Arts & Leisure
Film festival continues with "The Rocket"
YORK VILLAGE - The story of hockey great Maurice Richard will be the next presentation in the York Public Library's Winter Film Festival.The film "The Rocket" will be shown on Sunday, March 11, at 2 p.m. at the library, just a bit earlier than the usual start time for the series.
In the late 1930s, a young machinist named Maurice Richard distinguished himself as an ice hockey player with incredible talent, surpassing numerous records and becoming one of the greatest players of all time, known as "The Rocket."
Despite his success, Richard and his fellow French Canadians faced constant discrimination in a league dominated by the English-speaking players, making this otherwise laconic hockey player talk publicly about the injustices.
His actions led to his infamous 1955 season suspension, which sparked an ethnic riot in protest.
"It's about Maurice's desire to express his own courage and differences. Resistance, after all, is about the creation of a hero," said film director Charles Binamé of the movie, debuted in 2005.
The movie is hailed as an outstanding historical tale, depicting language and race conflicts in Quebec's "Quiet Revolution" of the late 1950s. Filmed in Montreal and Quebec City with a Canadian cast, the movie won great critical acclaim in Canada and only recently has been available in an English version.
The movie is rated PG and has a running time of 122 minutes. Admission to Sunday's showing is free - as is the popcorn.
The final movie in the Winter Film Festival series is "Being John Malkovich," which will be shown on Sunday, April 1, at 3 p.m. This brilliant, modern-day comic fantasy won numerous awards and critical acclaim for its original concept, screenplay, and acting.
For more, contact the York Public Library at 363-2818.
