In February 2016, the publication of a biography of Claude Jutra by Yves Lever led to a total debunking of the myth that had been built around this genius filmmaker. It confirmed what many already suspected: the filmmaker had a penchant for boys.
Eight years later, director Jean-Claude Coulbois sets out to revisit the sequence of events and decisions that took place in a few days using testimonies and archival documents. This documentary, entitled Eleven days in February and which will be released in theaters on March 29, takes up the major themes of popular execution, hasty reaction and political strategy which marked what is commonly called “the Jutra affair”.
Taken in isolation, the testimonies that can be heard there are defensible. But nonetheless, we emerge from the 80 minutes of this film with the feeling of witnessing a vast rehabilitation operation of this filmmaker considered one of the builders of our cinema. We come away saying that in the end, Jutra is the big victim in this story. Faintness…
Claude Jutra and the boys, such is the title of the short chapter of Yves Lever’s book which sparked this storm. What do we mean by “boy”? I asked the author before the publication of a column published in The Press on Saturday February 13, 2016. This is where Yves Lever presented figures that do not appear in his book. “Fifteen years, fourteen years, sometimes less,” he told me.
Before we go any further, let’s get one thing straight. In the synopsis of the film, it is said that this affair started from a “leak to the press”. It is not fair. It was a press officer who, the previous Wednesday, drew my attention to this book which was lying on a colleague’s desk. We clearly wanted press coverage.
It was therefore during the weekend of February 13 and 14 that this affair took the form of a whirlwind. And what a whirlwind!
In Eleven days in Februarywe hear producer Rock Demers, Thomas Vamos (former photography director of Jutra), Lucette Lupien (guardian angel of Jutra), filmmaker Denys Arcand, criminal lawyer Jean-Claude Hébert, as well as author and actor Dany Boudreault.
IMAGE FROM THE FILM ELEVEN DAYS IN FEBRUARY
Denys Arcand in Eleven days in February
Yves Lever was supposed to participate in the documentary, but he passed away a few days before filming. He would undoubtedly have defended the reality of the biographer to which I subscribe. When an author sets out to meet a historical character or a personality, he does not know what he will encounter. And if he finds himself facing dark areas, he has no choice in approaching them. In this sense, Yves Lever demonstrated courageous honesty.
Jean-Claude Coulbois’ film tells us, unsurprisingly, that it was a fusion of the excitement of the media, the eagerness of politicians and the agitation of the crowd that led to the lynching of Claude Jutra. It’s not false. But we’re turning corners.
On the subject of the media, we forget to say that they literally completed the work of Yves Lever. And with his blessing. During my first interview with him, he told me that if we wanted to trace any of the alleged victims, the key was in a particular page.
This is how, from Sunday February 14, my colleague Hugo Pilon-Larose (who appears in the film) set about the task. And this is how he came into contact with “Jean”, whose testimony shocked Quebec.
Yves Lever would have liked to go further on the subject of Jutra’s pedophilia. He could not. He told me (information confirmed a few days ago by his partner) that an alleged victim (through an intermediary) requested that a letter written in his hand be published at the end of the book. The publishing house refused.
The media did not act like vultures in this matter as the film suggests. They allowed the victims to express themselves.
The testimony of “Jean” and that of Bernard Dansereau, also collected by my colleague, led the political power and other authorities to take action quickly, first by removing the name of Jutra from the trophies and the gala which bore his name, then by stripping public squares and streets of this surname which has become toxic.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The statue of Claude Jutra cleaned of its graffiti, in February 2016
The management of Québec Cinéma, the mayor of Montreal, Denis Coderre, and the Minister of Culture, Hélène David (who preferred not to participate in the film), are blamed for their promptness. It’s easy to look like that eight years later.
We went too fast, that is the mantra of this film. When we review the sequence of events, we clearly understand the effects of the spiral that took place. But after experiencing the #metoo movement, this spiral seems almost normal to us.
Since I saw this documentary, I have often asked myself the question: what if we had taken a step back, if we had waited six months or a year before making decisions, would the result have been different ? I sincerely believe not.
What is basically criticized in this case is that Jutra was tried without a court even though he is no longer in this world. An artist like André Brassard who was convicted of gross indecency (in 1975) and who served a sentence during his lifetime does not experience the same punishment as the filmmaker.
Precisely, on the subject of punishment: most of the participants in the film repeat that this affair erased Jutra. Clarification: tangible reminders of the man have been erased, but his work has never been blacklisted.
You can watch Claude Jutra’s films by snapping your fingers. Go to the NFB and Éléphant sites, they are all there.
This documentary left me with a bitter taste. Firstly because it does not go through to the end of the debate that it should provoke. It would have been interesting to give voice to those who experienced this aspect of Jutra’s life described as a “burden” by the filmmaker himself and to confront them with those who continue to defend him today.
But even more, this documentary offers little empathy to the victims. Apart from Dany Boudreault, a torn admirer of Jutra, no speaker seems to care about the fate of these “boys” who have now become crippled men. I reread the testimony of “Jean” who claims to have been the victim of attacks by Jutra from the age of 6. Delinquency, alcohol, drugs and therapy followed his “stolen childhood”.
Was this film necessary? I do not believe that. Sometimes you have to give time. Just like sometimes you have to get ahead of it.
Eleven days in Februaryin theaters March 29