Just Watch Me: Trudeau and the 70's Generation (1999)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Catherine Annau

Genre:

Documentary | History

Plot:

Several Canadians discuss how Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau affected them in the 1970's, in particular, his efforts to create a bilingual Canada. |

Plot Keywords:

Interview | Bilingualism | 1970s | Canada | Language

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Evan Adams	...	Himself
John Duffy	...	Himself
Doug Garson	...	Himself
André Gobeil	...	Himself
Susanne Hilton	...	Herself
Sylvain Marois	...	Himself
Meg McDonald	...	Herself
Jocelyne Perrier	...	Herself

Also Known As:

Frenchkiss - La génération du rêve Trudeau (Canada: French title)
Just Watch Me (Canada: English title) (short title)

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color

Company:

National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Soundtrack:

Suzanne

The way Canada was shaped by Pierre Elliot Trudeau

I was born in 1973. Trudeau had been in power for already five years at the time. He was going to be there until 1984, with a small exception when Joe Clark was prime minister from 1979 to 1980. I was only 11 years old when Trudeau retired from politics but he still had a profound influence on my thinking. That being said, the fact that we didn't had any great politicians after him (sorry Mr. Mulroney, Mr. Turner, Mr. Chrétien and Ms. Campbell), really catapulted Trudeau to the stature of great politician.

Even if you were against the politics of Mr. Trudeau, you had to admire the man. He was a man with great charm, he was an intellectual but seemed to be close to the people. He was, like someone in the documentary said, our John F. Kennedy. And better off, he was still alive (Trudeau died just a few months ago, in the winter of 2000).

This is a good documentary. Catherine Annau picked a few Canadians (both francophones and anglophones - the movie is bilingual) and asked them what it was to be Canadians and how they felt about the other linguistic group of the country.

Being myself a Franco-Ontarian, it was quite interesting to see how Anglo-Canadians react vis-à-vis bilingualism. It's also interesting to see how French-Quebeckers react vis-à-vis French-Canadians living outside Québec.

I think this is a debate that will live forever in Canada. Even with a winning referendum (a lot of Quebeckers don't want another referendum) for separatists, the question wouldn't be settle. What about the federalists living in Québec. Wouldn't they be allowed to ask for another referendum to get back into Canada? This is a never ending story. For the time being, we must learn to live with the other, to accept the many different cultures that make today's Canada.

Yes, Québec is distinct from Ontario. So is New Brunswick distinct from Nunavut. So is Manitoba distinct from Newfoundland. So is the Franco-Ontarians distinct from the Acadians. And so on... Education is the way to a better society.

7 out of 10.