Some Canadian analysis of "Léolo" has related to possible political symbolism and Quebec's national identity. In 1992 at the Toronto International Film Festival, programming director Piers Handling called the film an "epitaph for Quebec", in which the title character rejects his Quebecois identity and joins another world by fantasy. Canadian historian George Melnyk remarked that Pierre Bourgault is a prominent Quebec separatist, but is not allowed to say much in the film, which also features the muscular Fernand intimidated by a smaller English Canadian, and non-Quebecois music, concluding the film represented a "national identity crisis". Among the cosmopolitan music uses is Tibetan-style chanting, and songs by The Rolling Stones and Tom Waits. Film scholar Jim Leach wrote that in real life, Lauzon would call himself a Canadian director, despite contemporary belief Quebec cinema was distinct. In the narration, the setting "Mile End, Montreal, Canada" does not mention Quebec, and Léolo's supposed Italian father refers to the tomatoes as destined for "America" rather than Quebec, though they are sold in Montreal. It is also thought the film is set in the late 1950s, in the "old Quebec" before the Quiet Revolution.