A sword of Damocles floats above the marquee of the most beautiful cinema in Montreal. The Imperial could close its doors as early as January 31. Rescue scenarios are worn out. Will we dare to rewrite this one in indelible ink? It would be necessary, because letting such a cultural witness disappear would be a crime of lèse-majesté.
The Imperial is used to headwinds. In more than a century, the opulent room erected in 1913 has experienced several darknesses and some agonies for as many revivals and rebirths. This “super palace” type heritage gem was itself born in a golden age, one when neighborhood scopes and palaces lit up all of Montreal. Almost nothing remains of this glorious era, except faded memories.
With its preserved splendor, the Imperial cinema undoubtedly remains a proud, if not the proudest, witness to this era. Revamped at great public expense – all levels of government united – its 2004 finery dazzled us. Then fate struck again. Weighed down in spite of itself by a World Film Festival in distress, the Imperial was saved in extremis drowning by Quebecor in 2017.
The formula, which allowed the non-profit organization to retain ownership of its building while making Quebecor its priority tenant, seemed concrete. The patron spared no effort to project this rickety palace into a future undergoing profound transformations. He has since injected $8.5 million to safeguard the facilities. Art is right at home there, with vibrant festivals at the forefront, such as Présence indigenous, the Festival du nouveau cinéma, Cinemania and the Montreal International Documentary Meetings.
But now an evil wind is blowing across Quebecor and shaking the columns of the listed jewel both inside and out. We know how fragile our iconic places are in Quebec. As long as the mortar holds, we prefer to turn a blind eye to their precariousness. The case of Imperial is all the more mortifying as it is exemplary in both its structure and its financial arrangement. We cannot deny the fact that the private sector has made its fair contribution here. Quebec, which tied up all its threads and secured 5.6 million, too. Montreal would be on the way to doing the same with a significant sum.
And what is Ottawa doing? He is playing stingy with a very small million over two years, while everyone expected him to “support” Quebec’s effort. It is this hole that could ultimately be the downfall of the Imperial. Of course, we can always dream that one or even a handful of patrons will raise their hands to take over. But so quickly, and so strongly? Let’s be real, our local philanthropy doesn’t have such strong shoulders.
Yes, it is imperative to tone our philanthropic muscle. But our quilt planning also needs to stop. The Imperial deserves to be united for it. Can Ottawa, Quebec and Montreal break away from their check boxes? Can they even look up and talk to each other? Can they, above all, agree so that what they consider urgent to save is really saved rather than dispersing their homeopathic aids all over the place without worrying about whether it will change anything or if it will only be a few blows? more sword in the water?