| J.A. Martin Photographer | |
|---|---|
| French | J.A. Martin photographe |
| Directed by | Jean Beaudin |
| Written by | Jean Beaudin Marcel Sabourin |
| Produced by | Jean-Marc Garand |
| Starring | Marcel Sabourin Monique Mercure Marthe Thiéry Catherine Tremblay Mariette Duval |
| Cinematography | Pierre Mignot |
| Edited by | Jean Beaudin Hélène Girard |
| Music by | Maurice Blackburn |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | French |
| Budget | $488,014 (equivalent to $2,465,177 in 2023).[1] |
J.A. Martin Photographer (J.A. Martin photographe) is a 1977drama film directed byJean Beaudin for theNational Film Board of Canada.[2]
The film was selected as the Canadian entry for theBest Foreign Language Film at the50th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.
The film is about a strong-willed woman who accompanies her photographer husband on a trip through rural Québec in the late 19th century. Once a year, J.A. Martin, who specializes in family photography, packs his gear into an old wagon and goes out to visit his rural customers. It’s a difficult trip but it’s a vacation from his stale marriage and large family. This year, his wife makes the scandalous decision to leave her children and accompany her husband. In the course of the trip, they re-discover each other and become closer.It is a slow-paced, beautifully-photographed film which Beaudin called “a tribute to our grandmothers, our mothers and all the women of Québec.”
In France, the film was viewed by over 100,000 people.[3]
WhenJ.A. Martin Photographer was first released in Québec, critics for publications such asLe Devoir andLa Presse gave it negative reviews. After it won praise at theCannes Film Festival, andMonique Mercure became the first Canadian to win the award forBest Actress, critical opinion in Québec became more positive.[4][5] In 1984, theToronto International Film Festival rankedJ.A. Martin Photographer seventh in theTop 10 Canadian Films of All Time.[6]
In 2011, the Québec magazineL'actualité ranked it No. 1 on its list of 35 Québec films most worth seeing.
In a 2016 poll conducted of 200 media professionals conducted by theToronto International Film Festival,Library and Archives Canada, theCinémathèque québécoise andThe Cinematheque Vancouver, it was named one of 150 essential works in Canadian cinema history.
J.A. Martin Photographer was selected as the Canadian entry for theBest Foreign Language Film at the50th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[7]
American directorRobert Altman, whose film3 Women also screened at Cannes that year (its starShelley Duvall tied with Mercure for the Best Actress prize) was so impressed that he hired cinematographer Pierre Mignot on nine of his subsequent films, includingCome Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean,Streamers,Fool for Love andPrêt-à-Porter.
In 2007, The NFB releasedJ.A. Martin Photographer on DVD. In 2008, it was screened atMusée national des beaux-arts du Québec as part of the exhibitionQuébec City and its Photographers, 1850-1908: The Yves Beauregard Collection.[8]