Cinema of Pain: On Quebec's Nostalgic Screen

In Québécois cinema, nostalgia not only denotes a sentimental longing for the bucolic pleasures of bygone French-Canadian traditions, but, as this edited collection suggests, it evokes the etymological sense of the term, which underscores the element of pain ( ) associated with the longing for a return home ( ). Whether it is in grandiloquent historical melodramas such as (Binamé 2002), intimate realist dramas like (Émond 2012), charming art films like (Vallée 2005), or even gory horror movies like (Tessier 2003), the contemporary Québécois screen projects an image of shared suffering that unites the nation through a melancholy search for home.