posted
Hockey legend, French-Canadian hero, now become almost a mythological figure, fifty years after he played and five years after his death.
Now, I don't really care for hockey, which is perhaps a tad unusual for a canadian. I am pretty much indifferent, though I do think it's a rather fun sport. But I haven't really cared about it since I was about eight years old.
But I have just come from seeing the movie about the life and hockey career of Maurice Richard. I can safely say it's the best movie I've seen in a long time, if not one of the best movies I have ever seen, period. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that it was beautiful.
Forget hockey movie. That is just the backdrop. It's a movie about the early rumblings of social upheaval that would lead to Québec's Quiet Revolution. It chronicles the growing tension and pressure felt by French-Canadians in Quebec, relegated to being second-class citizens in their own province. Richard was the reluctant hero to these people who had very few heroes in those times. And throughout, the movie does so without ever going overboard or becoming overtly political.
I don't think I should say much more, lest I wreck it. Maybe you have to be a Quebecker to get the full impact of this movie. It will likely not go far outside of Québec, certainly not out of Canada, because it would mean next to nothing to foreign audiences. It just assumes an intimate involvement with the culture and emotions of the history, the people and the place.
But, really, it's a shame. Because this movie beats out most Best Picture Oscar-winners. Certainly, nothing this good has come out of Hollywood for a long, long time.
posted
dh, thanks for mentioning this! I hadn't heard of the movie, although of course I've heard of the Rocket, and I'm not at all into hockey either. In fact, I would go so far as to say it bores me to tears. But your description of the movie has me convinced I want to see it.
I wonder if it'll make it here? It's not completely impossible. We've had "Baptists at the Barbecue", "My Two Best Years" and "The Work and the Glory" show up here, all LDS movies in a country with less than 2000 LDS members, and only perhaps 10 DVD players in the lot, mostly belonging to the foreigners.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Elizabeth: DUh. Oh, heck. I read too fast. Maurice, not Henri. I will go to see it nonetheless.
Elizabeth, I believe Henri Richard was Maurice's little brother. In fact, they even nicknamed him "The Pocket Rocket". Posts: 609 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Oh, and lest there be any confusion for people trying to find the film, the title of this thread is not the title of the movie. It is simply called "Maurice Richard." The version with English subtitles is called "The Rocket", I believe.
Posts: 609 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
We are both one and the same, my dear quid. This is my sleeker, compact, sexier screen name, mainly used for the purposes of Landmark Avoidance.
Posts: 609 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I've just learned that the english-subtitled version entitled "The Rocket" will not be distributed outside of Québec before March 2006. I assume this means at least English Canada, but I don't know if this includes the U.S. or elsewhere.
Posts: 609 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
I wonder if they take piraters into consideration when they say that? Hmm. I'll have to see if we can get a copy locally just to prove them wrong...
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
It might not be impossible. I know the english-subtitle version is already playing in a few Quebec theatres. They just haven't distributed it outside yet.
Posts: 609 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
