As I research and prepare for my trip to Quebec City and Montreal, I am impressed with the depth of my ignorance about these cities.

I felt more prepared when I visited Rome last Fall

Can anyone recommend movies that take place in either city? Or novels?

Thank you.

If you can find it, I highly recommend the movie C.R.A.Z.Y. It was a massive hit in Quebec and though you won't get a glimpse of many tourist sites in it, it will give you a feel for the culture.

Thank you, hsbhandbags. I found it on Netflix and should get it soon.

Montreal:

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974) based on a book by Mordecai Richler; several of his books.

The Score with Robert DeNiro.

Pick up "Sacre Blues: An Unsentimental Journey Through Quebec" by Taras Grescoe. A humourous and informative read, giving you all the cultural and historical context of where you'll be visiting!

Where to start? There are hundreds of movies and novels set in Montreal, although many of them are in French. I also don't know what may be available outside Canada.

For movies set in Montreal, you might try "Bon Cop Bad Cop", "The Barbarian Invasions", "Maurice Richard" and "Jesus of Montréal"

English novels set in Montreal include a number of Mordecai Richler's such as "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz,"St.Urbain's Horseman" "Joshua Then and Now"(also a movie) "Solomon Gursky was Here" and "Barney's Version". Hugh MacLennan's "Two Solitudes" and "The Watch that Ends the Night" are classics set in the first half of the 20th century. For French novels (or plays) which are available in English translation, you might try Gabrielle Roy's "The Tin Flute" or some of the works of Michel Tremblay set in the Plateau.

I'll think about Québec City and post on that subject later.

Hitchcock's <i>I Confess</i> from 1953 was shot in many outdoor locations in Quebec City. It's in b&amp;w, but you'll still recognize many of the landmarks.

It stars Montgomery Clift as a priest accused of murdering a prominent lawyer. The real murderer has confessed his guilt, but Clift cannot break the confidentiality of the confessional and reveal the information to clear his name.

Karl Malden is the police inspector investigating the case and Anne Baxter is a former sweetheart from before his ordination whom the lawyer was blackmailing.

OK, great! I found several of these on Netflix and put them on my list. Can't believe I had never heard of that Hitchcock one before. Especially with a cast like that!

Next I'll look into the reading material.

Thank you all very much.

I promised to get back on novels and films set in Quebec City.

I know of one English novel, set in 17th century Qu&eacute;bec, &quot;Shadows on the Rock&quot; by Willa Cather, which is something of a classic. Other than that I can only think of those in French.

You might look for novels by Roger Lemelin which have been translated into English. These give a picture of working-class life in the 1940's, and include &quot;The Town Below&quot;, &quot;The Plouffe Family&quot; and &quot;The Crime of Ovide Plouffe.&quot;

&quot;The Plouffe Famility&quot; became a celebrated TV series in both French and English in the 1950's. I know some of the broadcasts are available on DVD in French, but I'm not sure about English versions. In the 1980's several were made into movies,including &quot;The Plouffe Family&quot; and &quot;The Crime of Ovide Plouffe&quot; . I think that these can be found in either dubbed or subtitled English versions.

If you want to go beyond fiction to include dramatized historical films with Montreal or Quebec as backgrounds, look for &quot;October 1970&quot; about the FLQ crisis, &quot;R&eacute;n&eacute; L&eacute;vesque&quot; a miniseries about the premier and leader of the Parti Qu&eacute;becois, and &quot;Maurice Richard: The Rocket&quot; about the iconic hockey star of Les Canadiens.

Wow, this is great. I am all set with my lists. Thank you so much.

So far, I have seen C.R.A.Z.Y. and The Barbarian Invasions. I enjoyed both very much and I feel like I am slowly beginning to learn a little more about the Province of Quebec.

Not too long ago I saw a series called Slings &amp; Arrows; I realize it is a different part of Canada but I wondered if all of Canadian TV could be this good?

Olive - unfortunately not all Canadian tv is good - far too little, actually.

