note in his pocket reading "I Am Claude Jutra." http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-68-2210-13294-11/on_this_day/arts_entertainment/twt
As actor
- Bonheur d'occasion (1983)
- Till Death Do Us Part (1982) (TV)
- Riel (1979) (TV)
- Two Solitudes (1978)
- Arts Cuba (1977) (voice)
- La fleur aux dents (1976)
- Pour le meilleur et pour le pire (1975)
- Love on the Nose (1974) (TV)
- On est loin du soleil (1971)
- Mon oncle AntoineMon oncle AntoineMon oncle Antoine is a 1971 National Film Board of 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...
(1971) - Act of the Heart (1970)
- Préambule (1969) (voice)
- Le viol d'une jeune fille douce (1968)
- À tout prendre (1964)
- A Chairy Tale (1957)
Fiction
- Le dément du lac Jean-Jeunes (Short film, 1948)
- Mouvement perpétuel (Short film, 1949)
- L'école de la peur (TV movie, 1953)
- Pierrot des bois (Short film, 1956)
- A Chairy Tale (Short animated film Co-Directed with Norman McLarenNorman McLarenNorman McLaren, CC, CQ was a Scottish-born Canadian animator and film director known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada...
, 1957) (Re-Released in 1963 as part of the anthology film Seven Surprizes) - Les mains nettes (1958)
- Anna la bonne (Short film, 1959)
- À tout prendre (1963)
- Marie-Christine (Short film, 1970)
- Mon oncle AntoineMon oncle AntoineMon oncle Antoine is a 1971 National Film Board of 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...
(1971) - KamouraskaKamouraska (film)Kamouraska is a 1973 Québécois film directed by Claude Jutra, based on the novel by Anne Hébert, who also worked as screenwriter.-Synopsis:The film is set in rural Québec in the 1830s....
(1973) - Pour le meilleur et pour le pire (1975)
- Ada (TV movie, 1977) (Created for TV Series For the Record)
- DreamspeakerDreamspeakerDreamspeaker is a novel by Canadian author Anne Cameron also known as Cam Hubert. It was first published in 1978 by Clarke, Irwin & Company....
(TV movie, 1977) (Created for TV Series For the Record) - Seer Was Here (TV movie, 1978) (Created for TV Series For the Record)
- The Patriarch (TV movie, 1978) (Created for TV Series The BeachcombersThe BeachcombersThe Beachcombers is a Canadian comedy-drama television series that ran from October 1, 1972 to December 12, 1990 and is the longest-running dramatic series ever made for English-language Canadian television...
) - The Wordsmith (TV movie, 1979)
- Surfacing (1980)
- By DesignBy DesignBy Design is a Canadian film directed by Claude Jutra and was released in 1982. It stars Sara Botsford and Patty Duke Astin.-Synopsis:Angie , and Helen , are in love and they live and work together - they design women's clothes and run their own fashion business in Vancouver. Helen wants to be a...
(1981) - Un petit bonhomme de chemin (Unfinished film, 1982)
- La dame en couleurs (1985)
- My Father, My Rival (TV movie, 1985)
Documentaries
- Au service de l’esprit troublé (Short film Co-Directed with Stanley Jackson, 1955)
- Chantons maintenant (Short film, 1956)
- Jeunesses musicales (Short film, 1956)
- Rondo de Mozart (Short film, 1957)
- Félix Leclerc, troubadour (Short film, 1958)
- Fred Barry, comédien (Short film, 1959)
- Le Niger, jeune république (Short film, 1961)
- La Lutte (Short film Co-Directed with Marcel CarrièreMarcel CarrièreMarcel Carrière is a Canadian film director and sound engineer.-Biography:Marcel Carrière joined the NFB in 1955 after studying electronic engineering and developed his skills as a sound engineer while working on wildlife films, the Candid Eye series and the work of the newly formed French Unit...
, Claude FournierClaude Fournier (filmmaker)Claude Fournier is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, editor and cinematographer. He is one of the forerunners of the Cinema of Quebec. He is the twin brother of Guy Fournier....
and Michel BraultMichel BraultMichel Brault, OQ is a Quebec cinematographer, cameraman, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He is a leading figure of Direct Cinema, characteristic of the French branch of the National Film Board of Canada in the 1960s...
, 1961) - Québec-U.S.A. ou l'invasion pacifique (Short film Co-Directed with Michel BraultMichel BraultMichel Brault, OQ is a Quebec cinematographer, cameraman, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He is a leading figure of Direct Cinema, characteristic of the French branch of the National Film Board of Canada in the 1960s...
, 1962) - Petit discours de la méthode (Short film Co-Directed with Pierre PatryPierre PatryPierre Patry is a Canadian film director and screenwriter.-Biography:Pierre Patry began his career in the theatre as an actor and a playwright and is a founding member of the Canadian Association of Amateur Theatre. He joined the NFB in 1957 as a writer on the Panoramique series...
, 1963) - Ciné boum (Short film Co-Directed with Robert Russell, 1964)
- Comment savoir... (1966)
- Rouli-roulant (Short film, 1966)
- Au coeur de la ville (Short film, 1969)
- WowWow (film)Wow was a Québécois movie in 1970 directed by Claude Jutra and starring Danielle Bail. It was produced by the National Film Board of Canada in 1969.-Sequel:...
(1969) - Québec fête juin '75 (Co-Directed with Jean-Claude LabrecqueJean-Claude LabrecqueJean-Claude Labrecque, is a director and cinematographer who learned the basics of filmmaking at the Quebec Film Office and the National Film Board of Canada.-Career:...
