Between Salt and Sweet Water (French: Entre la mer et l'eau douce), also known as Drifting Upstream, is a 1967 Québécois film directed by Michel Brault, co-written by Brault, Gérald Godin, Marcel Dubé, Claude Jutra and Denys Arcand.
| Between Salt and Sweet Water | |
|---|---|
| French | Entre la mer et l'eau douce |
| Directed by | Michel Brault |
| Written by | Michel Brault Gérald Godin Marcel Dubé Claude Jutra Denys Arcand |
| Starring | Claude Gauthier Geneviève Bujold Denise Bombardier Robert Charlebois |
| Cinematography | Michel Brault Bernard Gosselin Jean-Claude Labrecque |
| Edited by | Michel Brault Werner Nold |
| Music by | Claude Gauthier |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | French |
The film also features boxer Ronald Jones in a small role. Jones was one of the subjects of Gilles Groulx's 1961 documentary Golden Gloves.[1]
Plot
editClaude (Claude Gauthier) leaves his small town on the Côte-Nord to go to Montreal, where he works several odd jobs and eventually falls in love with Geneviève (Geneviève Bujold), a pretty waitress who works in a local diner. Claude enters a singing contest that launches his career. As he gradually becomes more well known, he has a brief affair with a married woman and breaks up with Geneviève. He returns to his hometown but nothing seems the same. Back in Montreal, he becomes increasingly more successful as a singer. One night he meets Geneviève backstage, only to learn she is now married, and realizes one can be as lonely in a small town as in a big city.
Cast
edit- Claude Gauthier - Claude Tremblay
- Geneviève Bujold - Geneviève
- Paul Gauthier - Roger Tremblay
- Denise Bombardier - Denyse
- Robert Charlebois - Ti-Paul
- Louise Latraverse - Aude, la soeur de Claude
- Gérald Godin - Steve
- Reggie Chartrand - Réginald
Additional information
editThis film has also been released under the following titles:
- Entre la mer et l'eau douce - Canada (original title)
- Zwischen den Welten - Austria (TV title) / East Germany (TV title) / West Germany (TV title)
- Between Sweet and Salt Water - International (English title)
- Drifting Upstream - Canada (English title)
- Mellan hav och stilla vatten - Sweden
Reception
editEntre la mer et l'eau douce is widely regarded as Michel Brault's most poetic and richly complex film.[2]
The film was screened in the Director's Fortnight stream at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival.[3]
References
edit- ^ Marshall, Bill (2000-10-10). Quebec National Cinema. McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 74. ISBN 0-7735-2116-X.
Gloves.
- ^ "Between Salt and Sweet Water". Film Reference Library. 2003. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
- ^ Charles-Henri Ramond, "Les films québécois à Cannes à travers l’histoire". Films du Québec, April 28, 2019.