You want good Canadian tv, check out Corner Gas - I think it might be on US cable. You could also try Due South, a co-production with CBS that was a hit some years ago. But it was et in Chicago, I believe (with Toronto filling in as it has done dozens of times in US productions)

Interesting!

I agree that &quot;good&quot; Canadian TV is, well... I wouldn't say lacking, but because Canadian TV networks don't have nearly the same budget that American TV networks do, you get some really amateurish stuff out there.

Of course, it really depends on what the show is. For example, I'm not a fan of Corner Gas because I find it incredibly hokey and amateurish, and as a result, would never recommend it to anybody outside of Canada. Compared to something more rude and crude like Trailer Park Boys, Corner Gas.

CBC always has TV series that have aired throughout the decades that you may or may not get in the USA, like Danger Bay, The Beachcombers, Road to Avonlea, Da Vinci's Inquest, etc.

Then there's something completely off the wall, like Kids in the Hall. Or something unique, like Degrassi (original series).

Whether you find those shows good or not, however, is highly subjective.

Oops! I realize that I half finished a sentence.

&quot;Compared to something more rude and crude like Trailer Park Boys, Corner Gas&quot; feels as wholesome as Leave it to Beaver.

Olive_Oil,

I think it's fantastic you're trying to get a feel for this great province through film. C.R.A.Z.Y I personally didn't care for (found I couldn't relate to the characters) and found Bon Cop Bad Cop too cliche. L'Invasion Barbare and le Declin de L'Empire Americain I found both well-done.

The Quebec movie industry produces quite a lot; Aurore and la Grande Seduction are two that I've enjoyed, but are more rural Quebec (sad stories too).

Canadian TV does produce some good shows; I find Canadian television best when it tries not to follow a Hollywood formula. Comedy's a strong point; I'm a big fan of Rick Mercer. Degrassi is a popular show about teen issues (these are more Ontario). Road to Avonlea (Prince Edward Island)is great period piece. Les Bougons (you'll want subtitles as it's heavy local twang/slang) is a working-class Quebecker family sitcom; makes Roseanne seem like a principled character in comparison. LOL.

Have fun; we're all only scratching the surface here.

DAN

Le confessionnal
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112714/

Maelstr&ouml;m
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0220627/

Un crabe dans la t&ecirc;te
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284214/

Le violon rouge
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120802/

15 f&eacute;vrier 1839
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0237994/

Octobre
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110709/

... now that I've been thinking about this topic, it made me realize that the majority of Canadian TV shows seem to cater to family audiences as opposed to a mature crowd.

There are exceptions here and there (like Jeff Ltd.), but they seem to be few and far between.

And then there are the American TV shows filmed entirely in Canada, like the X-files, Smallville, Dark Angel, 21 Jump Street, MacGyver, etc. Chances are you've been watching Canadian locations in TV shows and movies without even knowing.

Yes, I am sure that is true--that I've seen lots of movies set in Canada without knowing it. So I am trying to pick the ones that are frankly in and about Canada, particularly the Province of Quebec.

Last night was &quot;I Confess.&quot; I enjoyed it very much and even DH (who finds my enthusiasms a bit tiresome)was impressed when I identified city landmarks. The city walls and the stairs from the lower town to the upper town interested him. I liked the ferry ride over to Levis--which I had been pronouncing like the name of the bluejean company but I noticed in the film they said LEV as in Levitate and ISS as in HISS.

The story was pretty good too.

Thank you all for the movie, TV and literary rec's, I will continue to check them out.

Olive Oil: You'll find that L&eacute;vis is properly pronounced as LAY-vee.

I am also looking for a Canadian movie set in Montreal...I saw this one on the CBC a long time ago. It was about a 'bum' who was walking around Montreal...then continued on through the events of his life. When I turned it on he was looking for shoes or pants. Then he ended up running for some kind of politician. He made detours living in his car or going to sleazy clubs and then in the end he got spat out as a convalescent of some sort.

It was so long ago (90s sometime) I saw this on CH 9 Windsor and have no luck finding this description anywhere. Anyone know this one? Thanks

The Robert DeNiro crime flick from a few years ago - The Score was filmed in Montreal. Better than average 'heist' film.