, 1976) - Arts Cuba (Short film, 1977)
Awards (Won)
Canadian Film Awards- (1950) Canadian Film AwardCanadian Film AwardThe Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually except in 1974 when Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation that year....
Amateur for Movement Perpétuel - (1958) Canadian Film AwardCanadian Film AwardThe Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually except in 1974 when Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation that year....
Arts and Experimental for A Chairy TaleA Chairy TaleA Chairy Tale is a 1957 animated short film co-directed by Norman McLaren and Claude Jutra, and starring Jutra and a most uncooperative chair.... - Shared with Norman McLarenNorman McLarenNorman McLaren, CC, CQ was a Scottish-born Canadian animator and film director known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada...
- (1964) Canadian Film AwardCanadian Film AwardThe Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually except in 1974 when Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation that year....
Feature Film for À Tout Prendre - Shared with Robert Hershorn
- (1971) Canadian Film AwardCanadian Film AwardThe Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually except in 1974 when Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation that year....
Direction (Feature) for Mon Oncle AntoineMon oncle AntoineMon oncle Antoine is a 1971 National Film Board of 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... - (1977) Canadian Film AwardCanadian Film AwardThe Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually except in 1974 when Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation that year....
Direction (Non - Feature) for DreamspeakerDreamspeakerDreamspeaker is a novel by Canadian author Anne Cameron also known as Cam Hubert. It was first published in 1978 by Clarke, Irwin & Company....
Awards (Nominated)
Genie Awards- (1986) Genie AwardGenie AwardGenie Awards are given out to recognize the best of Canadian cinema by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. From 1949-1979, the awards were named the Canadian Film Awards...
Best Achievement in Direction for La Dame en Couleurs - (1986) Genie AwardGenie AwardGenie Awards are given out to recognize the best of Canadian cinema by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. From 1949-1979, the awards were named the Canadian Film Awards...
Best Screenplay for La Dame en Couleurs
Film Festival Award Nominations
Moscow International Film FestivalMoscow International Film Festival
Moscow International Film Festival , is the film festival first held in Moscow in 1959. From its inception to 1995 it was held every second year in July, alternating with the Karlovy Vary festival. The festival has been held annually since 1995....
- (1985) Golden Prize for La Dame en couleurs
- (1971) Golden Prize for Mon oncle AntoineMon oncle AntoineMon oncle Antoine is a 1971 National Film Board of 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...
Film Festival Wins
Venice Film FestivalVenice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
- (1966) Plate 'Lion of San Marco' Cultural and Educational Film for Comment savoir
Film about Claude Jutra
Jutra's close friend, filmmaker Paule BaillargeonPaule Baillargeon
Paule Baillargeon is a Canadian actress and film director. She won the Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film I've Heard the Mermaids Singing, and was a nominee for Best Director for Le Sèxe des étoiles.Her other film roles have included Un 32 août sur terre, Jésus de...
, directed the feature documentary Claude Jutra: An Unfinished Story in 2002.
See also
- List of Quebec film directors
- Cinema of Quebec
- Culture of QuebecCulture of QuebecThe Culture of Quebec emerged over the last few hundred years, resulting from the shared history of the French-speaking majority in Quebec. It is unique to the Western World; Quebec is the only region in North America with a French-speaking majority, as well as one of only two provinces in Canada...
- Johanne HarrelleJohanne HarrelleJohanne Harrelle was a Montreal actress, model, and writer, and the first black woman to rise to prominence in Quebec and Canada's fashion world....
Further reading
Books and thesis- CARRIER-LAFLEUR, Thomas, Une philosophie du « temps à l’état pur ». L’autofiction chez Proust et Jutra, Paris : Librairie philosophique J. Vrin, Québec : Les Presses de l’Université Laval (Zêtêsis : Esthétiques), 2010, 215 p.
- GARNEAU, Michèle, « Pour une esthétique du cinéma québécois », Thèse de doctorat en Littérature comparée, option théorie et épistémologie, Montréal, Université de Montréal, 1997.
- LEACH, Jim, Claude Jutra filmmaker, Montreal/Kingston/London/Ithaca, McGill-Queen’s University Press (Films Studies), 1999, XII-306 p.
Articles
- BELLEMARE, Denis, « Narcissisme et corps spectatorielle », in Cinémas, vol. nos 1-2, fall 1996, p. 37-54.
- BRADY, James, « À tout prendre : fragments du corps spéculaire », in Copie Zéro, Revue de cinéma, no 37 (October 1988), p. 23-26.
- MARSOLAIS, Gilles, « À tout prendre », in Lettres et écritures, Revue des Étudiants de la Faculté des Lettres de l’Université de Montréal, vol. I, no 2 (February 1964), p. 35-41.
- MARSOLAIS, Gilles, « Au delà du miroir... », in Cinéma : acte et présence, Québec, Éditions Nota bene, 1999, p. 189-203.
- WAUGH, Thomas, « Je ne le connais pas tant que ça: Claude Jutra », in Nouvelles « vues » sur le cinéma québécois (on line), no 2, summer-fall 2004.
- SIROIS-TRAHAN, Jean-Pierre, « Le devenir-québécois chez Claude Jutra. Autofiction, politique de l’intime et le je comme faux raccords », in Nouvelles « vues » sur le cinéma québécois (on line), no 11, fall 2010.