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Nouveau film de ONF Un portrait impressioniste du Montreal des années 1950-1960, en images, en chansons et en musique Ils viennent de mettre quelques extrait en ligne. Vraiment un MUST SEE pour tout amateurs d'urbanism. http://beta.nfb.ca/film/memoire_des_anges_extrait_1/ De 1 -12. Le film est au Cinéma Ex-Centris. Si il y en a qui aimerai le voir en gang, je serai game.
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Montreal dans The Strange Case of Benjamin Button
un sujet a posté MartinMtl dans Discussions générales
Dans ce film fantastique avec Brad Pitt et Cate Blanchet, un homme vieillit à l'envers, rajeunissant au fur et à mesure qu'il prend de l'âge. Le film a été tourné à Montréal. J'ai extrait cette photo de la bande annonce. Je crois qu'il s'agit d'une scène se déroulant dans un pays d'Europe de l'Est dans les années 30/40. Comme vous pouvez le constater, le plan montre la rue de la Commune, direction Ouest. On peut voir la Chapelle Notre-Dame de Bonsecours à droite. Le dôme du marché Bonsecours a été remplacé par une église orthodoxe. Vive la magie du cinéma! Vous pouvez voir la bande annonce complète ici : http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/thecuriouscaseofbenjaminbutton/ -
52% oppose Bill C-10 Proposed change targets filmmakers. Don't censor content by refusing tax credits, slim majority of Canadians say in survey TIFFANY CRAWFORD, Canwest News Service Published: 6 hours ago A slim majority of Canadians believe it would be wrong for the government to screen the content of films and deny tax credits to projects it deems offensive, a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted for Canwest News Service and Global TV indicates. The poll, conducted from June 10 to 12, found that 52 per cent of the 1,002 Canadians surveyed disagree with Bill C-10, a proposed change to the Income Tax Act that would deny tax money to filmmakers whose content is "contrary to public policy." At 62 per cent, residents of film-industry-heavy British Columbia are most likely to say the government is "wrong" to interfere in such a way. That's followed by those living in the mostly Conservative province of Alberta at 57 per cent, indicating the reaction of Canadians is largely ideological. "(The bill) has obviously touched a nerve," said John Wright with Ipsos Reid. "If it's not going to pass the sniff test, it's going to be gagged," said the senior vice-president of Ipsos Reid. "It has a good majority in the country that are going to go against this." Although the idea to deny tax credits was raised under the previous Liberal government, Wright suggests people may be concerned about the "slippery slope" of censorship with the Conservative Party. "While it may have been acceptable under the Liberals because they were more flexible on content, this government has the trappings of moral and religious rigour," he said. "So they might wear this more than the last government." According to the poll, 45 per cent of Canadians believe it's right for the government to screen the content of films, because it involves taxpayers' money - and because government has the right to determine what's in the public interest. As the poll was released, the Canadian independent film, Young People F*****g, opened in cinemas on the weekend. The film has become the poster child for the controversial bill that has many Canadian film and TV stars, including actress and director Sarah Polley, lobbying the government to stop the bill. The reason, say opponents of C-10, such as Polley, actor-director Paul Gross and Oscar-winning director Ang Lee, is that Young People is the type of film that would have been denied funding. Young People, a movie about four couples and a threesome trying to find satisfactory sex lives, has been viewed as pornographic by some religious groups, while others say it's just a bit of fun. In any case, the film is not as raunchy as its title suggests. Although there's a lot of nudity, mostly it's just a series of sketches where the characters seek to balance their lives with love and sex. The film's director, Martin Gero, says it's a harmless comedy, but he agreed it may not have got the funding had it been judged by the title. The poll found younger Canadians aged 18 to 34 were more likely to say the government is "wrong" to censor content by refusing tax credits, followed by Canadians age 35 to 54. Those with post-secondary education and those who live in urban areas were also more likely to disagree with the bill, the poll suggests. While the poll suggests a majority of Canadians disagree with the bill, the government argues the proposed change to the federal tax-credit system does not jeopardize the creative freedom of Canadian film and TV production. Heritage Minister Josée Verner says the government is trying to make sure Canadian taxpayers' money won't fund extreme violence or pornography. http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=a7f81b30-f97e-4570-84d8-dff373f9f66e
