L'Affaire Tierney | Quebec Basher or Truthteller? at Schema : more than ethnic

In The Trotsky, the latest film from Montreal director Jacob Tierney, Leon Bronstein convinces himself that he is the reincarnation of the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, and tries to lead his classmates at Montreal West high-school to unionize. Above is Leon (Jay Baruchel) fielding questions from reporters about his controversial ideas, but it may as well be Tierney himself in light of the media storm that his recent interview with La Presse has caused.

In the interview Tierney complains that the Quebec society has "turned in on itself," and that this phenomenon has dangerous consequences for the film industry of la belle province. Tierney's most biting criticism concerns the representation of immigrants and anglophones in Quebec cinema:

Au Québec, les immigrants et les anglophones ne sont pas seulement marginalisés: ils sont invisibles...Regarde la soirée des Jutra. C'est blanc! C'est francophone! C'est ça le Québec? Si tu es un jeune Haïtien de Montréal, est-ce que tu vois une place pour toi là-dedans?

In Quebec, immigrants and anglophones are not only marginalized: they are invisible...Look at the Jutra's [an award ceremony for Quebec cinema]. It's white! It's francophone! Is that Quebec? If you are a young Haitian in Montreal, do you see a place for yourself there?

These and other comments that Tierney made during the interview were met with an angry backlash of commentary, articles, facebooking and Twittering — one fan even writes, "I'm team Jacob (Tierney)"! But is this reckless and prejudice Québec bashing on Tierney's part, or do his sentiments reveal a fundamental flaw in Quebec's film industry? Public opinion seems to be split right down the middle.

Tierney's frustration is understandable because, let's face it, Quebecois films are the only films out of Canada that get any recognition. Just try to name some Canadian films from this past year. That's right, you can't. Now try to name your favourite Canadian films. Oh right, you don't have any. Either that or they were all fait au Québec, I know mine were. See the problem here?

Admittedly there have been some well attended and critically acclaimed films out of the ROC (that's Quebec-speak for Rest Of Canada). Films such as Sarah Polley's Away From Her, based on the Alice Munro story, or the Vancouver shot Double Happiness, but it's far more likely that you and international critics have seen C.R.A.Z.Y., The Barbarian Invasions, or La Grande Séduction — all great films, are unapologetically white and francophone.

Brendan Kelly, a long-time film critic for the Montreal Gazette, came forward on Tierney's side, saying that "No one here [Quebec] lives exclusively in one language or one culture," and that Tierney is right to point out that Quebec cinema doesn't always reflect that experience.

One of the best cinematic examples of this criticism is Bon Cop, Bad Cop, the bilingual action comedy in which a francophone cop from Montreal and an anglophone cop from Toronto reluctantly pair up to track down a serial killer. With culture clashes, miscommunication, and hilarity ensue the film, which was made by Tierney's father, Kevin Tierney, is also the highest grossing Canadian film to date. Maybe incorporating a few anglos into the francophone mix isn't such a bad idea after all!

In response to the interview, La Presse writer Stéphane Laporte wrote a defence of Quebec cinema, in which he argues that francophone filmmakers have a right to tell their own stories because they can't expect Hollywood to do it for them. Touché. I was right with him until he produced the argument that no one complains that German cinema primarily depicts Germans, or that Jewish cinema depicts Jewish people (whatever Jewish cinema means), so why shouldn't Quebec cinema depict the Quebecois? This leads to one major problem; who then, are the Quebecois?

Many objectors to Tierney's statements point to the ethnic diversity in films such as Un Dimanche à Kigali (A Sunday in Kigali), about the Rwandan genocide, and Le Nèg' (The Negro), about racial tensions in rural Quebec. Well, of course these films aren't all white; one takes place in Africa and the other is about racism!

What we should take from Tierney's comments is not that the Quebec film industry is racist, or that Quebecois filmmakers shouldn't make francophone films, because after all, if they don't, who will? Tierney is suggesting that the young Haitian Montréalais shouldn't have to look to a film about racism to see his image reflected in the cinema. Quebec is a nation in its own right, and so its national film industry should reflect all the colours and languages and experiences of la vie québecoise.

Stay tuned to see Tierney in his father's next film, French Immersion, which has five anglos (and not all of them white) embarking on a two-week language immersion program in small-town Quebec. Francophones, anglos, and immigrants...oh my!

Thanks to Cedric Sam at Comme Les Chinois for the tip!

Schema Magazine

L'Affaire Tierney | Quebec Basher or Truthteller?

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