Mon oncle Antoine (My Uncle Antoine)

A small asbestos-mining town in Quebec of the 1940s is the setting for this legendary, bittersweet slice-of-life comedy.

Orphaned 14-year-old Benoît (Gagnon) arrives to live with a foster family and becomes a part of the exploits of village life, both comic and tragic. In the film’s set piece, Benoît goes with his uncle Antoine (Duceppe), the town undertaker, to collect the remains of a young lad, who must be buried despite an unrelenting snowstorm. Gagnon gives a hauntingly realistic portrayal of a young boy discovering life’s funny and tragic turns.

Often chosen as the finest Canadian film of all time, Mon Oncle Antoine won eight Canadian Film Awards, including Best Film, Director and Actor.

“In the loneliness and grandeur of the midnight journey of Benoît and Antoine, there is a haunting beauty.” — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times