The Champions (CBC)

Donald Brittain’s singular talent as a documentarian allow his films at once to convey and probe the mythology of history. With The Champions, an incisive three-part study of the careers and cultural significance of René Lévesque and Pierre Trudeau, postwar Canada’s most prominent political figures, Brittain plays with the friction between fact and myth. Part I: Unlikely Warriors chronicles Lévesque’s and Trudeau’s early years, from university in the early fifties through to 1967, the year Lévesque left the Liberal party and Trudeau became the federal minister of justice. The film is marked by feelings of fate and dynamism and smartly contrasts the men’s similarities (both were from wealthy families and were trained in Jesuit schools) with their differences (Trudeau’s detached intellectual and philosophical perspective versus Lévesque’s emotionally driven journalistic approach). Upon meeting at a CBC cafeteria in Montreal, Lévesque kicked off the relationship by exclaiming, "If you’re a goddamned intellectual, I don’t want to talk to you," a sentiment that set the tone for their entire political relationship. Using photos, newsreel footage and interviews with friends and colleagues, The Champions provides a background to the titanic struggle between these two men for the hearts and minds of Canadians and Quebecers. Most of the footage has been seen elsewhere, but Brittain’s genius is to fit the pieces together in mythic fashion, rife with stirring drama and compelling characters, thus making sense of it all as a great passion play. The Champions won four Canadian Film Awards, including Feature Documentary (Brittain, Janet Leissner) and Non-Dramatic Script (Brittain). Parts I and II of The Champions were released as one feature length film, 113 minutes in length, in 1978.

Donald Brittain’s singular talent as a documentarian allow his films at once to convey and probe the mythology of history. With The Champions, an incisive three-part study of the careers and cultural significance of René Lévesque and Pierre Trudeau, postwar Canada’s most prominent political figures, Brittain plays with the friction between fact and myth. Part II: Trappings of Power begins in 1967, when Justice Minister Trudeau is being courted to run for the leadership of the Liberal party, and climaxes with Lévesque and the separatist Parti Québécois seizing "the awesome power of office" in a stunning provincial election victory in 1976. The film follows the two men as they stumble and soar toward the peaks of power and serves as a prequel to a referendum and a political clash over the constitution, which was only then in the making. Using photos, newsreel footage and interviews with friends and colleagues, The Champions provides a background to the titanic struggle between these two men for the hearts and minds of Canadians and Quebecers. Most of the footage has been seen elsewhere, but Brittain’s genius is to fit the pieces together in mythic fashion, rife with stirring drama and compelling characters, thus making sense of it all as a great passion play. The Champions won four Canadian Film Awards, including Feature Documentary (Brittain, Janet Leissner) and Non-Dramatic Script (Brittain). Parts I and II of The Champions were released as one feature length film, 113 minutes in length, in 1978.

Donald Brittain’s singular talent as a documentarian allow his films at once to convey and probe the mythology of history. With The Champions, an incisive three-part study of the careers and cultural significance of René Lévesque and Pierre Trudeau, postwar Canada’s most prominent political figures, Brittain played with the friction between fact and myth. With Part III: The Final Battle, a coda to The Champions that follows in detail Lévesque and Trudeau’s final showdown over the issue of Quebec’s "sovereignty association" referendum, Brittain captures far more than an incalculably decisive moment in this country’s history; he chronicles the moment when history slips decisively and irretrievably into the realm of popular myth. The third (and best) of The Champions trilogy covers the years between 1977 and 1986. Using the same techniques as the previous two films, Brittain reveals the turbulent, behind-the-scenes drama during the first Quebec referendum on separation and the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution. In so doing, Brittain also follows each man’s fall from grace and documents the moment when their historic battles rose to the heights of history – or crumbled into the annals of defeat. Using photos, newsreel footage and interviews with friends and colleagues, The Champions: The Final Battle chronicles the climax of the titanic struggle between these two men for the hearts and minds of Canadians and Quebecers. Most of the footage has been seen elsewhere, but Brittain’s genius is to fit the pieces together in mythic fashion – rife with stirring drama, compelling characters and the elements of fate – thus making sense of it all as a great passion play. The Champions: The Final Battle won two Genie Awards for Feature Documentary (Brittain, Adam Symnasky) and Direction in a Documentary (Brittain).