In Bed with an Elephant

I would rate this a 9 out of 10. This documentary was written by a Canadian, for Canadians. It is important to keep this in mind to give an honest review. We also need to keep in mind the atmosphere surrounding the two countries when this documentary was created. In 1986 when this was released, The Canadian dollar was at an all-time low, and the Canada-united states free trade agreement was in negotiations. This almost explains the anti-American tinge, and the nationalistic tone the film takes. It was written in a time when Canadians feared for their future, and many didn't know exactly who they were as a country. This documentary tells the story of the Canadian and American relationship over the past century. I find it very important that this film examined the relationship between the two countries from the beginning. It shows how the two countries have always viewed each other. The U.S has always had an attitude like Canada is a part of us. Canada has always held the view that they are not one of us. I like that the film took the time to dig up details that were forgotten by many Americans such as Article IX. Article IX is a section of the US constitution that states that the door is always open for Canada to join the US. It is important because the Two countries have very different views of it. Many in the US see it as a politeness or a favor. We will ALLOW Canada to join us. Canada sees it as an overreach, more like someday Canada WILL join us. This attitude continues throughout the events of the film. More notably it is seen when prime minister John Diefenbaker Started expanding his trading partners. The two countries saw these events very differently. Canada saw this expansion as a chance to stand on their own feet. Filling the need in the market left by the US. The US saw this as Canada trying to undermine Us authority. Specifically when Canada Went around US trade embargos in Cuba and China. This film is a good look at history through a different lens than we are used to. It is very well done.

Even trying to give this film the benefit of the doubt (having been released in 1986 and being solely about politics), I cannot bring myself to give it more than a 6 out of 10. Despite its length of only 60 minutes, it took me several hours to watch this film in its entirety. Simply put, the film is boring. It was very difficult to focus on and I ended up needing to re-watch sections because I found myself zoning out and not paying attention. It isn't that I was trying to find fault with the film, but more that I struggled to find something in the film that would actually engage me.While the narrator is easy to understand (and very clearly Canadian, with that accent!), he speaks in a very monotone voice. He tells little anecdotes about his life as a Canadian citizen during the different political climates that each President-Prime Minister relationship created, and while these stories are clearly meant to give the audience something to relate to, I found them distracting and not at all entertaining.The film explains the relationship between many sets of Presidents and Prime Ministers over the course of many years, and explains how each relationship set the tone for the rest of American and Canadian citizens to follow. There were several instances in which the narrator emphasizes the idea that Americans believe that they will one day absorb Canada, and that Canada is basically America already- this threw me off, because it seemed very anti-Canadian in a film that is obviously made for Canadians. But as the film progresses, this sentiment becomes more and more anti-American, and is portrayed more as a joke- "Well, if Canada doesn't work out, I can always move to America!" I also feel that much of the film was spent talking about the friendly relationships between American and Canadian leaders, with only a quick mention of how antagonistic Reagan and Mulroney were towards each other. I think the film may have been more effective if this antagonism were emphasized and explained more, as it is such a drastic contrast to previous President-Prime Minister relationships- in particular, the close friendship of FDR and King.In spite of my complaints and what I view as the film's shortcomings, I believe it was a very informational piece. I found it difficult to learn from, but I do believe that it is simply a difference in my learning style and the film's delivery of information. For any other individual, I'm sure that this would be a great film to learn from, if a bit on the dull side.

I give this movie a 7/10. This movie was very informative and provided a lot of information on US Canada relationships since the Civil War. I was surprised to find out about how the relationship has been up and down since then. I was also very surprised to find out about Article XI of the Articles of Confederation and how the US just kind of expected Canada to join the confederation. I was surprised that the relationship between the two countries has been so bad considering how close the two countries are to each other and how easy it would be for them to trade with each other. I thought it was interesting how many of the previous Prime Ministers were nationalists that put tariffs on imports and made an attempt to promote Canadian industry.I feel like this film was very biased toward the Canadian side of the argument. During the whole film the majority of things said about Americans is sort of how they are better than Canadians. Being American myself I found this, along with the narrator's monotone voice, made the movie very difficult to watch and stay awake.Overall I found this film to be very interesting and provide another point of view on a pretty complex relationship. Oftentimes people in the US sort of forget about their neighbors in the north despite the long, turbulent relationship the multiple leaders of the two countries have had.

Overall I believe the film as a whole was, for lack of a better word, good. It wasn't mind rattling or thought provoking, but it was interesting and provided many facts on American and Canadian relationships going back to John F. Kennedy and working its way up to the 1980's. I thought the organization of the film was structured well, presenting events in chronological order while looking at many aspects while going through time. The premise of the of movie of the beginning, was set up as the relationship that Canada has with the United States. I felt that, for the most part, that idea was carried throughout the whole film and done smartly. However, there seemed to be times where the film turned into a history lesson (which was not a bad thing in my opinion), in order to set up the why and how those events impacted American and Canadian relationships. Thus, it is important to pay attention to the film in order to comprehend the information being told to the fullest.In terms of negatives, I did not think there was anything abundantly wrong with the film. The only critique is that, being and old film, it most certainly has that old 'put you to sleep' style of history videos. Unless you are being attentive, it could be very easy to loose interest. Taking everything into consideration, I would give this film a 8/10. The information presented is interesting and can shed light on some thing that people probably do not know about the United States and Canada. I would recommend this to people who are interested in history or looking to learn more about Canadian American relationships.

I would rate the film In Bed with an Elephant an 8 out of 10. The film discusses the history of America and Canada from the beginning and how America has tried to get Canada to become part of them. Canada has always made it clear that they are not a part of the United States. I thought it was interesting that they included that it is in the constitution that Canada is free to become part of the United States at any time since most people are probably not aware of this. The main aspect of the film is about the significant relationships between United States Presidents and Canadian Prime Ministers. The first major relationship discussed was that of President Grant and Prime Minister Macdonald who met with the president as a representative for Great Britain's interests. One of the relationships it focuses on is the one between Franklin Roosevelt and Mackenzie King. This was a very good president/prime minister relationship and both countries grew during this time. The film shows many videos of these two being together and interacting which is quite different from things today. During and after World War 2 Canada and the United States relied heavily on each other in order for economic growth. While this was a very positive relationship, the film also delves into some of the not so good relationships, like the one between JFK and Dief. During this time was when the United States implemented the trade embargo with Cuba and China due to communism. Canada saw this as an opportunity to gain more trade partners and began trade with the two countries. This did not sit well with JFK and the United States and the relationship was soured from there on out. The worst relationship portrayed in the movie was between Nixon and Trudeau which was due to Nixon implementing a tariff and saying that Canada would not receive any special treatment. Overall, no matter which relationship it was, the movie shows that they all revolve around the economy, markets, and industries of the two countries for the most part. It is also important to note that this is a movie for Canadians by Canadians, so it shows a different side of things that may come off as anti-American.