Sunday, July 16, 2017

100 Best Canadian Films – David L. Pike

David L. Pike is the author of the great book Canadian Cinema Since the 1980s (you can read a good review of it by Steve Gravestock in Cinema Scope issue 54) and he provided a short introduction that puts the list in context. This 100 Best Canadians Films series, along with the qualifiers that Pike mentions, can also be seen as personalized versions of the more institutional Canada on Screen list, which screenings have been really exciting. By asking participants to provide one-hundred titles I hope that more off-beat, eccentric and less ‘official’ titles find a place in the canon. As well I hope to provide an image of what an in-depth Canadian cinema cinephilia would look like.
Other 100 Best Canadian Films lists includes those by Jerry White, André Loiselle, Paul WilliamsGreg Klymkiw, Pat MullenJason AndersonDaniel KremerYves Lever, Piers HandlingMarcel JeanMike Hoolboom and myself. – D.D.
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As befits my critical stance as an American parasitizing Canadian cinema, most of my list is culled from the ones already posted on Toronto Film Review. I have attempted to triangulate the three overlapping but not quite identical selection criteria requested at various places on the blog (“100 titles important to Canadian film history”; “lists by film critics and scholars on their personal, subjective favorite films (or shows!) that have been made here in this country”; “100 Best Canadian Films”) while mostly sticking to the generous selection criteria. My list includes around a dozen shorts, so I have arbitrarily counted them two for one to make my 106 look a little more like an even 100. Because I will be sharing this list with my students, I have also included links to NFB/ONF and YouTube. – D.L.P.

