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Understand that I'm listing what is, I think, above and beyond a simple primer for anyone interested in exploring Canadian cinema. However, not everyone I've listed am I personally a fan of. For example, I really can't stand Atom Egoyan's work, but to gloss over one of the most celebrated directors in Canadian history would be ridiculous.
MASTERS (OLD GUARD & CONTEMPORARY, VARIOUS GENRES):
- Denys Arcand (dramatist, but look for his early docs)
o The Barbarian Invasions, 2003
o Love and Human Remains, 1993
o Jesus of Montreal, 1989
o The Decline of the American Empire, 1986
o Cotton Mill, Treadmill, 1976
o Dirty Money, 1972
- Michel Brault (dramatist and documentarian; also considered by many to be one of the greatest cinematographers of all-time)
o Les Ordres, 1974
o Between Sweet and Salt Water, 1967
o For Those Who Will Follow, 1963
- Donald Brittain (documentarian)
o Van’s Camp, 1974
o Catskinner Keen, 1973
o Cavendish Country, 1973
o Saul Alinsky Went to War, 1968
o Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen, 1965
- Jack Chambers (experimentalist)
o The Hart of London, 1970
o R-34, 1967
- David Cronenberg (dramatist)
o A History of Violence, 2005
o Spider, 2002
o Crash, 1996
o M. Butterfly, 1993
o Naked Lunch, 1991
o Dead Ringers, 1988
o Videodrome, 1983
o The Brood, 1979
- Atom Egoyan (dramatist)
o Felicia’s Journey, 1999
o The Sweet Hereafter, 1997
o Exotica, 1994
o Calendar, 1993
o The Adjuster, 1991
o Speaking Parts, 1989
o Family Viewing, 1987
- Beryl Fox (documentarian)
o Summer in Mississippi, 1965
o One More River, 1964
- William Fruet (dramatist; also one of the country’s finest writers)
o Wedding in White, 1972
- Mike Hoolboom (experimentalist)
o Panic Bodies, 1998
o Moucle’s Island, 1996
o Frank’s Cock, 1994
- Claude Jutra (dramatist)
o Surfacing, 1981
o For Better or For Worse, 1975
o Kamouraska, 1973
o Mon Oncle, Antoine, 1971
- Larry Kent (dramatist)
o Keep it in the Family, 1973
o Fleur Bleue, 1971
o In, 1967
o Sweet Substitute, 1964
o The Bitter Ash, 1963
- Allan King (documentarian and sometimes dramtist)
o Dying at Grace, 2003
o Termini Station, 1989
o Silence of the North, 1981
o Who Has Seen the Wind, 1977
o Come on, Children, 1973
o A Married Couple, 1969
o Warrendale, 1967
o Interview with Orson Welles, 1960
o Skid Row, 1956
- Zacharias Kunuk (dramatist)
o The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, 2006
o Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, 2001
- Ryan Larkin (animator)
o Agency, 1980
o Street Music, 1972
o Walking, 1969
o Syrinx, 1965
- Stuart Legg (documentarian)
o Balkan Powder Keg, 1944
o The War for Men’s Minds, 1943
o Churchill’s Island, 1941
o The Case of Charlie Gordon, 1939
- Jean-Pierre Lefebvre (dramatist)
o La Boite a Soleil, 1988
o Les Fleurs Sauvages, 1982
o Avoir 16 Ans, 1980
o Les Dernières Fiancailles, 1973
o Les Maudits Sauvages, 1971
o Un Success Commercial, 1970
- Guy Maddin (dramatist and experimentalist)
o Brand Upon the Brain!, 2006
o The Saddest Music in the World, 2003
o The Heart of the World, 2000
o Twilight of the Ice Nymphs, 1997
o Tales from the Gimli Hospital, 1988
- Norman McLaren (animator)
o Pinscreen, 1973
o Spheres, 1969
o Pas De Deux, 1968
o Neighbours, 1952
o Fiddle-de-dee, 1947
o The Obedient Flame, 1939
- William D. MacGillivray
o The Vacant Lot, 1989
o Life Classes, 1987
o Stations, 1983
- Bill Mason (documentarian)
o In Search of the Bowhead Whale, 1974
o Cry of the Wild, 1973
o Blake, 1969
o Paddle to the Sea, 1966
- Don Owen (dramatist and documentarian)
o Unfinished Business, 1984
o The Ernie Game, 1967
o Notes for a Film About Donna and Gail, 1966
o Nobody Waved Good-Bye, 1964
o Toronto Jazz, 1964
- Ishu Patel (animator)
o Afterlife, 1978
o The Bead Game, 1977
o How Death Came to Earth, 1971
- Kaj Pindal (animator)
o King Size, 1968
o I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, 1964
o The Peep Show, 1962
- Donald Shebib (dramatist)
o Fish Hawk, 1979
o Second Wind, 1976
o Between Friends, 1973
o Rip-Off, 1971
o Goin’ Down the Road, 1970
- Michael Snow (experimentalist)
o Presents, 1981
o Back and Forth, 1969
o Dripping Water, 1969
o Wavelength, 1967
o New York Eye and Ear Control, 1964
o A to Z, 1956
- Joyce Wieland (experimentalist and sometimes dramatist)
o The Far Shore, 1976
o Reason Over Passion, 1969
o Water Sark, 1965
Of the above listed, I would urge anyone interested to explore the films of the following:
Denys Arcand: His early documentaries and working class dramas are outstanding. I don’t know what possessed him to become the patron saint of annoying yuppies whining in sunken living rooms, but that seems to be the track he’s devoted himself to.
