Morning on the Lièvre

1961 Canadian film

Morning on the Lièvre

Directed by| David Bairstow
Written by| Archibald Lampman (original text)
Produced by| David Bairstow
Guy Glover
Narrated by| George Whalley
Cinematography| Grant Crabtree
Edited by| David Bairstow
Music by| Eldon Rathburn

Production
company

National Film Board of Canada

Release date

* June 1961 (1961-06) (Berlin International Film Festival)

Running time

| 13 minutes
Country| Canada
Language| English

Morning on the Lièvre is a 1961 short film, directed by David Bairstow for the National Film Board of Canada.[1]

The film depicts two men canoeing on the Lièvre River near Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette, Quebec. Five poems by the Canadian poet Archibald Lampman –Solitude, After Mist, Ambition, A Dawn on the Lièvre, and the 1888 classic Morning on the Lièvre, are narrated by broadcaster and poet George Whalley.[2] The poems give a detailed description of the forest, providing a narrative timeline progressing from dawn to full day. Ambition closes the film by asserting Lampman's rejection of contemporary society and his choice to remain in nature.[3]

The scene was inspired by Lampman's friendship with civil servant and poet Duncan Campbell Scott; Scott had introduced Lampman to camping and the appreciation of nature, while Lampman inspired Scott to begin writing poetry.[citation needed]

Due to poor weather and spoiled footage, Bairstow shot the film over two seasons, and in autumn, rather than in the spring, when Lampman actually took the trip that inspired the poem. He wanted the scenes to be linked by a recurring musical motif and commissioned original work from Eldon Rathburn. He took the advice of assistant director Stephen Greenlees, who had commented that the original footage was "monotonous", and added staged footage of the river's rapids. He also emphasized the colours of the leaves, which are a defining element of the landscape tradition of the Group of Seven; the images in the film specifically recall paintings by the Group, such as The Red Maple by A. Y. Jackson, J. E. H. MacDonald's Falls, Montreal River, and Tom Thomson's In the Northland.[4]

The choice to adapt Morning on the Lièvre to film was a significant departure from the National Film Board of Canada's previous literary adaptations, but it was a familiar poem to students of the time and fit the board's mandate to make educational films that could be used in classrooms, and that were visually artistic and experimental.[5]

## Awards

[edit]

* Berlin International Film Festival, Berlin: Silver Bear, 1961
* Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland: Diploma of Merit, 1961
* 14th Canadian Film Awards, Toronto: Best Theatrical Short, 1962[6]
* Boston Film Festival, Boston: Award of the Jury "For excellence in successful creative exploration of the film medium", 1962
* Columbus International Film & Animation Festival, Columbus, Ohio \- Chris Statuette, 1962
* Festival of Tourist and Folklore Films, Brussels: Prize of the General Commission of France, 1963[7]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Morning on the Lièvre". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
2. ^ John Robert Colombo, Canadian Literary Landmarks. Dundurn Press, 1984. ISBN 9781459717985. p. 63.
3. ^ Dean, Misao. "The Nationalization of Nature: Morning on the Lièvre". unb.ca. University of New Brunswick. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
4. ^ Dean, Misao. "The Nationalization of Nature: Morning on the Lièvre". unb.ca. University of New Brunswick. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
5. ^ Dean, Misao. "The Nationalization of Nature: Morning on the Lièvre". unb.ca. University of New Brunswick. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
6. ^ Maria Topalovich, And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0-7737-3238-1. pp. 57-60.
7. ^ "Morning on the Lièvre". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 1 March 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Watch Morning on the Lièvre on the NFB website
* Morning on the Lièvre at IMDb

* v
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Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television for Best Animated Short, Best Live Action Short and Best Theatrical Short