David L. Pike’s 106 Best Canadian FIlms
1.     Back to God’s Country (Nell Shipman, 1919)
2.     Begone Dull Care (Evelyne Lambart, Norman McLaren, 1949)
3.     La petite Aurore, l’enfant martyre (Jean-Yves Bigras, 1951)
4.     Neighbours (Norman McLaren, 1952)
5.     A Chairy Tale (Claude Jutra, Norman McLaren; 1957)
6.     Les Raquetteurs (Pierre Perrault, 1958)
7.     Lonely Boy (Wolf Koenig, Roman Kroitor, 1962)
8.     À tout prendre (Claude Jutra, 1963)
9.     Pour la suite du monde (Michel Brault, Pierre Perrault, 1963)
10.  Le chat dans le sac (Gilles Groulx, 1964)
11.  Nobody Waved Goodbye (Don Owen, 1964)
12.  La vie heureuse de Léopold Z (Gilles Carle, 1965)
13.  Paddle to the Sea (Bill Mason, 1966)
14.  Entre la mer et l’eau douce (Michel Brault, 1967)
15.  Isabel (Paul Almond, 1968)
16.  Valérie (Denis Héroux, 1969)
17.  Deux femmes en or (Claude Fournier, 1970)
18.  Goin’ down the Road (Donald Shebib, 1970)
19.  On est au coton (Denys Arcand, 1970)
20.  Mon oncle Antoine (Claude Jutra, 1971)
21.  La vraie nature de Bernadette (Gilles Carle, 1972)
22.  Wedding in White (William Fruet, 1972)
23.  Les dernières fiançailles (Jean Pierre Lefebvre, 1973)
24.  The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Ted Kotcheff, 1974)
25.  Black Christmas (Bob Clark, 1974)
26.  Les Ordres (Michel Brault, 1974)
27.  Gina (Denys Arcand, 1975)
28.  Shivers (David Cronenberg, 1975)
29.  La Tête de Normande St-Onge (Gilles Carle, 1975)
30.  The Street (Caroline Leaf, 1976)
31.  Rabid (David Cronenberg, 1977)
32.  The Brood (David Cronenberg, 1979)
33.  Les Bons débarras (Francis Mankiewicz, 1980)
34.  The Sweater (1980, Sheldon Cohen)
35.  My Bloody Valentine (George Mihalka, 1981)
36.  The Grey Fox (Philip Borsos, 1982)
37.  Videodrome (David Cronenberg, 1982)
38.  Strange Brew (Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas,1983)
39.  Ghostbusters (Ivan Reitman, 1984)*
40.  Sonatine (Micheline Lanctôt, 1984)
41.  My American Cousin (Sandy Wilson, 1985)
42.  Le déclin de l’empire américain (Denys Arcand, 1986)
43.  I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing (Patricia Rozema, 1987)
44.  Life Classes (William D. MacGillivray, 1987)
45.  Un zoo, la nuit (Jean-Claude Lauzon, 1987)
46.  The Cat Came Back (Cordell Barker, 1988)
47.  Dead Ringers (David Cronenberg, 1988)
48.  Roadkill (Bruce McDonald, 1989)
49.  Jésus de Montréal (Denys Arcand, 1989)
50.  Next of Kin (Atom Edoyan, 1989)
51.  Les noces de papier (Michel Brault, 1989)
52.  Archangel (Guy Maddin, 1990)
53.  The Company of Strangers (Cynthia Scott, 1990)
54.  Masala (Srinivas Krishna, 1991)
55.  Careful (Guy Maddin, 1992)
56.  Highway 61 (Bruce McDonald, 1992)
57.  Léolo (Jean-Claude Lauzon, 1992)
58.  Calendar (Atom Egoyan, 1993)
59.  Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (Alanis Obomsawin, 1993)
60.  Thirty-Two Short Films about Glenn Gould (François Girard, 1993)
61.  Zero Patience (John Greyson, 1993)
62.  Double Happiness (Mina Shum, 1994)
63.  Eclipse (Jeremy Podeswa, 1994)
64.  Exotica (Atom Egoyan, 1994)
65.  Le confessional (1995, Robert Lepage)
66.  Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch, 1995)
67.  Rude (Clement Virgo, 1995)
68.  When Night Is Falling (Patricia Rozema, 1995)
69.  Crash (David Cronenberg, 1996)
70.  Fire (Deepa Mehta, 1996)
71.  Hard Core Logo (Bruce McDonald, 1996)
72.  Kissed (1996, Lynn Stopkewich)
73.  Cube (Vincenzo Natali, 1997)
74.  The Hanging Garden (Thom Fitzgerald, 1997)
75.  The Sweet Hereafter (Atom Egoyan, 1997)
76.  Twitch City (Bruce McDonald, Don McKellar, 1998-9)
77.  Emporte-moi (1999, Léa Pool)
78.  Last Night (Don McKellar, 1999)
79.  New Waterford Girl (Allan Moyle, 1999)
80.  Ginger Snaps (John Fawcett, 2000)
81.  Heart of the World (Guy Maddin, 2000)
82.  Krapp’s Last Tape (Atom Egoyan, 2000)
83.  Maelström (2000, Denis Villeneuve)
84.  Waydowntown (Gary Burns, 2000)
85.  Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (Zacharias Kunuk, 2001)
86.  Last Wedding (Bruce Sweeney, 2001)
87.  Bollywood/Hollywood (Deepa Mehta, 2002)
88.  FUBAR (Mike Dowse, 2002)
89.  La face cachée de la lune (2003, Robert Lepage)
90.  La grande séduction (Jean-François Pouliot, 2003)
91.  Les Invasions barbares (Denys Arcand, 2003)
92.  Stryker (Noam Gonick, 2004)
93.  C.R.A.Z.Y. (Jean-Marc Vallée, 2005)
94.  A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005)
95.  Water (Deepa Mehta, 2005)
96.  Away from Her (Sarah Polley, 2007)
97.  Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg, 2007)
98.  My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin, 2007)
99.  Frozen River (Courtney Hunt, 2008)
100.                 Pontypool (Bruce McDonal, 2008)
101.                 Polytechnique (2009, Denis Villeneuve)
102.                 Incendies (Denis Villeneuve, 2010)
103.                 Monsieur Lazhar (2011, Philippe Falardeau)
104.                 Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley, 2012)
105.                 Orphan Black, season 1 (Graeme Manson and John Fawcett, 2013)
106.                 Arrival (Denis Villeneuve, 2016)

* In honor of Geoff Pevere

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