Allan King’s “A Married Couple” is perhaps one of Canada’s best documentaries ever made. Shot in King’s typical fly on the wall style, he allows the audience a rare, honest glimpse into the relationship of Billy and Antoinette Edwards, a dysfunctional couple living in Toronto in the 1960s. This film was digitally re-mastered from its original version released in 1969 and presented in HD, as a part of the Canadian Open Vault programme at Tiff.

Allan King passed away in 2009 but is still touted as one of the best documentarians of our time. He produced a stunning body of work that includes one of my favorite documentaries, “Dying at Grace”, a story about families and their loved ones in the final minutes of life. His ability to capture the most intimate of human moments is uncanny and what makes “A Married Couple” so riveting.

Shot in the confines of the Edward’s home, King examines what it means to be married, raise a child and live day in and day out with another human being. This film displays the daily struggles of Billy and Antoinette, real people with real issues. Whether it is conversation about money, their car, their sex life or their commitment to each other, we can relate to almost everything  discussed.  King captures these moments and it was as if he wasn’t there at all.

Watching this film now is interesting from a political standpoint because the power dynamic between men and women has shifted drastically since the 1960s. Billy and Antoinette encapsulate the stereotypical “man-of-the-house” and “housewife” roles of the 1960s. Antoinette feels like she is being treated like a slave but Billy is an “all-knowing” misogynist; this opposition is the cause of their power struggle”. King is unrelenting about Bill’s misogyny, showing Billy grabbing his wife by the neck and throwing her out of the house. Antoinette has her own moments of manipulation providing the audience opportunities to support either character throughout the film. The fact the audience can love and hate both characters illustrates the fine balance King achieves in his portrayal. He simply let’s the story play out without judgment.

Allan King’s choice of the Edwards family challenges us to look within ourselves, and learn from Billy and Antoinette. Being on the outside looking in on their conflict allows us, as voyeurs, to see the challenges of marriage. Society’s family values have changed since the making of this documentary, but in the end, it is about the struggle for equality and balance. This element is alive in King’s film and people watching years on will agree, as we agree now, this picture stands the test of time and is one of King’s best.