CITY OF A DREAM (LA CIUDAD DE UN SUEÑO): ¿Montreal como proyecto utópico?

Comentario de Sergio Martínez

Quienes vean esta película encontrarán una revelación inesperada: la fundación de Montreal tiene sus raíces en un proyecto utópico. Toda la información se encuentra en un misterioso manuscrito que ha servido de base para City of a Dream (Ciudad de un sueño), un atractivo documental dirigido por Annabel Loyola.

Según la investigación que la directora Loyola presenta en su película, un sacerdote sulpiciano, François Dollier de Casson, en su manuscrito titulado Historia de Montreal de 1672, habría documentado lo que, de hecho, sería el relato de Jeanne Mance sobre la fundación de Montreal y las motivaciones del proyecto.

La directora Annabel Loyola durante su investigación en París

La Francia del siglo XVII se encontraba en medio de una crisis que implicaba no sólo una condición económica nefasta para la mayoría de la población, sino también una compleja situación espiritual. Un grupo de hombres y mujeres formó la Sociedad de Notre-Dame de Montreal con la utópica propuesta de volver a las raíces del cristianismo: la búsqueda de "un humanismo cristiano que abogara por la fraternidad y la igual dignidad para todos". Dadas las condiciones imperantes en Francia en aquella época, Canadá parecía un buen lugar para poner en práctica tal idea. Montreal sería la cuna de esa nueva sociedad. Según la película: "Querían crear un nuevo mundo en el que los pueblos indígenas de Canadá y los franceses convivieran sin distinción".

En la fundación de Montreal participaron Jérôme le Royer de la Duversière, fundador de las Hospitalières de Saint-Joseph, y Jean-Jacque Olier, fundador de los sacerdotes de Saint Sulpice en París. Ambos eran también miembros de una sociedad secreta: la Compañía del Santísimo Sacramento. Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve y Jeanne Mance harían el trabajo en terreno.

El manuscrito que contiene la narración de los orígenes de Montreal

City of a Dream presenta un formato muy interesante: además de las imágenes del manuscrito conservado en la Biblioteca Mazarine de París, incluidas algunas en las que Loyola manipula el documento histórico, y algunas vistas de Montreal, incluye escenas con Pascale Bussières y Alexis Martin. La actriz lee la historia contada por Jeanne Mance, mientras que el actor interpreta la voz del sulpiciano que escribió el manuscrito. Este recurso permite al espectador acercarse al texto de forma reflexiva, como si asistiera a la narración hecha por los propios personajes históricos.

La Biblioteca Mazarine

Este documental es la tercera parte de una serie que este cineasta realizó sobre el tema de Montreal. Se lo recomendamos, sobre todo a quienes quieran saber más sobre la historia de esta ciudad y, en particular, sobre algunos de los aspectos menos conocidos del origen de Montreal.

En los cines a partir del 27 de mayo (en versión original francesa y con subtítulo en inglés). 

Duración: 74 minutos.

CITY OF A DREAM: Montreal as a utopian project?

Movie Review by Sergio Martinez

Those who go see this movie will find an unexpected revelation: the foundation of Montreal is rooted in a utopian project. The information is all located in a mysterious manuscript that served as the basis for City of a Dream, an engaging documentary directed by Annabel Loyola.

According to the research that director Loyola presents in her film, a Sulpician priest, François Dollier de Casson, in his manuscript titled History of Montreal of 1672, would have documented what, in fact, would be Jeanne Mance's account of the founding of Montreal and the motivations behind the project.

Annabel Loyola, the film director
during her research in Paris

France in the 17th century was in the middle of a crisis involving not only a dire economic condition for most people but also a complex spiritual situation. A group of men and women formed the Society of Notre-Dame de Montréal with the utopian proposal of returning to the roots of Christianity: the search for "a Christian humanism that advocated brotherhood and equal dignity for all." Given the prevailing conditions in France at the time, Canada seemed a good place to put into practice such an idea. Montreal would be the cradle of such a new society. According to the film: "They wanted to create a new world where the indigenous peoples of Canada and the French would live together without distinction."

