100 Best Canadian Films – Pat Mullen

A fellow expat from Ottawa now living in Toronto, Pat Mullen is probably best known for his work at Point of View magazine and his writing on Canadian documentaries. But he’s also a fellow Jean-Marc Vallée supporter, along with his brother Brian, and he runs an excellent blog, the Cinemablographer. 100 Best Canadian Films is a series of posts of personal journeys throughout Canadian cinema history. Other contributors include Jason Anderson, Daniel Kremer, Yves Lever, Piers Handling, Marcel Jean, Mike Hoolboom and myself. – D.D.

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 Pat Mullen's 100 Best Canadian Films

Churchill’s Island (Dir. Stuart Legg, 1941)

Begone Dull Care (Dir. Evelyne Lambart, Norman McLaren; 1949)

Neighbours (Dir. Norman McLaren, 1952)

A Chairy Tale (Dir. Claude Jutra, Norman McLaren; 1957)

City of Gold (Dir. Wolf Koenig, Colin Low; 1957)

Les raquetteurs (Dir. Michel Brault, Gilles Groulx; 1958)

Universe (Dir. Roman Kroitor, Colin Low; 1960)

Very Nice, Very Nice (Dir. Arthur Lipsett, 1961)

Lonely Boy (Dir. Wolf Koenig, Roman Kroitor; 1962)

Pour la suite du monde (Dir. Pierre Perrault, Michel Brault, Marcel Carrière; 1963)

Fields of Sacrifice (Dir. Donald Brittain, 1964)

Nobody Waved Good-bye (Dir. Don Owen, 1964)

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen (Dir. Donald Brittain, Don Owen; 1965)

The Mills of the Gods: Viet Nam (Dir. Beryl Fox, 1965)

Billy Crane Moves Away (Dir. Colin Low; 1967)

Warrendale (Dir. Allan King, 1967)

The Ballad of Crowfoot (Dir. Willie Dunn, 1968)

Pas de deux (Dir. Norman McLaren, 1968)

Walking (Dir. Ryan Larkin, 1968)

Goin’ Down the Road (Don Shebib, 1970)

Mon Oncle Antoine (Claude Jutra, 1971)

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Ted Kotcheff, 1974)

Black Christmas (Dir. Bob Clark, 1974)

Volcano: An Inquiry Into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry (Dir. Donald Brittain, John Kramer; 1976)

Rabid (Dir. David Cronenberg, 1977)

Special Delivery (Dir. John Wheldon, Eunice Macauley; 1978)

Every Child (Dir. Eugene Fedorenko, 1979)

Nails (Dir. Philip Borsos, 1979)

Atlantic City (Dir. Louis Malle, 1980)

Les bons débarras (Dir. Francis Mankiewicz, 1980)

Crac! (Dir. Frédérick Back, 1981)

The Grey Fox (Dir. Philip Borsos, 1982)

If You Love This Planet (Dir. Terre Nash, 1982)

Poetry in Motion (Dir. Ron Mann, 1982)

Flamenco at 5:15 (Dir. Cynthia Scott, 1983)

Home Feeling: Struggle for a Community (Dir. Jennifer Hodge de Silva, Roger McTair; 1983)

Videodrome (Dir. David Cronenberg, 1983)

The Wars (Dir. Robin Philips, 1983)

Crime Wave (Dir. John Paizs, 1985)

My American Cousin (Dir. Sandy Wilson, 1985)

The Decline of the American Empire (Dir. Denys Arcand, 1986)

I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing (Dir. Patricia Rozema, 1987)

John and the Missus (Dir. Gordon Pinsent, 1987)

Life Classes (Dir. William D. MacGillivray, 1987)

Dead Ringers (Dir. David Cronenberg, 1988)

Black Mother, Black Daughter (Dir. Sylvia D. Hamilton, Claire Prieto; 1989)

Jesus of Montreal (Dir. Denys Arcand, 1989)

Black Robe (Dir. Bruce Beresford, 1991)

Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives (Dir. Lynne Fernie, Aerlyn Weissman, 1992)

Highway 61 (Dir. Bruce McDonald, 1992)

Naked Lunch (Dir. David Cronenberg, 1992)

Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (Dir. Alanis Obomsawin, 1993)

Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (Dir. François Girard, 1993)

Bob’s Birthday (Dir. David Fine, Alison Snowden, 1994)

Double Happiness (Dir. Mina Shum, 1994)

Exotica (Dir. Atom Egoyan, 1994)

Picture of Light (Dir. Peter Mettler)

Rude (Dir. Clement Virgo, 1995)

Margaret’s Museum (Dir. Mort Ransen, 1995)

Hard Core Logo (Dir. Bruce McDonald, 1996)

Project Grizzly (Dir. Peter Lynch, 1996)

Kissed (Dir. Lynne Stopkewich, 1997)

The Sweet Hereafter (Atom Egoyan, 1997)

Last Night (Dir. Don McKellar, 1998)

The Red Violin (Dir. François Girard, 1998)

Sunshine (Dir. István Szabó, 1999)

The Heart of the World (Dir. Guy Maddin, 2000)

Possible Worlds (Dir. Robert Lepage, 2000)

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (Dir. Zacharias Kunuk, 2001)

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter (Dir. Lee Demarbre, 2001)

Blue Skies (Dir. Ann Marie Fleming, 2002)

The Barbarian Invasions (Dir. Denys Arcand, 2003)

The Corporation (Dir. Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott; 2003)

Falling Angels (Dir. Scott Smith, 2003)

Seducing Doctor Lewis (Dir. Jean-François Pouliot, 2003)

The Triplets of Belleville (Dir. Sylvain Chomet, 2003)

Ryan (Dir. Chris Landreth, 2004)

C.R.A.Z.Y. (Dir. Jean-Marc Vallée, 2005)

Water (Dir. Deepa Mehta, 2005)

Manufactured Landscapes (Dir. Jennifer Baichwal, 2006)

Away from Her (Dir. Sarah Polley, 2007)

My Winnipeg (Dir. Guy Maddin, 2007)

Next Floor (Dir. Denis Villeneuve, 2008)

Nurse.Fighter.Boy (Dir. Charles Officer, 2009)

Savage (Dir. Lisa Jackson, 2009)

Barney’s Version (Dir. Richard J. Lewis, 2010)

Incendies (Dir. Denis Villeneuve, 2010)

Lipsett Diaries (Dir. Theodore Ushev, 2010)

Trigger (Dir. Bruce McDonald, 2010)

Café de Flore (Dir. Jean-Marc Vallée, 2011)

Choke (Dir. Michelle Latimer, 2011)

The Whistleblower (Dir. Larysa Kondracki, 2011)

Stories We Tell (Dir. Sarah Polley, 2012)

15 Reasons to Live (Dir. Alan Zweig, 2013)

Gabrielle (Dir. Louise Archambault, 2013)

Rhymes for Young Ghouls (Dir. Jeff Barnaby, 2013)

Mommy (Dir. Xavier Dolan, 2014)

Bring Me the Head of Tim Horton (Dir. Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson; 2015)*

The Apology (Dir. Tiffany Hsiung, 2016)

Window Horses (The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming) (Dir. Ann Marie Fleming, 2016)
  
 *Adding a little bit of Paul Gross to the list.