The language and the culture
Another very prominent, albeit paradoxical feature of the film is the use of English words throughout the Quebecois dialogue. Although we Quebeckers are ardent defenders of the French language, the English influence is so pervasive that our speech is seasoned with anglicisms and has been for many decades. There is little swearing in this film (it is 1963 after all. The influence of the Church was still great at this time) but the French is strongly tinged with English words. It’s still like this today, but perhaps in a slightly different way. I think that it’s the musicality of certain English words that we like, rather than their use as a lazy alternative to more complex French expressions. Quebeckers love colour and dramatic effects, particularly in speech. So anything that packs a punch is good. In every sense. Examples in the film: When Pierre-Paul tells Chili to lie down without moving her head because it’s the best thing to do when you have a headache, he substitutes the lengthy French with sparing English - "garde la tête flat" in place of "garde la tête couchée et immobile" and "c’est le best" for "c’est la meilleure chose en faire". By using fewer words he says exactly what he intended.
Chili’s emphatic use of "shit" to express her impatience or anger. We would say "merde" in French, but "shit" comes from the heart, from her guts. It’s better and it’s more our style. The same goes for Pierre-Paul’s "so what" (which would have to be "pis après qu’est-ce que ça fait" in proper French). French territory in the heart of the American continent, Quebec lives at the pace of its English speaking neighbours, Canadians and Americans alike. So we use their language when it seems better at expressing our emotions than standard French.

The influence of the United States is above all apparent in the newspapers and magazines in the station news-stand, and in the objects found throughout the film as Sixties references. The Sixties was an American era. American culture slowly but irreversibly invaded the entire planet. Susceptible to this culture, Quebec followed suit and immersed itself as much as the rest of the world did.

The editing, the set
The film is edited in a very effective manner. The other characters appear in turn between the scenes featuring Chili and Pierre-Paul. They and the situations they find themselves in are there only to throw into relief the dialogue of the two heroes, or to immerse us in 1963. In short, the other characters are a living part of the set. For Chili could easily be a schoolgirl in the year 2000, and Pierre-Paul a computer salesman. What happens between them could well have happened on a desert island or in a shopping centre. All the other subplots are only pretexts to stimulate the memory. And it’s very successful. It was the 12th of the 12th … some of us are taken back to childhood, to adolescence, or to young adulthood, but for everyone who lived through those years it’s a collection of memories. A little list by way of example : the characters - the priest, the nuns (and the reference to Saint Infanta <a missionary order bringing Catholicism to the Chinese and other non-Christian races>), the stationmaster. All the costumes, from the women’s furs to the men’s overshoes and hats, via the rubber boots with a suggestion of wool at the ankle, the lucky rabbits feet, the mini-bricks (the predecessor of LEGO), Chiclet chewing gum, Lifesavers (sweets in the shape of a life-belt), Prismacolour pencils (wooden colouring pencils), the table hockey game (a classic in Quebec), it’s absolutely endless. Personally I really enjoyed all these details relating to my childhood. As for Roy, Lucie Laurier and everyone on the set born in 1963 or afterwards, it was without doubt a unique opportunity for them to experience a chapter of the past that belonged to their parents and grandparents.

The structure of the film
This film is constructed using the metaphor of time passing, and follows the movement of the pendulum which is seen several times in the film. The meeting between Pierre-Paul and Chili lasts for six hours. Six hours during which their relationship swings between moments of intimate closeness and others where they are growing apart unspectacularly but irremediably. Their worlds are irreconcilable but they need each other. Their fleeting relationship is meant to be evidence of the fact that men and women undoubtedly love each other and share their lives together, but rarely do they understand each other as much as they would wish.

Thus it’s by following the passage of time and the flow of the tide between Pierre-Paul and Chili that I intend to recount the film to you. A little as if we were to read a story or a novel together. Because above all Chili’s Blues is a bit like that. An investment of time and effort in order to describe the storylines and capture the main points.