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
Williams, Greg Klymkiw, Pat Mullen, Jason Anderson, Daniel Kremer, Yves Lever, Piers Handling, Marcel Jean, Mike Hoolboom and myself. – D.D.
***
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
3. La petite Aurore, l’enfant martyre (Jean-Yves Bigras,
1951)
8. À tout prendre (Claude Jutra, 1963)
15. Isabel
(Paul Almond, 1968)
21. La vraie nature de Bernadette
(Gilles Carle, 1972)
22. Wedding
in White (William Fruet, 1972)
23. Les dernières fiançailles
(Jean Pierre Lefebvre, 1973)
26. Les
Ordres (Michel Brault, 1974)
29. La Tête de Normande St-Onge
(Gilles Carle, 1975)
33. Les Bons débarras
(Francis Mankiewicz, 1980)
35. My
Bloody Valentine
(George Mihalka, 1981)
36. The
Grey Fox (Philip Borsos, 1982)
37. Videodrome (David Cronenberg, 1982)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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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