Synopsis
Film essay on the notion of belonging to a country. Is it rooted in the hearts of men and women, as some believe? Do Québécois people have enough maturity to give themselves autonomy and a territory? What is a country? These are some of the questions raised in the film at a time when those known as French Canadians are questioning their identity. The documentary also addresses the question of belonging to a country for the Aboriginals in Québec and the Bretons in France.
A word from Tënk
Have you ever wondered about the "maturation potential of French Canadian Catholic mices"? Well, yes, believe it or not! At least if you've ever wondered about your own or collective identity. It is a very important question, relevant, serious, fundamental and dangerous, even. Pierre Perrault has been interested in this question throughout his work, but he tackles it in a particularly frontal manner in this quest to find meaning for a "country without common sense". As always, he gives it up to the People who see it through different points of view. From pragmatic scientists to dispossessed natives, the ROC and the Bretons, not to mention the sailors of Île-aux-Coudres and even Pierre Bourgault and René Lévesque, this choral film offers a testimony of incredible ethnographic value. A portrait that needs to be preserved and considered with all the seriousness it deserves. I love this film for many reasons, but one of them is that the lady in the first shot who wants to transgress the established order to go tease the white geese… is my mother.
Mathieu Perrault
Pierre Perrault's son
