Sightlines · reception
How Take It All was received
1963 · Claude Jutra · Take It All on Sightlines
The arc
A commercial flop in 1963 that left Jutra personally in debt, it's now enshrined as the founding film of modern Quebec fiction cinema — the moment Canadian film went New Wave. Scholars have also reclaimed its startlingly early queer 'coming out' moment.
What’s debated
Since the 2016 revelations that got Jutra's name stripped from Quebec's film awards and street signs, every conversation about the film becomes the separate-the-art-from-the-artist debate in its rawest form.
Its footprint
For decades it was the reference point for 'the first modern Canadian feature' — the film Quebec's auteur cinema traces itself back to, dedicated on screen to Jean Rouch and Norman McLaren.
Where it stands
A cornerstone of the Canadian canon and a fixture of best-Canadian-films lists, though outside Canada it remains more cited than actually seen.
Did you know? Jutra self-financed it for about $60,000 and cast himself and his real-life lover, model Johanne Harrelle, as themselves — and despite bombing commercially, it won Best Feature Film at the 1964 Canadian Film Awards.
Named by the director
- Jean Rouch — Jutra dedicated the film to Rouch, with whom he had worked in Africa and whose improvised direct-cinema approach shaped it.
- Norman McLaren — The film's other dedicatee — Jutra's NFB mentor and collaborator on experimental shorts.