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Undertaker for Life!

Croque-mort. Cest beau la vie !
Georges Hannan
2022 | 52 min
Documentary
French with English subtitles

Awards and Festivals

  • Laureate - Best documentary: SocietyPrix Gémeaux 38th Edition

  • La Vague 2022 - Léonard-Forest best Acadian feature-length Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie (FICFA)

  • Official SelectionHotDocs 2023

  • Official SelectionRendez-vous Québec Cinéma 2023

  • Official Selection - Social/political DocumentaryYorkton Film Festival 2023

  • Official Selection - Feature DocumentaryCinema on the bayou Film Festival 2024

A National Film Board of Canada production

Despite the somewhat frightening name of their occupation, undertakers are actually charming philosophers and keen observers of life. We only see their sombre side, but away from the funeral rites and on camera, they turn out to be amazingly insightful. Their love of life and the living, their dark humour and comforting wisdom are the best remedies against existential despair.


ONE AND TWO LINERS

One-liner
To die for! A deep and comforting film.

Two-liner
Undertakers are anything but gloomy; they’re funny, generous and dedicated. We would gladly go on vacation with them, but sadly, they never have any dead time.




LONG SYNOPSIS

In a society where condolences can be sent by text and funerals scheduled in our free time, grieving is something we think we can avoid. Is this really the case? Those with a vocation to look after the dead will tell you otherwise. They know because at the end of the day, they spend much of their time watching over the living.

Despite the somewhat frightening name of their occupation, undertakers are actually charming philosophers and keen observers of life. We only see their sombre side, but away from the funeral rites and on camera, they turn out to be amazingly insightful. Their love of life and the living, their dark humour and comforting wisdom are the best remedies against existential despair.

In Undertaker for Life!, Georges Hannan tackles a taboo subject and lifts the veil on an under-appreciated world: that of the artisans of bereavement. By providing behind-the-scenes access to the funeral industry, he demystifies a profession we tend to view as grim. But undertakers are anything but gloomy; they’re funny, generous and dedicated. We would gladly go on vacation with them, but sadly, they never have any dead time.

 Alternating between earnestness and humour, the guardians of the shadows confide in each other with disarming frankness and raise questions that are more urgent than ever. As our increasingly individualistic society abandons long-standing rituals, how do we make sense of death, how do we mourn, how do we preserve remembrance? What answers can religions and various practices provide? In short, how can we cope with death in today’s world?

Subtle, moving and often hilarious, Undertaker for Life! shows the flip side of death. Against the backdrop of Georges Hannan’s superb photography and a musical score that’s as unpredictable as it is effective, these benevolent transporters, the undertakers, deliver a truth that transcends time: death, if it cannot be explained, at least allows us to understand life.



Trailer


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Poster

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Excerpts

Like a mechanic


Approach death


Maybe there will be balloons!



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Images


Title: Coffin manufacturing company
Photo:
Caption: Coffin manufacturing company, Victoriaville & co., Victoriaville. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.
URL: https://mediaspace.nfb.ca/wp-content/uploads/CroqueMort_72dpi_10020304_TEXTLESS.jpg
Description:
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Coffin manufacturing company, Victoriaville & co., Victoriaville. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.

Title: Colombarium
Photo:
Caption: Chartersville Funeral Home, Dieppe. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.
URL: https://mediaspace.nfb.ca/wp-content/uploads/CroqueMort_72dpi_10040312.jpg
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Chartersville Funeral Home, Dieppe. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.

Title: Coffin manufacturing
Photo:
Caption: Coffin manufacturing company, Victoriaville & co., Victoriaville. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.
URL: https://mediaspace.nfb.ca/wp-content/uploads/CroqueMort_72dpi_10014904.jpg
Description:
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Coffin manufacturing company, Victoriaville & co., Victoriaville. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.