Michel Brault: An imagist of the highest order. Great stuff.
Jack Chambers: Really urgent stuff. Really fierce.
David Cronenberg: I still think Dead Ringers is one of the greatest works of Toronto fiction ever.
Beryl Fox: Fox’s obsession with the South and with the Vietnam War is roundly displayed in many of her direct cinema civil rights docs. A mammoth talent gone largely unrecognized outside of Canada.
William Fruet: Only directed one pic, Wedding in White. Quite a debut. A writer much like Carole Eastman, Jacob Brackman or Mike Leigh.
Claude Jutra: I’m always shocked how few people know of Jutra. After Mon Oncle, Antoine, he was the toast of Cannes, and was considered by Truffaut to be “intimidating…a genius.” Pauline Kael remarked that Jutra was the “greatest living director you’ve never heard of.” Sadly, he killed himself in 1986.
Larry Kent: Wheras Don Owen and Donald Shebib were mining the same early territory of someone like Bob Rafelson or Alan Clarke, Larry Kent stood firmly somewhere in between the Maysles and Gregory Corso.
Allan King: Like Jutra, another director I’m shocked to learn is hardly known outside of Canada. Considered by many to be the grandfather of cinema verite, his trio of Warrendale; A Married Couple; and Come on, Children are mind-blowing. Like, completely mind-blowing. These three films are better than anything Wiseman has ever made, and easily rank among the cream of the Maysles crop.
Zacharias Kunuk: Amazing. Fast Runner is essential viewing.
Bill Mason: Possibly the finest naturalist and conservationist documentarian in film history.
Don Owen: All I can say is watch Nobody Waved Good-Bye as soon as you can. It is a masterwork.
Ishu Patel: Really beautiful animation.
Donald Shebib: At one point, the most important director in the country, he’s now relegated to bullshit teen detective series and commercials. I don’t know what happened to this guy, but in the 1970s, his record of Goin’ Down the Road; Rip-Off; Between Friends; Second Wind: and Fish Hawk is unparalleled. Destroys Ashby, Rafelson, May, any day.
Michael Snow: Perhaps the most consistent and, aside from Hollis Frampton and maybe Jordan Belson, greatest figure in experimental film. A to Z is incredible and often gets lost, like most of his work, in the murk that Wavelength has left behind. Also one of the nicest guys you could meet (disclosure: he’s my neighbour.)
Joyce Wieland: Snow’s wife and a diehard patriot whose idealized nationalism is often reflected in her work. Water Sark is a milestone in experimental film, while The Far Shore showed that she was capable of much more traditional storytelling.
CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED:
- Paul Almond (Isabel, 1968)
- Louise Archambault (Familia, 2005)
- Keith Behrman (Flower & Garnet, 2002)
- Bruce Beresford (Black Robe, 1991)
- Phillip Borsos (Cooperage, 1976)
- Zale Dalen (Skip Tracer, 1977)
- Rene Delacroix (Tit Coq, 1953)
- Andrea Dorfman (Parsley Days, 2000)
- Gilles Groulx (Golden Gloves, 1961)
- Michael Dowse (Fubar, 2002)
- Thom Fitzgerald (The Hanging Garden, 1997)
- Andy Jones (The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood, 1986)
- Srinivas Krishna (Masala, 1991)
- Ted Kotcheff (The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, 1974)
- Jean-Claude Lauzon (Leolo, 1992)
- Paul Lynch (The Hard Part Begins, 1973)
- Asghar Massombagi (Khaled, 2001)
- Allan Moyle (New Waterford Girl, 1999)
- Silvio Narizzano (Why Shoot the Teacher?, 1977)
- Fred Newmeyer (Secrets of Chinatown, 1935)
- Alanis Obomsawin (No Address, 1988)
- Peter Pearson (Paperback Hero, 1973)
- Gordon Pinsent (The Rowdyman, 1972)
- Bruce Pittman (The Painted Door, 1984)
- Mort Ransen (Margaret’s Museum, 1995)
- Mina Shum (Double Happiness, 1994)
- John N. Smith (Sitting in Limbo, 1986)
- Robin Spry (Drying Up the Streets, 1978)
- Denis Vllieneuve (Maelstrom, 2000)
- Clement Virgo (The Planet of Junior Brown, 1997)
- Sandy Wilson (My American Cousin, 1985)
OTHER DRAMATISTS OF NOTE:
- Jim Allodi (The Uncles, 2000)
- Manon Briand (2 Seconds, 1998)
- Nicholas Campbell (Boozecan, 1994)
- Gil Cardinal (Children of Alcohol, 1984)
- Gilles Carle (L’Ange et la Femme, 1977)
- Isabel Coixet (My Life Without Me, 2003)
- John Greyson (The Law of Enclosures, 2000)
- Sturla Gunnarsson (Beowulf & Grendel, 2005)
- John Frizzell (A Winter Tan, 1987)
- Nathaniel Geary (On the Corner, 2003)
- Francois Girard (Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, 1993)
- John Howe (Why Rock the Boat?, 1974)
- George Kaczender (In Praise of Older Women, 1978)
- Jan Kadar (Lies My Father Told Me, 1975)
- Bruce LaBruce (Hustler White, 1996)
- Robert Lepage (The Confessional, 1995)
- Michael Mabbot (The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico, 2005)
- Daniel MacIvor (Wilby Wonderful, 2004)
- Francis Mankiewicz (And Then You Die, 1987)
- Bruce McDonald (Hard Core Logo, 1996)
- Don McKellar (Last Night, 1998)
- Deepa Mehta (Water, 2005)
- Vincenzo Natali (Cube, 1997)
- Aubrey Nealon (A Simple Curve, 2006)
- Daniel Petrie (The Bay Boy, 1984)
- Robin Phillips (The Wars, 1983)
- Jeremy Podeswa (The Five Senses, 1999)
- Sarah Polley (Away From Her, 2007)
- Lea Pool (Gabrielle Roy, 1998)
- Ivan Reitman (Animal House, 1978)
- Patricia Rozema (I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing, 1987)
- Scott Smith (Falling Angels, 2003)
- Bruce Sweeney (The Last Wedding, 2001)
- Istvan Szabo (Sunshine, 1999)
- Jean-Marc Vallee (C.R.A.Z.Y., 2005)
- Wiebke Von Carolsfeld (Marion Bridge, 2002)
I should also mention Norman Jewison and Ivan Reitman, both Canadians, Torontonians, but both having made their most indelible marks as a director in the US. Jewison is an ardent nationalist, yet, save for The Hurricane, has never made a film set in his home country. He got his start directing episodes of Wayne & Shuster and much later founded the illustrious Canadian Film Centre. Reitman got his start directing schlock like Cannibal Girls with fellow McMaster alum Eugene Levy (other classmates included Martin Short, Dave Thomas and John Candy), and Death Weekend, and later producing David Cronenberg’s seminal Rabid, starring Marilyn Chambers of all people.
DOCUMENTARY:
- Jennifer Abbott (The Corporation, 2003)
- Catherine Annau (Just Watch Me, 1999)
- Jennifer Baichwal (Manufactured Landscapes, 2006)
- Brigitte Berman (Artie Shaw: Time is All You’ve Got, 1985)
- Peter Lynch (Project Grizzly, 1996)
- Ron Mann (Comic Book Confidential, 1988)
- Peter Mettler (Gambling, Gods and LSD, 2002)
- Pierre Perrault (Ka Ke Ki Ku, 1960)
- Michael Rubbo (Sad Song of Yellow Skin, 1970)
- John Spotton (Buster Keaton Rides Again, 1965)
- Alan Zewig (Vinyl, 2000)
ANIMATION:
- Cordell Barker (The Cat Came Back, 1988)
- Sheldon Cohen (The Sweater, 1980)
- Richard Condie (The Big Snit, 1985)
- Les Drew (Every Dog’s Guide to Complete Home Safety, 1986)
- Eugene Fedorenko (Every Child, 1979)
- David Fine (George and Rosemary, 1987)
- Christopher Hinton (Pink Komkommer, 1991)
- Caroline Leaf (The Street, 1976)
- Brad Peyton (A Tale of Bad Luck, 2004)
- Jesse Rosensweet (The Stone of Folly, 2002)
EXPERIMENTAL:
- Bruce Elder (Illuminated Texts, 1982)
- Richard Hancox (Moose Jaw, 1992)
- Philip Hoffman (O, Zoo!, 1986)
- Richard Kerr (On Land Over Water, 1984)
- Barbara Sternberg (Tending Towards the Horizontal, 1989)
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