Joyeux Noël!

fig. a: Aéroport Montréal-Dorval, 1968

Earlier tonight we were told the government of Quebec predicts a “steep exponential rise” in the number of COVID-19 cases as the Omicron variant sweeps the province. In fact, the provincial case count is expected to surpass 9,000 tomorrow, up from about 1,000 just a couple of weeks ago. As a result, tighter restrictions will come into effect not tomorrow, not on Christmas Eve, and not on Christmas Day, but on Boxing Day.

So, sure—live it up! Go ahead and have a joyeux Noël, but, please, play it safe, people. COVID-19 cases have literally been swirling all around us these last few days.

And if it makes you feel better, and helps to keep you from going stir-crazy, let your mind wander to a time when airports were sites of adventure and intrigue (and nurseries!), when pay phones were commonplace (and people used them to place phone calls!!), and when internationally renowned filmmakers allowed themselves to rub elbows with portly old bearded men in hideous red & white outfits.

Of course, if the thought of any of the above—Montréal-Dorval in 1968/pay phones/Godard/Santa/Christmas—just triggers you, forget about it. I get it. 2021 has been tough enough already.

aj

[Santa Claus; Jean-Luc Godard; Dorval International Airport]

Rock-A-Bye (1974)

Rock-A-Bye (1974), dir. Jacques Bensimon—prod. NFB

[rock & roll; Montreal Forum; The Rolling Stones; 1972; Mick Jagger; Mick Taylor; Bill Wyman; hippies; hashheads; acid freaks; dirtbags; marijuana; cops; riot police; CHOM-FM; AOR radio; The Esquire Show Bar; Muddy Waters; rhythm & blues; blues; show business; Alice Cooper; Dorval International Airport; The Gay Power]

Watch this film in three parts: here (pt. 1—including The Rolling Stones 1972 Tour), here (pt. 2—including Muddy Waters)), and here (pt. 3—incl. Alice Cooper).

Part rockumentary, part anti-rock & roll/youth culture screed (mostly the latter), Rock-A-Bye is chock full of memorable early ‘70s rock culture moments of the kind you might expect, as well as numerous unexpected elements, and much of it was shot in Montreal.

Produced by the National Film Board of Canada, but unavailable via its otherwise very generous website (for obvious reasons [namely, The Rolling Stones and their legal team]), Rock-A-Bye is presently available in a poor quality version on YouTube. Somehow the washed-out colours and terrible resolution befit much of the made-for-TV movie’s down & dirty content and its attempts to denigrate the culture.

aj

Fabienne sans son Jules (1964)

Fabienne sans son Jules (1964), dir. Jacques Godbout—prod. ONF

Fabienne stars the iconic Pauline Julien in the title role, playing a free-spirited chanteuse much like herself. The film is notable for its scenes of Montreal nightlife and of the city at night more generally (which is why it was part of a “Night and the City” screening that some friends of mine and I organized at the Cinémathèque québécoise 20 years ago), but it also has something to say about cycling and romance and the airport and cinephilia (the film’s central conceit is that Fabienne is trying to get in touch with none other than Jean-Luc Godard):

“J’adore le cinéma!”

And with Montreal presently in thrall to an epic early spring (and the cycle-mania that comes with it), well…

[cycling; flowers; romance; cinephilia; Montréal-Dorval; YUL; cigarette smoke; telephone booths; newsstands; singers; chanteuses; Pauline Julien]

Watch this film here (en français).

And for more about Pauline Julien, her art, her career, and her politics, check out Pascale Ferland’s Pauline Julien, Intimate and Political (2018) here.

aj