There was a movie I seen quite awhile ago and it was called Balconeville I don't know if I am spelling it right it was about life in the flats of somewhere in Montreal it was funny and I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get a copy of that movie I would like to show my kids how we lived back then..
THANKS for stopping by, I do my best to acknowledge when someone leaves a comment,you do not have to be a member here & everyone is welcome. Ps: This site is monitored but not actively posting on a regular basis. Mostly these are stories & some photos saved from a defunct site known as Verdun Connections which was on MSN Groups initially then on a social network called Multiply.
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Here's some info,.looks like National Film Board may have done a film of the original play written by David Fennario ( from Verdun)...... Balconville David Fennario Drama in two acts by David Fennario premiered at Centaur Theatre , January 2, 1979, directed by Guy Sprung with sets and costumes by Barbara Matis, lighting by Steven Hawkins . The cast included Marc G챕linas, C챕cile St-Denis, Manon Bourgeois, Terry Tweed , Robert Parson, Peter MacNeill, Lynne Deragon, Jean Archambault and Gilles Tordjman. One of those great Canadian success stories: the right play at the right time at the right place. This surprisingly simple work tells of a group of people living in the working class district of Montreal, Pointe St-Charles, during a hot summer when the Expos are winning and the factories are closing down. The characters, all neatly etched, are French, they are English, employed, unemployed, sweet and bitchy and angry. Deceptively forward dialogue reveals the love and tensions these people share in a country that is always in a state of flux. This was a smash success for Centaur at all levels and played and replayed the company's home hall and toured across the country and to Europe. The work also won the Chalmers Award. Much of the credit for the work's success must go to director Sprung who nurtured the playwright and his words during a period of constant rewrites. Although the play is marked, as are all of Fennario's works (ie: On The Job ), by Marxist convictions, the humanity of this piece rings truer and louder than any of his other plays. The Canadian critical reaction was virtually unanimous with the Montreal Gazette calling it, "a wonderful evening not to be missed." The European critics and audiences were less kind, with the London Times saying, "it's moment-to-moment plotting is cumbersome..." However, the work was revived with much success at Centaur in 1992. Viewings: Fennario, National Film Board, 1996 - Fennario's impressions of his Balconville days. Last updated 2006-10-05\ You nay also be able to locate a copy of the film through a local library,.or contact the NFB directly: National Film Board of Canada (NFB) The National Film Board of Canada has a mandate to produce and distribute distinctive, culturally diverse, challenging and relevant audio-visual works that provide Canada and the world with a unique Canadian perspective. P.O. Box 6100
Station Centre-Ville
Montreal, Quebec
H3C 3H5
Telephone: 1-800-267-7710 perhaps checkout that 1-800-number Good Luck\ HF&RV
and here's the direct link right to the NFB.................................. http://www.nfb.ca/splash/splash.php?v=h&lg=en HF&RV
Hi
Some video stores have that movie it's a play written by David Fennario who
lives in Verdun on Beaty Street. I think the book was written about Verdun
or Point Sain Charles.
Good luck finding it,
Violet Bowden
Thank You thats great to know.Ernie
Well it is too bad that it was not well received in Europe and London in particular but then some of the British things are not overly successful here - one series that comes to mind is Jeeves & Wooster - my husband made we watch it because he knows how much I love House MD and Hugh Laurie (sp?) but I didnt like the Wooster series. Maybe you just have to have come from working class in Montreal to identify with the play - I have not seen it and sure would like to get my hands on a copy. Similarly I really enjoyed reading Mordecai Richler's St Urbain Horseman and the Duddy Kravitz one as well.
Shirley BH ,............I think that CBC is playing the St Urbain Horsemenm,,this upcoming weekend,,,,,,,Check your local listings,.... cause I'm sure that 's what I just saw yesterday,.,,,,,,,,,,,,but Sorry I don't recall what day they said it was on.......................If I figure it out I'll post it here................. HF&RV
I think this may be the info re: Saint Urbain Horsemen: CBC bets on St. Urbain's Horseman CBC is hoping to lure viewers away from the September premieres of Global's Survivor: China and the simulcast of its new Fox comedy Back to You, with its mini-series St. Urbain's Horseman, based on the popular novel by Mordecai Richler. Horseman is slotted to air in two parts on Sept. 19-20 at 8 pm ET, opposite comedies Back to You and 'Til Death on Wednesday, and Survivor on Thursday - though it will avoid the big-ticket premieres of CTV's Private Practice, CSI and Grey's Anatomy, the following week. Horseman follows the post-World War Two struggles of a television and film director, and stars David Julian Hirsh (Naked Josh), Andrea Martin (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and Elliott Gould (Ocean's Thirteen). CBC programming boss Kirstine Layfield concedes it's "absolutely" harder to draw audiences to miniseries as opposed to longer-running shows, but says September is good timing for Horseman. "It's back to school . . . a time when people are thinking about literature in different ways," she says, adding that publishing house McClelland & Stewart will be releasing a special edition of Richler's award-winning book to coincide with the premiere. Layfield says CBC is pickier with the mini-series it commissions, but adds that Horseman, the lone mini on the pubcaster's fall schedule, fits in with the "From Page & Stage" initiative, which it launched last year in support of Canadian literature. "This is the second to come out of the gate under the initiative, following [Margaret Atwood's] The Robber Bride. We believe people will enjoy minis if they're positioned more as special events and if they know the author," Layfield explains. Robber Bride, starring Mary-Louise Parker and Wendy Crewson, aired to 535,000 viewers in January and earned an Emmy nomination for the former. Also airing in September is Test the Nation: Watch Your Language, the second installment of the CBC quiz show series, hosted by Wendy Mesley and Brent Bambury. Contestants will be tested in the areas of word origins, spelling, grammar and punctuation. The first edition of Test the Nation nabbed 1.5 million viewers earlier this year, airing opposite CTV's Law & Order: CI and The Amazing Race. Watch Your Language debuts Sunday, Sept. 9 at 8 pm.
by Marise Strauss
This story first appeared in Playback Daily. http://cbcmediasales.ca/?q=news/cbc_bets_st_urbains_horseman Hope all this info is accurate..............................havefunandrememberVerdun
I was not able to obtain a copy from the NFB of balconville. You can stream banana boots from the website. I was able to borrow a copy from a friend and I watched it tonight. Memories :)
Now if only I could get a copy of condoville by David Fennario I'd be really happy! It's the sequel to balconville. (25 years later)
hi, any leads on the film balconville and where to get copies? Looking for a friend.
https://www.canadianplayoutlet.com/products/balconville
Looks like it sells for $17.95 just copy & paste the link to bring you to a site that seems to sell this film Cheers ! Les
Can you tell me where I might buy a copy of Balconville?
A quick Google search reveals multiple sources for the book, here is one of them.
https://www.canadianplayoutlet.com/products/balconville
Cheers ! thanks for surfing by, Aug 14th 2023
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