Cinema
Prologue
Robin Spry · 1969
Synopsis
Montreal, summer 1968. Jesse edits and sells a counterculture newspaper on the street and believes in militant protest. His partner, Karen, disillusioned with militancy, is drawn to David, an American draft resister, turned towards a spiritual quest rather than towards protest. She leaves with David to live in a commune, while Jesse heads for Chicago for the Democratic convention, where the demonstrations turn into a riot.
Context
The film mixes a fiction acted in Montreal with images shot during the riots at the Democratic convention in Chicago, in August 1968; Abbie Hoffman is seen and heard in it. It cost about one hundred and thirty-six thousand dollars, according to the Board's data, and was shot in black and white by a director coming from documentary. It was the first Canadian feature film admitted to the Venice festival, in 1969. In Sight and Sound, Jan Dawson praised its restraint and its sense of social responsibility.
Who it is for
Eighty-seven minutes, in English, in which fiction and reportage are mixed; the images of Chicago are harsh.
Prizes and reception
Robert Flaherty Award for best documentary from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, in 1970.
Sources for this page 9
The pages consulted to check this page.