The manuscript that narrates the utopian project that Montreal once was

Instrumental in the foundation of Montreal were Jérôme le Royer de la Duversière, founder of the Hospitalières de Saint-Joseph, and Jean-Jacque Olier, founder of the priests of Saint Sulpice in Paris. Both were also members of a secret society: the Company of the Blessed Sacrament. Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance would do the work in the land itself.

City of a Dream presents a very interesting format: besides the images of the manuscript kept at the Mazarine Library in Paris, including some in which Loyola is handling the historical document, and some views of Montreal, it includes scenes with Pascale Bussières and Alexis Martin. The actress reads the story as told by Jeanne Mance, while the actor interprets the voice of the Sulpician who wrote the manuscript. This recourse allows the spectator to approach the text reflectively as if they were attending to the narration from the historical characters themselves.

The Mazarine Library in Paris

This documentary is the third part of a series that this filmmaker made on the subject of Montreal. We recommend it, especially to those who want to know more about the history of this city and, in particular, some of the less-known aspects of why Montreal came into existence.

In theatres from May 27. Duration 74 min.

ELIZABETH: A PORTRAIT IN PART(S) – "The Crown is an idea, more than a person"

Movie Review by Sergio Martinez

The Queen in her
younger years

Roger Michel, the director of this film, just died last September. In a statement about the subject of this documentary, he had written: "She's a fiction... a function of our imagination... and yet she lives. And it's her apparent ordinariness and humility and her refusal to move with the times in her dress or her routine that makes her all the more a fixed point in a chaotic firmament." Of course, it takes a British subject like Michel to approach Queen Elizabeth with a balance of admiration, some slightly critical distance, and a dose of humour in a good British tradition.

The timing is the right one. Elizabeth II, at age 96, is now celebrating her 70th year on the throne. She has been the longest-serving monarch in British history, and as the movie makes it clear: "She is the longest-serving female head of state in the history of the world, the world's oldest living monarch, the longest-reigning current monarch, and the oldest and longest-serving current head of state" a capacity that also applies to Canada and other Commonwealth nations.

Spectacular displays like this may offend some,
but still for others she is the object of great adoration

In fact, a large part of the movie focuses on the many travels the Queen has taken to what at one point were the realms of the Empire "where the sun never set". All of that grand imperial past is now gone. However, Elizabeth, who, as sovereign, has presided over the dismantling of the rest of that empire in Africa and the Caribbean mainly, still seems interested in the vicissitudes experienced by those countries. Her dedication to the Commonwealth is well documented in the film.

Elizabeth in her 70th year as monarch

Structured as an archival documentary, the director resorted to a variety of material on the Queen herself, including some of the time when she was a little girl and when, as a young volunteer, she was driving an ambulance during the war. However, that is not the only material we find in the movie. References to pop culture are very much present, from scenes when The Beatles were knighted, to James Bond and the impersonation of Elizabeth at the opening of the 2012 London Olympics, to small clips of the beautiful Disney version of Peter Pan, where the character flies to Wendy's house and shares with the audience his view of London. The Peter Pan movie was made the same year of Elizabeth's coronation. Always in the area of pop culture, there are references to how for many Britons, she is a sort of mother, a protector of the collective hearth, even though, in a political sense, her role is minimal.

"The Crown is an idea, more than a person"
Queen Elizabeth

However, there she is, the object of adoration to many, souvenir shops full of all kinds of memorabilia which people seem anxious to buy. Although Queen Elizabeth personally enjoys a great deal of popularity, she still emphasized the institution's value. As she says during one of her public engagements: "The Crown is an idea, more than a person." It might be, but from what this movie tells us, her long presence as head of state has undoubtedly marked a whole era.

In theatres, May 24. Duration 89 min.