Quebec Films - The 1990s and Beyond

The 1990s and Beyond

1990-2002 saw the solidification of Quebec's movie industry. Independent films such as Denis Villeneuve's Maelström, Denis Chouinard's L’Ange de goudron, and Un crabe dans la tête caught the media's attention. In 1994, Pierre Falardeau's Octobre told a fictionalized version of the October Crisis from the point of view of the Chenier Cell, the FLQ terrorist cell who in 1970 kidnapped and executed Quebec minister and Deputy Premier Pierre Laporte.

Home-made blockbusters came in 2000s and begin to dominate their home market, putting American blockbusters in second place. Séraphin: un homme et son péché, directed by Charles Binamé, was a major success at the box office in 2002. The next year, 2003, was called "the year of Quebec cinema's rebirth" with Denys Arcand winning the foreign film Oscar for Les Invasions barbares, the sequel of Le déclin de l'empire américain, and with Gaz Bar Blues and Seducing Doctor Lewis gaining both critical and public acclaim. In 2005, C.R.A.Z.Y. was released, grossing a considerable amount in such a small market, and garnering widespread praise from critics. In 2006, the Quebec-made action-comedy Bon Cop, Bad Cop, a film with dialogue in both French and English, took over the title of most popular Canadian film at the Canadian box office. Sales for Bon Cop, Bad Cop have totalled $13 million across the country. The previous Quebec film to hold this honour was Les Boys. In 2007, Arcand's L'Âge des Ténèbres was selected as the closing film for the Cannes Film Festival.

In 2009, De père en flic (English: Father and Guns) matched the movie Bon Cop Bad Cop to become the highest-grossing French language film in Canadian history.

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