To quote Supertramp – Crisis? What Crisis?
What? You don’t remember that 1975 album? Get thee to iTunes tout de suite. Or not.
But forget Supertramp – puhleeese! What I want to do here is present a modest proposal for how to improve the fortunes of Quebec film, an idea that came to me after seeing two new Hollywood flicks, Life of Pi and Silver Lining’s Playbook. But before we get to the solution let’s have a look at the problem.
There has been much chatter in the local franco media in recent days about the crisis in Quebec film. Box-office results are down big-time this year, with most insiders suggesting the year will end with local films taking only five-percent of the overall ticket-sales pie. That’s a major drop from recent years, where Quebec film has accounted for around 10-percent of sales.
Since the original cry of alarm from Le Journal de Montreal, other pundits – including Nathalie Petrowski – have weighed in to the debate to suggest there’s more to filmmaking than just ticket sales.
On the other side of the barricade is Guzzo executive Vincent Guzzo, who made no small amount of enemies amongst the film-critic set by suggesting that Quebec filmmakers have “to start making films people want to see.”
Nothing has been working this year. The artier flicks – like the award-winning Oscar hopeful Rebelle – have failed to pull in local audiences and even the big commercial pictures – like the flop L’Empire Bosse – haven’t done much better.
The one thing everyone agrees on is that we’re in the midst of a terrible year for Quebecois cinema. What folks disagree on is the reason for the slump – and the possible solutions.
Watching Life of Pi and Silver Lining’s Playbook this week, I started wondering if it wasn’t precisely these sorts of films that Quebec directors need to make. Before you say it, I’ll cut you off at the pass – I know we don’t have anywhere near the budget to make a pricey digital wonderland of a film like Life of Pi.
But what the two films have in common is they’re smart films from smart filmmakers with something to say that also happen to be accessible, potentially commercial vehicles. In other words, on paper, they combine the best of both worlds. They’re auteur films – in the sense that they bear the imprint of their directors – and they’re built to make money at the ticket-wicket.
So why can’t Quebec produce accessible auteur films. We used to. Some of the biggest hits of the past 20 years were just exactly that, smart crowd-pleasers like La grande seduction, C.R.A.Z.Y., Les invasions barbares and Maurice Richard.
But there hasn’t been a success story like that in years? Why’s that? I think it’s time for Quebec’s leading producers – you know who you are! – to start asking themselves some tough questions.
But they don’t want to admit there’s a crisis. When producer Pierre Even – president of Cinema Quebec, the organization that now runs the Jutra Awards – launched this year’s awards on Thursday, he insisted there was no crisis. (Is he a closet Supertramp fan?) He said Quebec produced many good films this year. Which is true. But the fact remains the public has shown no interest in these films and that’s not good.
But the producers don’t want to admit there’s a problem because by doing so, they’ll have to admit they haven’t been doing their jobs.
Crisis? What Crisis?
P.S.: What did I think of Life of Pi and Silver Lining’s Playbook? I’m glad you asked. Pi is a visually arresting adaptation of what is finally an unadaptable book and Silver Lining’s Playbook displays a razor-sharp wit, great performances and a disappointing finale.
