Imagine an angel who memorized all the sights and sounds of a city. Imagine them coming to life: busy streets full of people and vehicles, activity at the port, children playing in yards and lanes, lovers kissing in leafy parks. Then recall the musical accompaniment of the past: Charles Trenet, Raymond Lévesque, Dominique Michel, Paul Anka, Willie Lamothe. Groove to an Oscar Peterson boogie. Dream to the Symphony of Psalms by Stravinsky.

That city is Montreal. That angel guarding the sights and sounds is the National Film Board of Canada. The combined result is The Memories of Angels, Luc Bourdon's virtuoso assembly of clips from 120 NFB films of the '50s and '60s.

The Memories of Angels will charm audiences of all ages. It's a journey in time, a visit to the varied corners of Montreal, a tribute to the vitality of the city and a wonderful cinematic adventure. It recalls Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire in which angels flew over and watched the citizens of Berlin. It has the same sense of ubiquity, the same flexibility, the sense of dreamlike freedom allowing us to fly from Place Ville-Marie under construction to the workers in a textile factory or firemen at work. Underpinning the film is Stravinsky's music, representing love, hope and faith. A firefighter has died. The funeral procession makes its way up St. Laurent Boulevard. The Laudate Dominum of the 20th century's greatest composer pays tribute to him.

Without commentary, didacticism or ostentation, the film is a history lesson of the last century: the red light district, the eloquent Jean Drapeau, the young Queen Elizabeth greeting the crowd and Tex Lecor shouting "Aux armes Québécois!" Here are kids dreaming of hockey glory, here's the Jacques-Cartier market bursting with fresh produce, and the department stores downtown thronged with Christmas shoppers. Look, Morgan's was still there on St. Catherine, now replaced by The Bay.

You may recognize the films that provided these sights: the Jones brothers of Golden Gloves by Gilles Groulx, the church from Les Montréalistes by Denys Arcand. The superb colour shots of modern buildings are from Albédo by Jacques Leduc and Renée Roy. And the gorgeous images of actress Geneviève Bujold, don't they seem familiar? Yes, they're from Le temps des amours by Hubert Aquin.

Director Luc Bourdon and his editor Michel Giroux have assembled fluid, clear sequences, underlining the beauty of the black-and-white images contrasted with colour ones. The Memories of Angels also showcases the singular beauty of Montreal, its architectural and human wealth and the grandeur of its setting.

As the NFB gets ready to celebrate its 70th birthday, The Memories of Angels recalls the talent of the filmmakers who trained their cameras and microphones on the world around them, as well as the amazing ability of an artist to model new material from old. Like today's DJs and VJs who energize contemporary music and art, Luc Bourdon draws from the fertile source of great Quebec cinema and recycles the sights and sounds of the past, lending them a new and unexpected texture. The film is a jubilant re-think of time and space, where the ordinary citizen receives the same tender regard as the famous: Armand Vaillancourt, Félix Leclerc, Monique Mercure, Alfred Desrochers.

The Memories of Angels is poetry, fiction, documentary and essay rolled into one. It is also a joyous, touching experience and a collective history whose threads dance in one's mind long after the closing credits.