Synopsis
The personal and professional life of whom we commonly know as La Bolduc, told by Simone and Nana de Varennes who knew the successful singer in the 1930s. Behind the dazzling verses of this courageous Gaspesian, the film draws a parallel with the working class of the 1960s.
A word from Tënk
The name Jean-Pierre Masse is often associated with the films La nuit de la poésie 27 mars 1970 and La nuit de la poésie 28 mars 1980, two cult documentaries that he co-directed alongside the master Jean-Claude Labrecque. Many are unaware that he devoted a 1968 film to the legendary Québécoise author/composer/performer Mary Rose Anna Travers, aka La Bolduc. Using archival images and unedited interviews with the singer’s loved ones, Masse paints a picture of a spokeswoman for the working class, a courageous and resilient woman who was able to give hope and a voice to French-Canadians during the Great Depression. Thanks to her humour, her sense of rhythm and her frankness, La Bolduc was able to bring Quebec folk music into the modern era, garnering her wild success. Swing la baquaise, to this day, remains a relatively unknown film well worth discovering, even if just for the opening scene alone. Could La Bolduc be at the origins of the francophone garage rock wave that reverberated through Montreal’s working-class neighbourhoods in the late 1960s? You be the judge!
Frédéric Savard
Archivist and programmer
