Jean-Claude Lord

Jean-Claude Lord
Born(1943-06-06)6 June 1943
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died15 January 2022(2022-01-15) (aged 78)
Occupation(s)Film director
screenwriter
Years active1964–2022
Children2

Jean-Claude Lord (6 June 1943 – 15 January 2022) was a Canadian film director and screenwriter.[1] He was one of the most commercial of the Québécois directors in the 1970s, aiming his feature films at a mass audience and dealing with political themes in a mainstream, Hollywood style.

Early life[edit]

Lord was born in Montreal on 6 June 1943.[2][3] He first worked as an assistant director and scriptwriter in the private sector.[3] He was an apprentice to Pierre Patry at the company Coopératio.[4]

Career[edit]

Lord's first feature was Délivrez-nous du mal, released in 1965.[3] It depicted a gay couple, reportedly a first for a Québécois film and regarded as a breakthrough since the influence of the Catholic Church was still strong in Quebec.[5] His 1974 film Bingo exploits the post-October Crisis, post-Watergate paranoia prevalent in North America at the time with considerable panache. It was the subject of an intensive critical debate about its credentials as a left-wing film.[6]

Lord directed his first English-language film, Visiting Hours, in 1982. The low-budget horror movie, which featured William Shatner and Michael Ironside, became a cult favourite.[7] Four years later, Lord worked for the first time in television on the series Lance et Compte. It centred around a fictitious ice hockey team, whose uniforms were similar to the Quebec Nordiques, contending for the Stanley Cup and the World Cup of Hockey. The series – which ran from 1986 to 1989 – was credited with establishing a new benchmark for television shows in Quebec. It also aired in English on CBC as He Shoots, He Scores, and was shown in France in 1987.[8] He won a Prix Gémeaux in 1987 for the series.[5]

Lord subsequently worked primarily in television on several other series and made-for-TV movies.[3][9][10] He directed the revival of Lance et Compte that aired from 2000 until 2008.[11] He was conferred the Prix Guy-Mauffette by the National Assembly of Quebec in November 2017,[11] in recognition of the contributions he made to the audiovisual industry and culture.[7][8]

Personal life[edit]

Lord was in a domestic partnership with Lise Thouin until his death.[5] Together, they had two children: Marie-Noëlle and Jean-Sébastien,[5] who is also a film and television director, most noted for the films Heaven (Le petit ciel) and Guardian Angel (L'Ange-gardien).[12]

Lord died on the evening of 15 January 2022. He was 78, and had suffered a major stroke on 30 December of the previous year.[5][7][13]

Filmography[edit]

Features[edit]

Television[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Jean-Claude Lord - Northern Stars". Archived from the original on 20 August 2011.
  2. ^ Bonneville, Léo (1979). Le cinéma québécois par ceux qui le font (in French). Éditions Paulines. p. 581. ISBN 978-2-89039-684-5.
  3. ^ a b c d Véronneau, Pierre; Handling, Piers (1980). Self Portrait: Essays on the Canadian and Quebec Cinemas. Canadian Film Institute. p. 210. ISBN 978-0-919096-20-2.
  4. ^ "Jean-Claude Lord". Canadian Film Encyclopedia. Film Reference Library. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e Boulanger, Luc (16 January 2022). "Le cinéaste Jean-Claude Lord s'éteint à l'âge de 78 ans". La Presse (in French). Montreal. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Bingo at the Canadian Film Encyclopedia". Archived from the original on 15 May 2012.
  7. ^ a b c "Quebec filmmaker Jean-Claude Lord dies at 78, weeks after stroke". CBC News. The Canadian Press. 16 January 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  8. ^ a b Scott, Marian (16 January 2022). "Quebec filmmaker Jean-Claude Lord dies at 78". Montreal Gazette. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Jean-Claude Lord". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Jean-claude Lord – Filmography". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Jean-Claude Lord" (in French). Prix du Québec. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  12. ^ Genevieve Royer, "Director's debut aims for the sky: Le Petit Ciel is a take on life and death". Montreal Gazette, 17 March 2000.
  13. ^ "Le réalisateur Jean-Claude Lord s'est éteint à 78 ans". Le Soleil. 16 January 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  14. ^ a b c "Jean-Claude Lord". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Urban Angel" (in French). Cinémathèque québécoise. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Jasmine" (in French). Cinémathèque québécoise. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Diva" (in French). Cinémathèque québécoise. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  18. ^ "Maurice Richard: Histoire d'un Canadien" (in French). Cinémathèque québécoise. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Quadra" (in French). Cinémathèque québécoise. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  20. ^ "L'or" (in French). Cinémathèque québécoise. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  21. ^ "Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension" (in French). Cinémathèque québécoise. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  22. ^ "Lance et Compte: Nouvelle Génération" (in French). Cinémathèque québécoise. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  23. ^ "Lance et Compte: La Reconquête" (in French). Cinémathèque québécoise. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  24. ^ "Lance et Compte: La Revanche" (in French). Cinémathèque québécoise. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  25. ^ "Lance et Compte: Le Grand Duel" (in French). Cinémathèque québécoise. Retrieved 16 January 2022.

External links[edit]