May 27th, 2008
The Street
When a street, neighbourhood or city is mythologized, its private spaces are torn open for the world to see. Stories might be just that—stories—but they have a way of humanizing the people that might otherwise be strangers. That’s what Mordecai Richler did for St. Urbain Street and Montreal’s old Jewish neighbourhood, which includes much of Mile End, with his fiction. The Street, a collection of semi-fictional stories and vignettes, is one of my favourite books of his because it focuses so singularly on the 1940s-era life of St. Urbain. In this short 1976 National Film Board film, animator Caroline Leaf captures the essence of that life.
Tags: Mile End, Montreal, Mordecai Richler, National Film Board
Kate M. says:
The children’s voices in that piece were mostly done by Sarah, Dwight and John Hood, the kids of Montreal writer Hugh Hood. I believe the filmmaker was a family friend.
May 28th, 2008 at 5:30 am
Shawn says:
It’s hard to find on the NFB Web site, I grant you, but there is a sharper (and legal) version here:
http://www.nfb.ca/animation/objanim/en/films/film.php?sort=director&director=Leaf%2C+Caroline&id=10524
May 31st, 2008 at 3:03 pm