Impressions

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A summer series from the early 1970s, each week of Impressions featured Ramsay Cook in conversation with a prominent Canadian. The CBC Digital Archives has selected nine episodes from the series featuring rare and unfiltered conversations with some of Canada's most creative people. The producer of Impressions was Judith Walle, and the executive producer Ain Soodor.

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Impressions of Claude Jutra

Broadcast Date: July 7, 1974

"When I have a project in mind it's because I have feelings for the characters.". So muses Claude Jutra in this lively conversation with historian Ramsay Cook. In this rare interview, Jutra talks about his style of filmmaking, his childhood and his interest in telling stories using local residents as he did on Mon Oncle Antoine. They also discuss his recent release, Kamouraska, starring Genevieve Bujold.

Impressions of Claude Jutra

• Claude Jutra was born in Montreal, in 1930. His family came from a long line of medical students, so he, too, chose to study medicine in university. But he was always interested in film as a teenager, making short films as an amateur while at school.

• Jutra finished medical school to please his parents, but went to work exclusively as a filmmaker. His first picture was Mouvement perpetual, released in 1949. By 1958, he completed his first feature film for the National Film Board of Canada. It was called Les Mains nettes.

• Jutra studied with Francois Truffaut and Jean Rouch, two of France's most important filmmakers. When he returned to Quebec he got involved in the so-called, "cinema direct" movement.

• In 1971, he directed Mon Oncle Antoine, considered one of the best Canadian movies ever produced. Set in rural Quebec, it's a coming-of-age story about a boy, his family and their small general store.

• When Kamouraska was released in 1973, the production company deemed it too long. Consequently a badly edited, two-hour version failed at the box office. But years later, Jutra had the chance to produce a directors-cut for pay television. His version clocks in at 173 minutes, more in keeping with his original vision.

• In the early 80s, Jutra's health began to deteriorate when he discovered he had Alzheimer's disease. Knowing his condition would worsen, Jutra took his own life in 1986, by drowning himself in the St. Laurence River.

Impressions of Claude Jutra

Medium: Television

Program: Impressions

Broadcast Date: July 7, 1974

Guest(s): Claude Jutra

Interviewer: Ramsay Cook

Duration: 25:21

Last updated:
Jan. 28, 2009

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Media	Title and date	Description
Television 5:04	Sept. 1, 1974 Michel Tremblay: a high school dropout	Tremblay on why he decided to leave school.
Television 26:06	Sept. 1, 1974 Michel Tremblay, Canada Reads author	32-year-old Michel Tremblay gives a long, thoughtful interview to Ramsay Cook.
Television 25:45	July 14, 1974 Hubert Aquin, a 'writer against his will'	CBC-TV's Impressions hosts novelist Hubert Aquin.
Television 25:21	July 7, 1974 Impressions of Claude Jutra	Ramsay Cook talks to one of Canada's best storytellers, filmmaker Claude Jutra.
Television 26:19	Sept. 23, 1973 Impressions of Allan King	Canadian documentary filmmaker Allan King talks about his unique style of making movies, known as "direct cinema".
Television 26:15	Sept. 16, 1973 Impressions of Veronica Tennant	In this conversation from 1973, Veronica Tennant talks about her life as prima ballerina as a member of the National Ballet of Canada.
Television 26:35	Sept. 2, 1973 Impressions of Northrop Frye	In this rare conversation from 1973, Northrop Frye talks about his unique approach to literary criticism.
Television 26:54	Aug. 19, 1973 Impressions of Arthur Erickson	In this rare interview from 1973, Canadian architect Arthur Erickson talks about design, environment and tradition in his trade.
Television 26:50	Aug. 3, 1973 Impressions of George Grant	Canadian philosopher George Grant talks about his unique way of looking at the world in this conversation with Ramsay Cook.
Television 24:42	July 22, 1973 Impressions of Margaret Atwood	In this interview from 1973, author Margaret Atwood talks about her writing career and the struggles of Canadian literature to find its own identity.
Television 26:47	July 8, 1973 Impressions of Robertson Davies	Literary great Robertson Davies reflects on being Canadian, writing and life at Massey College.

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Impressions

Impressions of Claude Jutra

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