Theatrical Short
(1949–1996)|

* Who Will Teach Your Child? (1949)
* North Shore (1950)
* After Prison, What? (1951)
* Opera School (1952)
* L'Homme aux oiseaux (1953)
* Farewell Oak Street (1954)
* High Tide in Newfoundland1 (1955)
* Gold (1956)
* The Sceptre and the Mace (1958)
* Money Minters, The Quest and The Tall Country (1959)
* Royal River (1960)
* Universe (1961)
* Morning on the Lièvre (1962)
* Nahanni (1963)
* Anniversary (1964)
* Do Not Fold, Staple, Spindle or Mutilate and Ça n'est pas le temps des romans (1968)
* Vertige and At Home (1969)
* A Matter of Fat and Blake (1970)
* Don't Knock the Ox (1971)
* This Is a Photograph (1972)
* Goodbye Sousa (1973)
* Along These Lines (1975)
* Cooperage (1976)
* Spartree (1977)
* L'Affaire Bronswik (1978)
* Nails (1980)
* The Strongest Man in the World (1981)
* Zea (1982)
* Elvis Gratton (1983)
* Ted Baryluk's Grocery (1984)
* Charade (1985)
* George and Rosemary (1988)
* Saeed (1991)
* Arrowhead (1994)
* Les fleurs magiques (1995)
* The Home for Blind Women (1996)

Live Action Short
(1986–present)|

* The Edit (1986)
* I Need a Man Like You to Make My Dreams Come True (1987)
* The Mysterious Moon Men of Canada (1989)
* In Search of the Last Good Man (1990)
* Battle of the Bulge (1992)
* The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore (1993)
* The Hangman's Bride (1997)
* When Ponds Freeze Over (1998)
* Moving Day (1999)
* Le P'tit Varius (2000)
* The Heart of the World (2001)
* I Shout Love (2002)
* Noël Blank (2003)
* Capacité 11 personnes (2004)
* Milo 55160 (2005)
* Le rouge au sol (2006)
* Après tout (2007)
* Next Floor (2008)
* Danse Macabre (2009)
* Savage (2010)
* Doubles with Slight Pepper (2011)
* Throat Song (2012)
* Noah (2013)
* Hole (2014)
* She Stoops to Conquer (2015)
* Mutants (2016)
* Fluffy (2017)
* Fauve (2018)
* Pick (2019)
* Black Bodies (2020)
* Girls Shouldn't Walk Alone at Night (2021)
* Simo (2022)
* Motherland (2023)

Animated Short
(1968–present)|

* Un enfant...un pays1 (1968)
* Walking (1969)
* To See or Not to See (1970)
* Evolution (1971)
* Dans la vie... (1972)
* The Family That Dwelt Apart (1973)
* The Owl Who Married a Goose (1975)
* The Street (1976)
* Spinnolio (1977)
* Afterlife (1978)
* Every Child (1980)
* The Big Snit (1986)
* Get a Job (1987)
* The Cat Came Back (1989)
* Juke-Bar (1990)
* Strings (1992)
* Pearl's Diner (1993)
* La vieille dame et les pigeons (1997)
* Bingo (1998)
* When the Day Breaks (1999)
* Village of Idiots (2000)
* The Boy Who Saw the Iceberg (2001)
* The Hungry Squid (2002)
* Falling in Love Again (2003)
* Ryan (2004)
* cNote (2005)
* The Danish Poet (2006)
* Madame Tutli-Putli (2007)
* Isabelle au bois dormant (2008)
* Runaway (2009)
* Lipsett Diaries (2010)
* Romance (2011)
* Paula (2012)
* Subconscious Password (2013)
* Me and My Moulton (2014)
* The Ballad of Immortal Joe (2015)
* Blind Vaysha (2016)
* The Tesla World Light (2017)
* Animal Behaviour (2018)
* Giant Bear (2019)
* Hot Flash (2020)
* Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman's Apprentice (2021)
* The Flying Sailor (2022)
* Where Rabbits Come From (2023)

1 These two films were given honorable mentions rather than officially winning the award, but are included here as no other winner was named above them.

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