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Le Québec en force Photo: © 2007 Alliance Atlantis Communications Marc Labrèche dans L'âge des ténèbres Le cinéma québécois fait encore une fois bonne figure aux nominations des Prix Génie, qui récompenseront, le 3 mars prochain, les meilleures productions cinématographiques canadiennes de l'année. Les films québécois Continental, un film sans fusil et L'âge des ténèbres sont en nomination dans la catégorie du meilleur film en vue de la 28e cérémonie des Génie. Ce sont les films Promesses de l'ombre de David Cronenberg et J'ai serré la main du diable de Roger Spottiswoode qui ont reçu le plus grand nombre de nominations, soit 12, dans la catégorie du meilleur film. Dans la même catégorie, on retrouve aussi Loin d'elle de Sarah Polley. Les films québécois en nomination: L'âge des ténèbres (Denys Arcand); Continental, un film sans fusil (Stéphane Lafleur); Les 3 p'tits cochons (Patrick Huard); Nitro (Alain Desrochers); Bluff (Marc-André Lavoie, Simon-Olivier Fecteau); Ma fille mon ange (Alexis Durand-Brault); Roméo et Juliette (Normand Chaurette); Surviving my mother (Émile Gaudreault); Ma tante Aline (Gabriel Pelletier); Silk (François Girard). Par ailleurs, Roy Dupuis, acteur principal dans J'ai serré la main du diable, Marc Labrèche (L'âge des ténèbres) et Claude Legault (Les 3 p'tits cochons) ont recueilli des nominations dans la catégorie du meilleur acteur. Les Québécoises Anne-Marie Cadieux (Toi) et Béatrice Picard (Ma tante Aline) sont finalistes dans la catégorie de la meilleure actrice. Dans les catégories des rôles de soutien, on retrouve les acteurs Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge, Gilbert Sicotte, Marie-Ginette Guay, Véronique Le Flaguais, Laurence Leboeuf et Fanny Mallette. Les 11 acteurs québécois en nomination: Anne-Marie Cadieux, Roy Dupuis, Marie-Ginette Guay, Laurence Leboeuf, Marc Labrèche, Véronique Le Flaguais, Claude Legault, Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge, Fanny Mallette, Béatrice Picard et Gilbert Sicotte. http://www.radio-canada.ca/arts-spectacles/cinema/2008/01/28/001-Prix-genie-nominations-quebec.asp
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Filmmaker is a Montreal wannabe Brendan KellyCanwest News Service Friday, January 25, 2008 MONTREAL -- When the Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday, the Montreal film community was all abuzz about the best animated-short nod for hipsters Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski and their inspired stop-motion horror flick Madame Tutli-Putli. A little later in the day, talk surfaced that there was another Montrealer in the race in the same category. A few phone calls later, it was ascertained that Josh Raskin -- whose film, I Met the Walrus, is also nominated for animated short at the Oscars -- is in fact a Torontonian. But it's easy to see why some folks think Raskin is from Montreal. On the phone from the Sundance Film Festival, where I Met the Walrus was screening this week, Raskin pretty well pleaded to be considered as a honorary Montrealer. "I think it's easily the best city in North America, except for the 15-month winter," said Raskin. "I worked on a strangely misguided film project (in Montreal) for three months three or four years ago. I've been there at least a few times a year and sometimes for weeks or months at a time. It's really my second home." Raskin has many good pals here, including his longtime friend James Braithwaite, whose striking hand-drawn pen illustrations are showcased in Raskin's five-minute film. The digital animation is courtesy of Alex Kurina. Braithwaite's animation style is reminiscent of the distinctive doodlings of John Lennon made famous in books like In His Own Write and on some of his album jackets. The Lennon homage is no accident -- I Met the Walrus is inspired by an interview with the late Beatle done in Toronto in 1969 by a 14-year-old kid named Jerry Levitan. Levitan, now a Toronto lawyer and the producer of the film, somehow convinced Lennon to do an interview on May 26, 1969, just hours before John and Yoko headed to Montreal for their famous bed-in for peace. For more than 30 years, Levitan didn't do anything with the half-hour interview -- in which the pop-music icon chatted about everything from world peace to George Harrison's place in The Beatles -- though he had plenty of offers from producers hoping to make a film based on the incident. He finally turned to up-and-coming Toronto filmmaker Raskin after seeing some of his animated work. Raskin decided to chop the interview down to just over five minutes and used that as the audio soundtrack for an experimental animation short that mixes the whack-job animation style of Terry Gilliam from Monty Python with Lennon-esque sketches. "Cutting it down to five minutes was easily the hardest part of making the film because everything John said was simple, profound and poetic, and I felt was