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A Married Couple (1969 film)
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Wikipedia article
'A Married Couple' is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Allan King and released in 1969.Thom Ernst, [https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/a-married-couple "A Married Couple"]. 'The Canadian Encyclopedia', August 29, 2013. The film is a cinema vrit portrait of Billy and Antoinette Edwards, a married couple living in Toronto, Ontario.Vincent Canby, [https://www.nytimes.com/1970/02/03/archives/screen-elusive-realitya-married-couple-by-allan-king-opens.html "Elusive Reality:'A Married Couple,' by Allan King, Opens"]. 'The New York Times', February 3, 1970.
Background
Billy Edwards, the son of Royal Canadian Air Force officer Harold Edwards,June Callwood, "The informal Billy Edwards". 'The Globe and Mail', July 14, 1975. was an advertising executive who had helped to design the poster for King's 1967 film 'Warrendale'. Sensing trouble in his friend's marriage and wanting to make a film about marital conflict, King convinced the Edwards to allow their home life to be filmed for ten weeks by cinematographer Richard Leiterman and sound technician Chris Wangler; however, to ensure that his presence did not accidentally distract Billy and Antoinette Edwards from behaving naturally, King himself did not enter their house at all and "directed" the film only when editing the footage after each day's shooting.
Distribution
The film faced some difficulties with the Ontario Censor Board.Kaspars Dzeguze, "King's candid camera slips info daily lives of A Married Couple". 'The Globe and Mail', September 23, 1969. The board unexpectedly permitted a skinny dipping scene to remain in the film, but insisted that four of the film's 32 uses of the word "fuck" had to be cut from the dialogue.Blaik Kirby, "Stars of Couple found film showed too little". 'The Globe and Mail', November 7, 1969.
The film premiered in Toronto on November 6, 1969.
The film was selected as Canada's official submission to the 1970 Cannes Film Festival. It was not selected for competition, but was screened in the Directors' Fortnight program.Martin Knelman, "Cannes Festival rejects King's A Married Couple". 'The Globe and Mail', April 14, 1970.
Response
The film is considered a landmark documentary and one of King's most significant films, although it received a mixed response from critics at the time.
Vincent Canby of 'The New York Times' wrote that "What King ultimately proves, I think, is that something that is neither fact nor fiction is less meta-truth than sophisticated sideshow. As I've never believed there is a novel in everybody, nor even a tape-recorded book, I now am convinced there are probably very few people worthy of being the subjects of an actuality drama. Better than any other instrument, perhaps, the documentary camera can capture the sense and feeling of events, of social climates, and even of people in public crisis, but meaningful private drama must always elude it since the camera is stopped by what Arthur Miller once called 'the wall of the skin'."
'Time' wrote that the film "in its utter nakedness, makes John Cassavetess 'Faces' look like early Doris Day.
Legacy
The film led Billy and Antoinette to decide to have a second child, although they divorced by 1972.
The film was screened at the 1984 Festival of Festivals as part of Front & Centre, a special retrospective program highlighting selected films from throughout the history of Canadian cinema.Jay Scott, "Mon Oncle Antoine No. 1 with critics". 'The Globe and Mail', August 2, 1984. In 2017 it was included in Canada On Screen, a special program highlighting 150 landmarks from Canadian film history as part of Canada 150.[https://www.tiff.net/canadaonscreen/?tab=works "Canada On Screen / Canada l'cran"]. Toronto International Film Festival.
References
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