In Quebec, the cultural relationship we have with pop culture out of the U.S. is usually one that artists and intellectuals regard with suspicion. From Visit to a Foreign Country from Michel Brault and Claude Jutra, to Daytona from the Amerika Orchestra collective, our perspective on our neighbours to the south is uncertain and tinged with irony in the face of a perceived cultural alienation among those Québécois who do choose to openly embrace American culture and lifestyles. What Éric Ruel and Guylaine Maroist’s documentary Jukebox has to share, however, is a more subtle, more compelling, take that is filled with a wicked joy.

In the early 1960s, as they began to free themselves from the conservative “grande noirceur” of the Duplessis era, Quebec’s youth fell into step with the rest of the West and welcomed rock and yé-yé hits as veritable odes to freedom. As nationalist sentiment gained traction and the Baby Boomers ushered in the separatist movement, music producer Denis Pantis was translating, adapting and even building from scratch local “made in Quebec” tracks, which dominated the radio charts, often putting to shame the original versions from Jane Fonda, the Beach Boys and others. Initially translated word-for-word from the English originals, these songs, performed by Les Classels, César et les Romains, and Les Sultans, would go on to become the soundtrack of Quebec’s opening to the world. Fifty years later, Ruel and Maroist have come to show us that these hits were more than just unforgettable earworms, but the seeds of Quebec’s unique and still-thriving music and cultural industries.

So why not treat yourself in this second round of pandemic autumn and take some inspiration from the classic Michèle Richard tune Les boîtes à gogo : “Tous ceux qui sont tristes ou qui s’ennuient trop devraient…” If you’re feeling sad, or don’t know what to do, you should…check out Jukebox!

Frédérick Pelletier
Filmmaker and programmer