important for the world to hear now," said Raskin. "It's mostly about peace and what John was up to at the time. But (Jerry) is a 14-year-old kid, so he talks about how he's not too keen on George and he always thought John was the better guitar player. He was probably barely even listening to the answers because he's so overwhelmed. "What I was trying to do with the film was put you inside the head of a 14-year-old starstruck kid interviewing his idol and it's this stream-of-consciousness, free-associative visual interpretation of the words," Raskin said. "The things they're speaking of in the interview are more relevant than they were then," said Braithwaite, who moved to Montreal from Toronto seven years ago to study English lit at Concordia University and now lives and works in Montreal as a freelance illustrator. "We need another John Lennon," added Braithwaite, who is at Sundance this week with his pal Raskin. Lennon was in Canada at the time because the authorities wouldn't let him into the U.S., a state of affairs he weighs in on in the film with some typically barbed social commentary. "War is big business and they like war because it keeps them fat and happy," Lennon tells Levitan. "I'm anti-war. So they're trying to keep me out. But I'll get in because they'll have to own up in public that they're against peace." © Times Colonist (Victoria) 2008 http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=e8d4ebc6-9c62-42d6-be6a-88532c659e7a
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Montréal perdrait le siège social d'un centre international du film jeunesse
un sujet a posté mtlurb dans L'actualité
Montréal perdrait le siège social d'un centre international du film jeunesse Il y a 17 heures MONTREAL - Montréal perdrait le siège social du Centre International du Film pour l'Enfance et la Jeunesse (CIFEJ) en raison de la décision d'Ottawa de mettre fin à son soutien financier. La directrice exécutive du CIFEJ, Jo-Anne Blouin, devrait en faire l'annonce officielle à Amsterdam mardi à l'occasion de l'Assemblée générale de l'organisation. Dans un communiqué diffusé lundi, Mme Blouin a indiqué trouver que l'arrêt du financement du gouvernement fédéral étaient difficile à justifier compte tenu que les sommes demandées étaient petites et que le centre contribuait au rayonnement du pays. Créé en 1955, le CIFEJ est basé à Montréal depuis 1990. Son réseau d'adhérents compte environ 150 membres dans 57 pays. -
Montreal fest maverick Serge Losique conquers Montreal scene By SHANE DANIELSEN Claude Miller's "Un Secret," starring Cecile de France and Patrick Bruel In an increasingly corporate fest milieu, Serge Losique is a maverick. Pugnacious, unpredictable, the 76-year-old Montreal World Film Festival chief has for over three decades run his event as a personal fiefdom, as shuttered and inscrutable as the court of Tamburlaine. He's also a survivor, having seen off a recent challenge that would have sunk many a less determined adversary. Launched amid great fanfare in February 2005, the New Montreal FilmFest quickly signed a high-profile director (former Berlin and Venice topper Moritz de Hadeln) and boasted coin from Canada's major government film offices. It was, its backers claimed, the breath of fresh air the Montreal film scene badly needed. But in fact, the newcomer proved one of the fest world's more conspicuous train wrecks. The omens were not good: Both the fest's staff and its board were castigated by de Hadeln in the Canuck press just days before opening night -- but the reality proved far worse, with few (and flummoxed) guests, an empty red carpet and most films unspooling to near-empty houses. "It was," one attendee commented, "like watching the Lusitania go down. For 11 days." From across town, you could practically hear Losique's sigh of satisfaction. Sure enough, after that first, disastrous edition, the plug was pulled. Bloodied, but defiantly unbowed, the veteran fest celebrated its 30th anniversary last August. However, the very creation of a rival fest signaled other, more serious concerns -- specifically, a deepening feud between Losique (who runs his event as a private company, even owning its principal venue, the Imperial Theater) and his chief funders, Canadian government bodies Telefilm Canada and Sodec, the Quebec film agency. Both claimed disenchantment with Losique's autocratic managerial style and "lack of accountability" to the local film community. In electing to side with the NMFF, they expected his event to fold. Instead, the tyro event went under, leaving both bodies with oeuf on their faces. "The problems we encountered in the last two years with Telefilm Canada and Sodec are due to the fact that they are judge and jury," Losique reports. "Sooner or later, this approach to culture has to change." Losique has challenged the status quo before: "We raised these questions (just) as we raised questions about the rules of FIAPF (the Intl. Federation of Film Producers Assn.). We quit