Title: Guy Belliveau
Photo:
Caption: Guy Belliveau, Frenette Funeral Centre, Moncton. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.
URL: https://mediaspace.nfb.ca/wp-content/uploads/CroqueMort_72dpi_10305712.jpg
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Guy Belliveau, Frenette Funeral Centre, Moncton. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.

Title: Cédric Gautreau, Serge Dupuis
Photo:
Caption: Cédric Gautreau, Serge Dupuis, Saint-Thomas Cemetery, Memramcook. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.
URL: https://mediaspace.nfb.ca/wp-content/uploads/CroqueMort_72dpi_10471920.jpg
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Cédric Gautreau, Serge Dupuis, Saint-Thomas Cemetery, Memramcook. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.

Title: Cora Coughlan
Photo:
Caption: Cora Coughlan, Chartersville Funeral Home, Dieppe. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.
URL: https://mediaspace.nfb.ca/wp-content/uploads/CroqueMort_72dpi_10060400.jpg
Description:
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Cora Coughlan, Chartersville Funeral Home, Dieppe. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.

Title: Cédric Gautreau
Photo:
Caption: Cédric Gautreau, Notre-Dame-de-l’Annonciation cemetery, Pré-d’en-Haut. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.
URL: https://mediaspace.nfb.ca/wp-content/uploads/CroqueMort_72dpi_10073808.jpg
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Cédric Gautreau, Notre-Dame-de-l’Annonciation cemetery, Pré-d’en-Haut. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.

Title: Cédric Gautreau
Photo:
Caption: Cédric Gautreau, Notre-Dame-de-l’Annonciation cemetery, Pré-d’en-Haut. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.
URL: https://mediaspace.nfb.ca/wp-content/uploads/CroqueMort_72dpi_10075713.jpg
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Cédric Gautreau, Notre-Dame-de-l’Annonciation cemetery, Pré-d’en-Haut. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.

Title: Souad H’Mida
Photo:
Caption: Souad H’Mida, Moncton Musulman Association. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.
URL: https://mediaspace.nfb.ca/wp-content/uploads/CroqueMort_72dpi_10380618.jpg
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Souad H’Mida, Moncton Musulman Association. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.

Title: Chairs and paintings
Photo:
Caption: Frenette Funeral Centre, Moncton. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.
URL: https://mediaspace.nfb.ca/wp-content/uploads/CroqueMort_72dpi_10431307.jpg
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Frenette Funeral Centre, Moncton. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.

Title: Festival character, Caraquet
Photo:
Caption: Costumed character at the Caraquet Acadian Festival. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.
URL: https://mediaspace.nfb.ca/wp-content/uploads/CroqueMort_72dpi_10500009.jpg
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Costumed character at the Caraquet Acadian Festival. Photo credit: Image from the film - Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, 2022.

Contact NFB publicist for high-resolution images for print.

Team


Georges Hannan
Director

Photo
Photo : Bernard Fougères


NFB

Christine Aubé
Producer

Photo
Photo : NFB


Credits

With the participation of
Normand Arsenault
Guy Belliveau
Normand Joseph Cormier
Cora Coughlan
Brad Deware
Maxime Doiron
Léonce Dupuis
Serge Dupuis
Cédric Gautreau
Claude Gautreau
Souad H’Mida
Joan Milliea
Jason Morton
Michel Thibodeau
Francis Weil
Jared Woodworth

Director and Researcher
Georges Hannan

Scriptwriter
Georges Hannan

With the collaboration of
Mélanie Léger

Editor
Julien Cadieux

Principal Camera
Bernard Fougères

Additional Camera
Georges Hannan

Location Sound Recorder
Georges Hannan

Production Manager
Michelle Paulin

Sound Editor and Mixer
Dennis Morton

Online Director
Yannick Carrier

Graphic Designer
Mélanie Bouchard

Subtitles
SETTE

Foley
Sam Mongeau

Foley Recording Studio
Jo Caron Audio

Foley Recording
Fred Maloney

Music Rights Clearance
laNégo

Original Music
Dennis Morton
© 2022 National Film Board of Canada (SOCAN)

