Allan King's "A Married Couple"

How did Allan King’s documentary A Married Couple go from being too controversial for television audiences to essential viewing for Canadian cinephiles? To celebrate the release of her book in the popular TIFF/UTP Canadian Cinema series, Allan King’s A Married Couple (University of Toronto Press), noted academic and author Zoë Druick will discuss the film’s curious critical trajectory with Marc Glassman, Editor of POV and Montage Magazines. Their conversation will be punctuated by clips from King’s masterwork.

Long before "Reality TV," Canadian filmmaker Allan King caused a stir with his 1969 documentary A Married Couple. “This jaw-dropping documentary of a troubled marriage makes John Cassavetes’ Faces look like early Doris Day” (Time). Intense and hectic, frightening and funny, A Married Couple is ultimately about the power struggle in romantic relationships, as well as entrenched gender roles on the cusp to change. The film was deemed contentious at first but it was invited to Cannes and it is now cited as a milestone in documentary filmmaking.

Allan King’s A Married Couple, Zoë Druick, University of Toronto Press

In Allan King's A Married Couple, Zoë Druick examines the film in the context of late 1960s cinematic and cultural movements. Through a scene-by-scene synopsis and an analysis of contemporary responses to the piece, she traces A Married Couple's influence on documentary and Canadian filmmaking. The fifth volume in the Canadian Cinema series, this work is an accessible and engaging introduction to a controversial film and its fascinating director.