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Reviews
Action: The October Crisis of 1970 (1974)
Hard to watch/pay attention to
After watching this film, I would rate it a five out of ten. It was rather drawn out in my opinion and the film itself was very hard to watch in my opinion. While this is an informative film and discussed a very important topic in Canadian history that is not very well known, it could have been produced in a better way that is easier to watch. The narrator of the film had a very boring voice which made it hard to pay attention to the movie. There are clips of interviews that are included in the movie that are very informative and necessary in relation to the events and history covered, however they seemed a bit long to me. Before watching this movie, I was not aware of this event in Canadian history and had the impression most people have of Canada which is that they are a peaceful country that is not very violent. This film changed my opinion on Canada just being a peaceful country due to the violence that happened during this time. The film is about the events that took place in Quebec during 1970. During this time the English were slowly taking over and the people of Quebec, who are mainly French, did not like this and wanted to continue to keep French culture a part of their lives. Instead of going about this peacefully, the separatists and terrorist group, FLQ, rioted, blew things up, kidnapped, and killed police officers. The film includes actual footage of the riots which was a nice addition because it adds some perspective on how angry the people really were. With all this being said, this is a very informative film but is just hard to pay attention to in my opinion. I would recommend this to anyone who has a serious interest in Canadian history since this is not something that I would choose to just sit down and watch.
In Bed with an Elephant (1987)
Informative and Very Interesting
I would rate the film In Bed with an Elephant an 8 out of 10. The film discusses the history of America and Canada from the beginning and how America has tried to get Canada to become part of them. Canada has always made it clear that they are not a part of the United States. I thought it was interesting that they included that it is in the constitution that Canada is free to become part of the United States at any time since most people are probably not aware of this. The main aspect of the film is about the significant relationships between United States Presidents and Canadian Prime Ministers. The first major relationship discussed was that of President Grant and Prime Minister Macdonald who met with the president as a representative for Great Britain's interests. One of the relationships it focuses on is the one between Franklin Roosevelt and Mackenzie King. This was a very good president/prime minister relationship and both countries grew during this time. The film shows many videos of these two being together and interacting which is quite different from things today. During and after World War 2 Canada and the United States relied heavily on each other in order for economic growth. While this was a very positive relationship, the film also delves into some of the not so good relationships, like the one between JFK and Dief. During this time was when the United States implemented the trade embargo with Cuba and China due to communism. Canada saw this as an opportunity to gain more trade partners and began trade with the two countries. This did not sit well with JFK and the United States and the relationship was soured from there on out. The worst relationship portrayed in the movie was between Nixon and Trudeau which was due to Nixon implementing a tariff and saying that Canada would not receive any special treatment. Overall, no matter which relationship it was, the movie shows that they all revolve around the economy, markets, and industries of the two countries for the most part. It is also important to note that this is a movie for Canadians by Canadians, so it shows a different side of things that may come off as anti-American.