This NFB production, transformed mid-project into a 35mm feature by director Groulx, must have been a traumatic viewing experience to Quebeckers accustomed to decades of church-sponsored morality plays. It is the first Canadian film to have absorbed the stylistic and thematic tics of the French New Wave. It's radical-boy-and-liberal-girlfriend just like Godard, only this one takes the side of the girl, which is nice. While there are some impressive rhetorical flourishes, this is a study in rebellion, not a rebellion in itself - which is what happens when you ask a government agency to produce a French New Wave film. Anyway, the boy goes to live in the country and sulk while reading newspapers, while the girl stays in town and gets fed up with him. So in other words, it resonated! I don't care if it fails to present any empowering solution to the guy's nihilist radicalism. I loved this film, it's beautiful.
Review of The Cat in the Bag
