Denys Arcand
Denys Arcand Deschambault, Quebec, Canada | |
---|---|
Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter, film producer |
Years active | 1962–present |
Spouse | Denise Robert |
Awards | Best Director 2003 The Barbarian Invasions Best Film 2003 The Barbarian Invasions Best Writing 2003 The Barbarian Invasions Genie Award for Best Original Screenplay 1986 The Decline of the American Empire 1989 Jesus of Montreal 2003 The Barbarian Invasions |
Georges-Henri Denys Arcand
During his four decades career, he became the most internationally recognized director from
Early life
Arcand was born in
Career
In 1963, he joined the National Film Board of Canada where he produced several award-winning documentaries in his native French language. A social activist, he made a feature-length documentary in 1970 titled Cotton Mill, Treadmill (On est au coton) that showed the exploitation of textile workers. The film caused an uproar that resulted in it not being distributed publicly for several years. Arcand received such publicity that it gave his fledgling career a great boost. He also worked on some television series, notably Duplessis, a historical work he wrote (but did not direct) about Premier Maurice Duplessis.
During the early part of the 1970s, Arcand produced a number of feature films that received critical acclaim. Arcand returned to directing documentaries and did no work for television. In 1982, his documentary, Comfort and Indifference (Le confort et l'indifférence) won the Prix Luc-Perreault from the Quebec Film Critics' Association.[5] In 1986 he wrote and directed what was until then the highest-grossing film in Quebec (and Canadian) history, The Decline of the American Empire (Le Déclin de l'empire américain).
At the Canadian
Arcand produced and directed his first English language film in 1993, titled
Arcand's film Days of Darkness (L'Âge des ténèbres) was chosen to close the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.[7] The press opening was subdued and the subsequent reviews were mixed.[8] Following this, he took a seven-year hiatus from feature film directing; he returned in 2014 with the film Le règne de la beauté.
Awards
In 1988, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Companion in 2005.[9] In 1990 the Government of France awarded him the Legion of Honour. He finally earned from his home province one of its highest distinctions, the title of Knight of the National Order of Quebec, in 1990.[10]
In 1995, Arcand received a
He is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.[13]
In 2023, he was named the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of Canada.[14]
Personal life
Arcand is a lapsed Catholic.[15] Married a second time, neither Arcand nor Denise Robert, his producer/wife, has had children. He was 55 years old when they adopted an orphaned baby boy from China named Carter.[16] His brother Bernard Arcand (1945–2009) was a professor of anthropology, and his youngest brother Gabriel Arcand (b. 1949) is a noted Canadian actor.
Filmography
Director
- À l'est d'Eaton - 1959, short film co-directed with Stéphane Venne
- Alone or With Others(Seul ou avec d'autres) - 1962, co-directed with Denis Héroux and Stéphane Venne
- Dirty Money (La maudite galette) - 1972
- Réjeanne Padovani - 1973
- Gina - 1975
- Empire, Inc. - 1983, TV miniseries codirected with Douglas Jackson
- The Crime of Ovide Plouffe (Le Crime d'Ovide Plouffe) - 1984
- The Decline of the American Empire (Le Déclin de l'empire américain) - 1986
- Jesus of Montreal (Jésus de Montréal) - 1989
- Les lettres de la religieuse portugaise - 1991, TV movie
- Montreal Stories - 1992, segment "Vue d'ailleurs"
- Love and Human Remains - 1993
- Poverty and Other Delights (Joyeux Calvaire) - 1996
- Stardom - 2000
- The Barbarian Invasions (Les invasions barbares) - 2003
- Days of Darkness (L'Âge des ténèbres) - 2007
- An Eye for Beauty (Le règne de la beauté) - 2014
- The Fall of the American Empire (La chute de l'empire américain) - 2018[17]
- Testament - 2023[18]
Documentaries
- Champlain - 1964, short film
- Québec 1603 - Samuel de Champlain - 1964, short film
- Les Montréalistes - 1965, short film
- Montréal, un jour d'été - 1965, short film
- La route de l'Ouest - 1965, short film
- Volleyball - 1966, short film
- Parcs atlantiques - 1967, short film
- Quebec: Duplessis and After (Québec : Duplessis et après...) - 1972
- La lutte des travailleurs d'hôpitaux - 1976, short film
- Cotton Mill, Treadmill (On est au coton) - 1976 (made 1970 but withheld from release)
- Comfort and Indifference (Le confort et l'indifférence) - 1982
Acting
- It Isn't Jacques Cartier's Fault (C'est pas la faute à Jacques Cartier) - 1968
- Nominingue... depuis qu'il existe - 1968
- My Eye (Mon oeil) - 1971
- Dirty Money (La maudite galette) - 1972
- Réjeanne Padovani - 1973
- Pigs Are Seldom Clean (On n'engraisse pas les cochons à l'eau claire) - 1973
- Normande (La Tête de Normande St-Onge) - 1975
- Night Zoo (Un zoo la nuit) - 1987
- Jesus of Montreal (Jésus de Montréal) - 1989
- Montreal Stories (Montréal vu par...) - 1991
- Léolo - 1992
- Un gars, une fille - 2000
- The Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasions barbares) - 2003
- Tideline - 2004
- Idole instantanée - 2005
- Les Bougon - 2004-06
- Days of Darkness (L'Âge des ténèbres) - 2007
- Barney's Version - 2010
- Adam & Ève - 2012
- Kiss Me Like a Lover (Embrasse-moi comme tu m'aimes) - 2016
- Les pêcheurs - 2016, TV series
References
- ^ "The Barbarian Invasions" Wins Foreign Language Film: 2004 Oscars
- ^ "The Assault" Wins Best Foreign Language Film: 1987 Oscars
- ^ Cinema Paradiso" Wins Foreign Language Film: 1990 Oscars
- ^ Sofia Coppola winning Best Original Screenplay-Oscars on YouTube
- ^ "NFB documentary awarded prize". The Globe and Mail, March 31, 1983.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: L'Âge des ténèbres". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
- ^ "Comedy awards gala yields gales of groans instead of guffaws". Archived from the original on 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
- ^ Office of the Governor General of Canada. Order of Canada citation. Queen's Printer for Canada. Retrieved 24 May 2010
- ^ Ordre national du Quebec
- ^ "Denys Arcand - biography". Governor General's Performing Arts Awards Foundation. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
- ^ "Canada's Walk of Fame: Denys Arcand, film director, Academy Award winner". Archived from the original on 2006-10-30. Retrieved 2007-01-07.
- ^ "Members since 1880". Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Archived from the original on 2011-05-26.
- ^ Taimur Sikander Mirza, "In Brief: Denys Arcand to receive DGC Lifetime Achievement Award". Playback, October 12, 2023.
- ^ Donna Rosenthal, "THE PASSION OF DENYS ARCAND," The Washington Post, 22 July 1990, URL accessed 4 August 2016.
- ProQuest 384377795.
- ^ TIFF 2018: Denys Arcand a fan of festival's good old days|Montreal Gazette
- ^ Charles-Henri Ramond, "Testament en salle le 5 octobre". Films du Québec, May 24, 2023.
Further reading
- Michel Coulombe, Denys Arcand. La vraie nature du cinéaste, (entretiens), Montréal: Boréal 1993
- André Loiselle, Brian McIllroy (éd.), Auteur/Provocateur. The Films of Denys Arcand, Westport: Praeger 1995
External links
- Denys Arcand at IMDb
- Denys Arcand at the Canadian Film Encyclopedia
- Denys Arcand on NFB