Cinéma de l'imaginaire québécois. De ‘La Petite Aurore’ à ‘Jésus de Montréal’ by Heinz Weinmann (review)

really dealt with here as an intellectual and imaginative world in its own right, with its own self-generating conventions and references, connections and codes. Nowhere in this book do we find the rigorous formal analysis of technique and theme, motifand execution from building to buildingand back again, a kind of formal cross-examination which would reveal what is fundamental about his artistic language and what is not. In the absence of this we can easily misconstrue the relative importance of things which lie close to the surface. Cardinal himself warned us of this when he remarked: 'People think my organic style of architecture has been influenced by the native people or my Indian heritage, but my design for St. Mary's was created before my involvement with the Indian community and before I realised its importance to my life. I built the church in Red Deer because I did not realise it was impossible to do.' Exactly! What Cardinal is saying is that essentially we should see his architecture as just that, architecture, not the life-scenery of a man from Alberta. This is important because it is an issue upon which Cardinal's long-term reputation will rest. That is to say, there is no doubt that Cardinal has captured something of the Canadian spirit in his architecture. But Cardinal's work, for all its merit, seems at times two-dimensional and scenographic; the quality ofspace does not always match the grandeur of the elevations; the use of materials is awkward. Boddy alludes to these seeming deficiencies in form and practice, but nowhere do we find the full-scale confrontation with them which we expect. Until we do, the professional verdict on Cardinal's work will remain inconclusive. It could be that Boddy's decision to avoid a systematic formal analysis of Cardinal's architecture in this book reflects a desire to address a popular audience. This is understandable, and it is certainly the case that the author's chatty, journalistic style coupled with an attractive design makes for a very readable book which even the casual reader will enjoy. There is a great need for books of this sort. Itmeans, however, that despite the many insights this book has to offer, we are still far from a convincing interpretation of what Douglas Cardinal's architecture is. This is not helped by the fact that in a book filled with inferences, allusions, and quotations, there is neither a single reference note nor an index. Still, to his credit Boddy has introduced a remarkable architect to a wide audience and deserves thanks for it. (KELLY CROSSMAN) Heinz Weinmann. Cinema de I'imaginaire quebecois. De 'La Petite Aurore' a'Jesus de Montreal' Hexagone. 273· $19.95 In 1987, Heinz Weinmann published a massive volume, Du Canada au Que'bec. Geneaiogie d'unehistoire. In it he traced Quebec's evolution from the 186 LEITERS IN CANADA 1990 period of the European discoverers until 1970, using Freudian terms like 'Toman familial' and 'meurtres fondateurs: and stressing the symbolic importanceofSaintJohn the Baptistand the sacrificial principlein Quebec's socio-cultural development. In a second book, and using a similar approach, Weinmann has turned his attention to Quebec film. In the book's introduction, he argues that Quebec cinema was a 'precursor' in developing the new Quebecois, as opposed to French-Canadian, self-perception. The book is divided into two almost equal parts: 'Le cinema quebecois d'avant Jesus-Christ ... de Montreal (1951-1989): and 'ftisus de Montreal (1989): La PassiondeMontrealselon Denys Arcand: The first partanalyses, in separate chapters, seven films: La Petite Aurore, i'entant marl1)re (1951), Tit-Coq (1952), Man oncle Antoine (1971), Les Bans Debarras (1980), Un zoo la nuit (1987), Les Partes toumantes (1988), and Le Declin de i'empire americain (1986). The second part is devoted entirely to Denys Arcand's Jesus de Montreal (1989). Weinmann's study contains many insights into the films he examines, the fruit of wide reading in the areas ofQuebec and Canadian history, but also religion, philosophy, and psychoanalysis. In discussingAurore, he makes interesting links between the excruciating torture meted out to the child-heroine and the acquaintance of the Quebec public with similar...