them. Now FIAPF is better, with new rules, and we are a member again." In the same way, he says, the relationship with Telefilm Canada is "becoming more normal." His lawsuit against them has quietly been dropped: "We're not yet kissing each other, but we are talking to each other." Unpredictable programming Still, Telefilm has not committed to reup its funding: a spokesman would say only that MWFF was still "under evaluation." Sodec, however, has returned to the fold, announcing in June that Losique's event would be once again among the eight Quebec film fests to share its annual C$800,000 ($750,000) pot. For many attendees, the chief virtue of the World Film Fest -- and the reason for its enduring importance on the fest landscape -- is the sheer unpredictability of its programming. Where Toronto, true to its origins as the Festival of Festivals, essentially culls a greatest-hits lineup from Berlin, Cannes and Venice, the Montreal slate comprises many off-the-radar pics from across the globe. Last year saw entries from 76 countries; this time, filmmakers from Chad to the U.S. will compete on equal terms for the Grand Prix of the Americas, the event's major award. Many of these will be world premieres. As such, it's a distinct change from the homogenous, shopping-list selections of most fest selections. Or as Losique puts it: "Our goal is to find the best films from as many countries as possible. We are not looking for 'names,' because even great names can produce bad films. In some festivals, you see the parade of stars and starlets offered by the marketing junket machine of Hollywood. We are not here to please dubious merchants, but to display the gems of the film industry." Still, he admits to a growing sense of dejection: "The emotional mystery of cinema is disappearing. Today you can buy any film on DVD on the same shelves with cat and dog food. Films d'auteur are gradually dying at the box office, and that's a danger for a quality film festival and also for cinema in general." The only way forward, he believes, is to retain a sense of perspective: "If you're too big, it's not good for cinema and discoveries. If you are too small, you do not exist for the media and sponsors. A festival should not be so big that you cannot even appreciate the films. Some middle road must be found."
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Cinema industry: Montreal perks up by Guillaume Picard View all articles from Guillaume Picard Article online since August 20th 2007, 9:48 Be the first to comment this article Filming in Montreal is substantial, year after year. The city is one of the major production centres in North America. (Photo: Studio Mel’s) Cinema industry: Montreal perks up The filming of blockbuster “The Mummy III” has been going on for a few days in the Cité du cinéma, which in itself is proof that the glorious days of filming in Montreal have returned after a difficult three-year period. American studios ignored our city and there was a decrease in production volume during that difficult time. When Brad Pitt arrived downtown in the spring to film “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” with director David Fincher, (who also directed the successful “Seven” and “Fight Club”), the whole city was excited to see the handsome husband of Angelina Jolie. The Quebec Cinema and Television Office (French acronym: BCTQ) believes that 2007 could generate a production volume beyond $250 million and sales of more than a billion dollars, half of which will go to salaries. That should meet the bread and butter of some 35,000 people who work in the 500 cinema companies in Quebec. In July alone, the results were past the half-way mark achieved in 2006, making up for the difficult three years we experienced. Twelve long Quebec films are in the process of shooting this summer, as well as 15 television series and four American films (a couple of which are “Mr. Nobody” and “Afterwards”). Michel Trudel, owner of Cité du cinéma, the largest cinematography centre in North America, confirms that 2007 “is a good year for the entire industry. Several conflicts since 2004 have now been settled on the part of unions and producers. These days, foreign film producers know which ones they should be working with and it’s going a lot better.” But Mr. Trudel already sees another conflict in the horizon for July 2008; that is, the conflict involving American actors. Will that be another blow for Montreal? “That can hurt us, since the studios will want to film quickly before summer, delaying other projects. If the conflict is not settled, it will be fatal because the damage will be done. The industry will slow down for several weeks or months”, Mr. Trudel explained. He manages 18 filming studios in Montreal and St. Hubert. Courting Hollywood is no easy task. More than 35 states now have incentives and tax cuts to attract the major California studios. Europe and East Asia also are increasingly offering their own incentives. “Our goal”, says