LE GROUPE DES SEPT: IMAGES D'UNE RIVE NORD Produced and directed by Harry Dunsmore Art Gallery of Ontario, 1990. VHS cassette, 28:00 min., $49.00 plus tax. Distributed by the Art Gallery of Ontario, Loans Consultant, Edward P. Taylor Audio-Visual Centre, 317 Dundas St. W., Toronto, Ont. M5T 1G4. Grades 4 and up / Ages 9 and up Reviewed by Howard Hurt Volume 20 Number 4 1992 September This fascinating and forceful video, available in either French or English (see review in this issue), needs no extravagant promotion. At under $50.00 it should be a first choice wherever materials are needed to support course work in fine arts, social studies or integrated Canadiana. By juxtaposing details of paintings from the Art Gallery of Ontario with informative commentaries and inspirational scenery, David Wistow has created a smoothly flowing and attractive explanation of the importance of Canada's Group of Seven. Technically, the only annoying feature of the French version was that the English commentary remained audible for too long. In the half hour available to him, Wistow has done a thoroughly competent job of demonstrating how a handful of artists from Toronto could redefine the technique of landscape painting, make a strong statement concerning the spirituality of art, and shape our image of the physical Canada. These were men determined to use the tools of unsentimental observation and real experience to shape the vision they perceived so vividly. In some artistic circles there has been a feeling that they were so successful that their work has smothered other visions. Of course, the contribution of the Group must be kept in historical perspective and new ways of seeing encouraged but, having said that, it is such a huge contribution that it simply must be familiar to all Canadians. Howard Hurt is a librarian with the Education Library at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia.