Synopsis
Director Serge Giguère got his hands on a hundred letters written by his mother at the turn of the 1950s. While these letters recount the difficult, but often comical, daily life of a working-class family of sixteen children, Serge Giguère undertakes to cobble together his own memories to bring out so many heterogeneous moments, like an echo of his mother who sews, upholster and invents her life from day to day. Through confidences, My Mother’s Letters probes what is most intimate in the heart of each of us: maternal love lived, sought after, always questioned.
A word from Tënk
At the very beginning of the editing process, Serge Giguère said to his editor: "Look at my interview, I prefer not to see myself. And see if there are any moments to remember for the film.'' Trust between a filmmaker and his or her editor is essential in the creative act, even more so when the director is intimately involved with the subject of the film. In formulating this request, Serge Giguère also said to his editor "I trust you" when editing his film My Mother's Letters.
Interviews with brothers and sisters, silhouettes, life-size portraits of family members, animation of period photos, voice-over readings of letters from the mother to her son and other scattered elements make up the raw material of the film. With great finesse, Catherine Legault's editing navigates between these different processes, weaving a skillful and touching quilt. The memories of each person intermingle, echoing the mother's writings, giving rise to funny, but also moving moments.
Sprinkled with visual discoveries, My Mother's Letters is a true work of memory. Through the daily life of a working class family of sixteen children, it is also the history of Quebec in the 1950s and the difficult life of a mother at that time that is told.
A film that brings us back to our own roots. A film that plunges into childhood and into what is most intimate in each of us: maternal love.
Natalie Lamoureux
Monteurs à l'affiche member
