Croque-mort. Cest beau la vie !
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-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.
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.
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