Page 179 [179]
OCR
GROWING TOGETHER OR APART?... or groups. While his attachment to his own cultural legacy could in theory allow him to understand the Québec need to protect a sense of identity, he does not appear to be much interested in Québec heritage, or at least he privileges a sense of mixed identity. If Daniel is a passeur, it is more in the sense of passing on his Latin American heritage through song and video image, and of personally passing through the constantly shifting grounds between Québec identity and the legacy of his family’s past. It is a credit to Godbout that he gives positive and substantial film space to this figure, who does not fit as clearly as the other three into the Franco-Québécois mould. Traditional Québécois identity is also shaken up at the very start of the film. The first scene shows part of a conversation between Akos and Farouk, where Akos notes that he learned of the Accord du Lac Meech — the 1987 agreement, which was an attempt to enshrine Québec as a “distinct society” within Canada — from Farouk’s immigrant father, and not, as one might expect, from a Québécois from the majority population. Having emigrated with his family from Madagascar to Québec, Farouk’s father understood the struggle of the Québécois, despite not being a sovereignist. This opening reference to the father’s solidarity with the Québécois cause is directly followed by a sequence showing the infamous speech by Jacques Parizeau in 1995 after the narrowly-lost referendum on Québec sovereignty. There, the PQ politician attributed the loss of the referendum to “l’argent et des votes ethniques” [money and ethnic votes]. Godbout’s montage of immediately subsequent shots contrasts with Parizeau’s drastic statement (his speech has often been misreported as containing the phrase “le vote ethnique” [the ethnic vote], however, the phrase “des votes ethniques” is almost as damning). We see tears in the eyes of a young black woman in the crowd listening to Parizeau, who wears the “OUI” [Yes to sovereignty for Québec] badge on her hat, a clear statement of allegiance to Québécois independence. There are shots of distraught individuals of apparently immigrant extraction, who seem to react with disbelief that Parizeau has uttered such dismissive and inaccurate comments about them, amid applause from much of the crowd. This sequence seems to appeal for more dialogue and discussion with others, in order to better understand them. It suggests that a narrow and totalizing approach that brands groups as “them” versus “us” risks creating a restricted outlook full of festering misunderstandings. The film works against misunderstandings and preconceptions in many ways, not only by showing the commitment to sovereignty of several of the immigrants, but also in smaller details such as when Ruba, who does not wear a veil, tells a potential voter that she is Muslim. There are clearly many ways of being a Muslim, just as there are many ways of being Québécois. + 177 +
