GAZ BAR BLUES

François Brochu, widower and father of three boys, runs a small gas station in a working-class Montreal neighbourhood. Between customers who don’t pay their tabs and the occasional hold-ups, his business is by no means lucrative. Still, he has his daily encounters with long-time residents of the neighbourhood who stop by to enjoy themselves and hang out with “the Boss.” But the future of Gaz Bar Champlain faces more serious threats: the sons’ lack of interest in continuing the business, the Parkinson’s disease that is starting to cripple Mr. Brochu and competition from multinational corporations that are invading the neighbourhood with their self-serve stations.

CINEMANIA's opinion:
This cult classic is Louis Bélanger’s most popular film. While avoiding quaintness, GAZ BAR BLUES bears witness to a world that is disappearing, as evidenced by the film’s original working title, “Le Début de la Fin” (The Beginning of the End). Bélanger shows viewers the end of an era in the heart of the Hochelaga neighbourhood being transformed by new economic and social realities, such as the breakdown of the nuclear family and the uncertainty experienced by a young generation that feels lost. The director’s own memories are sown into GAZ BAR BLUES, his second feature film.