Musicians
Dennis Morton
Sébastien Michaud

Additional Music
« Aline » by Christophe
(Daniel Georges Jacques Bevilacqua)
© Universal MCA Music Publishing
℗ 1965, Disc’AZ

« C’est beau la vie » by Jean Ferrat
(Edith Delécluse, Michelle Senlis, Jean Tenenbaum)
© Gérard Meys Prod.
℗ 1963, Temey

« J’irai la voir un jour »
(Pierre Janin)

« Requiem in d minor KV. 626, Lacrimosa »
(Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

« Vater Unser im Himmelreich »
(Georg Böhm)

Soloist
Cédric Gautreau

Organist
Claude Gautreau

Special thanks to
Simon Arpin, Guy Bourgeois, Roland Cyr, Nathalie Doiron, Yves Doiron, Patrick Elhatton, Matthew Fairweather, Georges Leblanc, Josh Leblanc, Darryl Pierce, Eugène Pitre, Alexandre Roy

Brunswick Funeral Home – Edmundston
JB Cote & Sons Funeral Homes – Edmundston
Frenette Funeral Home – Moncton
St-Polycarpe Cemetery – Petit-Rocher
Holy Rosary Catholic Cemetery – Bathurst
St-Jean-Baptiste Roman Catholic Cemetery – Bouctouche
Tiferes Israel Synagogues – Moncton
Memramcook Auto Auto Services
Ha Ha Cemetery – New Horton
Festival acadien de Carraquet
Elhatton’s Funeral Home – Bathurst
Cemetery Tiferes Israël – Dieppe
St-Thomas Parish – Memramcook
Elsipogtog First Nation
Elsipogtog Cemetery
Dupuis Funeral Home – Memramcook
St-George’s Anglican Cemetery – Bathurst
St-Anselme Cemetery – Dieppe
Saint-Pierre-aux-liens Cemetery – Caraquet
Our Lady of Calvary Cemetery – Dieppe
Victoriavillee & Co.
Nelson Monuments – Sussexx
Chartersville Funeral Home – Dieppe
Wilsons Gas Stops – Moncton
Alderwood Cemetery – Riverview
Moncton Muslim Association
Christ the King Golden Age Club – Moncton
MacArthur’s Flos Flower Shop – Moncton
Robichaud & Son Funeral Home – Tracadie-Sheila

Marketing Manager
Karine Sévigny

Marketing Coordinator
Julie Fortin

Line Producer
Geneviève Duguay

Administrators
Geneviève Duguay
Sia Koukoulas

Senior Production Coordinator
Audrey Rétho

Technical Coordinator
Jean-François Laprise

Video Technical Support
Patrick Trahan
Marie-Josée Gourde
Pierre Dupont

Audio Technical Support
Bernard Belley

Legal counsel
Julie Patry

Producer
Christine Aubé

Executive producers
Denis McCready
Nathalie Cloutier

CROQUE-MORT
C’est beau la vie ! – Undertaker for life
French Program Quebec, Canadian Francophonie and Acadian Documentary Studio

A production of The National Film Board of Canada
www.nfb.ca
© 2022 National Film Board of Canada


Media Relations

  • About the NFB

    Founded in 1939, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is a one-of-a-kind producer, co-producer and distributor of distinctive, engaging, relevant and innovative documentary and animated films. As a talent incubator, it is one of the world’s leading creative centres. The NFB has enabled Canadians to tell and hear each other’s stories for over eight decades, and its films are a reliable and accessible educational resource. The NFB is also recognized around the world for its expertise in preservation and conservation, and for its rich and vibrant collection of works, which form a pillar of Canada’s cultural heritage. To date, the NFB has produced more than 14,000 works, 6,500 of which can be streamed free of charge at nfb.ca. The NFB and its productions and co-productions have earned over 7,000 awards, including 11 Oscars and an Honorary Academy Award for overall excellence in cinema.