O Canada
1997 · 2m · Canada
Genres: documentary, musical
Tones: contemplative, tender
Canada's national anthem is performed by a 57-piece orchestra while contemporary and archival images of the country accompany the music and the complete lyrics appear on screen.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
A straight orchestral reading of the national anthem with on-brand patriotic imagery—this is exactly the consensus move that puts me to sleep, and I'm genuinely surprised it's from the NFB, who usually know better.
A rigorously composed meditation on national identity that trusts the formal weight of Gould's arrangement and archival material to do the heavy lifting; the decision to let lyrics appear on screen while the orchestra plays creates a productive tension between the sung and the read that rewards close attention.
The real work here is in the image selection and pacing—which archival moments land against which bars of the arrangement feels like it could tip this into either kitsch or genuine tenderness depending on a thousand small editorial choices, and apparently someone got it right.