The Ballad of Hard Times

The Ballad of Hard Times
FrenchLa turlute des années dures
Directed byRichard Boutet
Pascal Gélinas
Written byRichard Boutet
Pascal Gélinas
Lucille Veilleux
Produced byLucille Veilleux
CinematographyRobert Vanherweghem
Edited byFrancis van den Heuvel
Music byGilles Garand
Pascal Gélinas
Production
companies
Cinak Compagnie Cinématographique
Les Productions Vent d'Est
Radio-Québec
Distributed by7e Art Distribution
Release date
  • March 24, 1983 (1983-03-24)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageFrench

The Ballad of Hard Times (French: La turlute des années dures) is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Richard Boutet and Pascal Gélinas and released in 1983.[1] The film documents the effects of the Great Depression in Quebec through the testimonies of survivors of the period; the film takes its name from its soundtrack of popular Depression-era Quebec folk music, including the songs of La Bolduc.[2]

The film won the Prix L.-E.-Ouimet-Molson from the Association québécoise des critiques de cinéma,[3] and received a Genie Award nomination for Best Feature Length Documentary at the 5th Genie Awards in 1984.[4]

  1. ^ "Première du documentaire «La turlute des années dures»". Bilan du siècle.
  2. ^ Michel Coulombe, "Chansons d’après-guerre: La turlute des années dures". Ciné-Bulles, Vol. 3, No. 6 (May/Jun 1983).
  3. ^ Michel Coulombe, "Remise du prix L.E. Ouimet-Molson". Ciné-Bulles, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Jun–Jul 1984).
  4. ^ Jay Scott, "11 nominations for Chapdelaine in Genie race". The Globe and Mail, February 10, 1984.