| Pour la suite du monde | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Directed by | Michel Brault Marcel Carrière Pierre Perrault |
| Written by | Michel Brault Pierre Perrault |
| Produced by | Fernand Dansereau Jacques Bobet |
| Narrated by | Stanley Jackson |
| Cinematography | Michel Brault Bernard Gosselin |
| Edited by | Werner Nold |
| Distributed by | National Film Board of Canada |
Release date |
|
Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | French |
| Budget | $80,000 |
Pour la suite du monde (French pronunciation:[puʁlasɥitdymɔ̃d],transl. "So That the World May Go On", also known asOf Whales, the Moon, and Men;For Those Who Will Follow, andThe Moontrap in English) is a 1963 Canadiandocumentary film produced by theNational Film Board of Canada and directed byMichel Brault,Marcel Carrière andPierre Perrault. It is the first of Perrault'sIsle-aux-Coudres Trilogy, followed byThe Times That Are (Le règne du jour) in 1967, andThe River Schooners (Les voitures d'eau) in 1968.[1][2]
The film is a work ofethnofiction. It shows life in a small isolated community, whenthe influence of the Catholic Church in Quebec was still strong.
For centuries the inhabitants ofIle-aux-Coudres, a small island in theSt. Lawrence River, trappedbeluga whales by sinking aweir of saplings into the offshore mud at low tide. After 1920, the practice was abandoned. In 1962, a team ofNational Film Board of Canada filmmakers led by director Perrault and cinematographer Brault arrived on the island to make acinéma-vérité documentary about the people and their isolated life. They encouraged the islanders to revive the practice of beluga fishing. The live animal they caught was then driven on a truck to an aquarium in New York City.
The film also shows the daily life of the islanders, and their celebrations, such as the festival atmid-Lent (mi-carême).
The film was shot inL'Isle-aux-Coudres andNew York between 1961 and 1962, on a budget of $80,000 (equivalent to $790,440 in 2023).[3]
The film has been screened in various versions and with no less than four English-language titles. At its 1963 Cannes premiere, it was billed asFor Those Who Will Follow.[4] The NFB has also promoted the film in English asOf Whales, the Moon and Men[5] orThe Moontrap,[6] depending upon whether it was the 105-minute or 84-minute version, respectively. The release of a 2007 "Île-aux-Coudres Trilogy" DVD trilogy also translates the film title asFor the Ones to Come.[7]
The film is commonly referred to simply asPour la suite du monde in both French and English.[8][9]
The film premiered at the Loew's International Film Festival on 4 August 1963.[3] It was hugely popular inQuebec, and today is recognized as a classic of Canadian cinema.Pour la suite du monde has been consistently ranked by critics as one of the best ever made and it represents a major development in thedirect cinema movement, moving away from simple observation to a more immediate participation and a great emphasis on the words of the people portrayed.[8]
It was the first Canadian film to be shown at competition at theCannes Film Festival.[10] It was also the first Quebec film shown at the festival.[4][11]
Quebecois filmmakerDenis Villeneuve declares that Perrault's "Île-aux-Coudres Trilogy" is "amongst the most beautiful films he has ever seen".[12] It remains a major source of inspiration and influence for him.
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian Film Awards | 8 May 1964 | Film of the Year | Pour la suite du monde | Won | [10] |