The Carpathians - University of British Columbia

Canadian artists to comply with a single
doctrine. Names, places and production
costs of each film give the work authenticity
and a certain objectivity, while anecdotes
about the Canadian and international
film scene make it stimulating reading. The
paraphrased storylines, although tedious at
times, help us understand the broader concepts
of the films. I recollected my own
childhoood experiences in Canadian
schools through Evans' book. Having
grown up with animation films like Norm
McLaren's A Chairy Tale or Yvon Mallette's
Métrofolle, I realize how much the NFB's
commitment to both French and English
production allowed me to take for granted
my own bilingual perspective in Canada.
Evans examines the period that marked
the intellectual fermentation and revitalization
of postwar Quebec. The author traces
the Duplessis years to the Révolution tranquille
and modern times using the original
French quotations from each period to
describe the struggle for funds and the control
of the famous French unit. -Modern
Québécois cineasts such as Claude Jutra,
Gilles Carles and Denys Arcand were part
of the French unit in the I960S and Evans
points out that some of Quebec's most distinctive
cinema has been produced through
the funding and sponsorship of the Office
National du film, including the I986 internationally
acclaimed feature film by Denys
Arcand, Le Déclin de l'empire américain.
Evans also keeps the world-wide political
implications of the NFB's English production
in the foreground of his analysis. For
example, he attributes Ronald Dick's documentary
Black and White in South Africa as
"one of the ancillary factors that tilted
Canada to take the lead in driving South
Africa from the Commonwealth in 1961."
Likewise, Terri Nash's If You Love This
Planet was labelled as a political propaganda
film in the United States in 1982
because of its strong anti-nuclear message.
Yet, by limiting itself to a chronological
exposition, Evans' book has the limitations
of many historical works which are constrained
by a linear and patriarchal perspective.
It is true that the National Film
Board has been a male-dominated institution
(confirmed by a list of the commissioners
and directors provided in Appendix
6.) However, the perspective of the
National Film Board has greatly changed
since 1949. Appearing at the end of this historical
chronology, the latest film commissioner,
Joan Pennefeather, is described by
Evans as "demure" and "quiet-spoken" yet
"utterly competent," a very different
description from "forefather" founders
such as John Gierson, a "mad, frenetic,
feisty, vibrant, idealistic Scotsman." While
Evans delves into the complexities of the
political and linguistic situation of a dual
nation, he glosses over the under-representation
of women within the NFB's cinematic
and administrative past as well as the
significance of the formation of a women's
unit in 1974. He could have given more
insight into the socio-economic history
that caused such imbalance as well paid
closer attenion to women directors and
female subjects.
Suzanne Clark presents a very different
perspective when writing about the modernist
period of literature. Using a case
study format, she is able to escape the limits
of linear writing while remaining factual,
concise and analytical. The reader
participates in the exploratory process as
Clark asks questions and develops her
arguments. Her chapters consist of an indepth
look at the lives and works of women
writers and activists who have been
neglected or misunderstood in the traditional
study of modernism: Emma
Goldman, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Louise
Bogan and Kay Boyle as well as contemporary
writers Annie Dillard and Alice
Walker. I would recommend this book to
anyone interested in feminist criticism,
modernism or twentieth century theory.