Hans Fraiquin, (National Commissioner of the BCTQ) “is to continue to go higher and to ensure that Montreal becomes a production centre of international calibre. We have always been behind Toronto and Vancouver, but in three years, we hope to be on equal footing with them.” Tax credit for filming in the region Just before summer holidays and following a meeting with the Minister of Culture and Communications Christine Saint-Pierre, BCTQ officials insisted on the importance of “implementing more attractive and more competitive incentives”, Mr. Fraiquin explained. Local productions can very well take three fourths of the production volume.” Economically speaking, that’s not the same for Montreal without foreign productions. Americans are helping us in terms of cash flow,” says Daniel Bissonnette, director of Montreal’s Cinema and Television Office which has been coordinating the filming with the boroughs since 1979. For his part, Mr. Bissonnette hopes to implement an additional credit to support filming in the region. “The unions have agreed to a zone of 25 km of which the central point is the Papineau subway station. They have a higher fee for filming beyond these parameters. A 6%-7% credit, for example would attract film companies that would otherwise go elsewhere. That wouldn’t necessarily be expensive for us and would make us very competitive. Even Montreal and its workers would benefit, as well as the governments and regions.” According to him, the governments “will recover their investments significantly on taxes imposed on workers and taxes deducted left and right. Even with the tax credit that has gone from 11% to 20% in Quebec, the government comes out the winner.” Montreal is one of the ten major film production centres in North America: -35,000 jobs -500 production and post-production companies -1 billion and more of returns on investment each year, of which 50% will be for salaries -75% of the production volume related to local productions -16% federal tax credit -20% Quebec tax credit -500 various productions in 2006 -5000 filming permits issued in 2006 (Photo: Studio Mel’s)
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Punisher 2 Shooting in Montreal Movie The Punisher 2 Posted By: Michael / Source Related News : Comic Flicks , Crime , Thriller Movie News , According to my anonymous scooper who has proven to be very accurate in his past scoops, The Punisher 2 film will be shooting in Montreal very soon. It invites alot of questions however. For instance who will play the Punisher now that Thomas Jane has quite the film. According to DarkHorizons Punisher 2 has a new director and its an interesting choice. Lexi Alexander who directed Green Street Hooligans has reportedly been tapped for the film. I am not excited at all for Punisher 2. With Thomas Jane having quit the project and the first one having sucked horribly. Thomas Jane reportedly sent a letter to AICN letting them know that he has dropped out of Punisher 2. He has lost faith in the project and feels it does not do the fans justice, so he is dropping out of the project. And no doubt burning some bridges in the way he is coming out (if the letter is legit ) Quote: What I won't do is spend months of my life sweating over a movie that I just don't believe in. I’ve always loved the Marvel guys, and wish them well. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to search for a film that one day might stand with all those films that the fans have asked me to watch. The Entire letter is here. BigFanBoy.com talked to Thomas Jane about Punisher 2 and a very cool bombshell got dropped. The writer who worked on the Pirates of the Caribbean films Stuart Beattie is on board to write the new Punisher film. He also worked on a draft of 30 days of Night so to say this is some kick ass news is an understatement. The sequel is going to have a Taxi Driver feel according to Thomas Jane. Quote: "It's more of a Taxi Driver kind of a feel which I think we'll go for in the second movie," he says. "I think that's where the first one succeeded, where we were doing more realistic type stuff. And if we can, [we should] get away from the lighter aspects of the first film. Because I think that's where the movie failed." We will see how it progresses. The big question is where Marvel stands on the sequel, and not so much what Thomas Jane wants
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Montreal gladly reclaims its 'Hollywood North' tag BRENDAN KELLY, The Gazette Published: Thursday, May 10, 2007 It's amazing what a little labour peace can do for the film business. Only two months after a long, bitter dispute between two rival film technicians unions was finally resolved, local movie folks are positively euphoric as they gear up for their busiest period of Hollywood shooting in years. Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Evangeline Lilly and John Malkovich are all on their way to shoot in Montreal in the coming weeks, and Hans Fraikin - film commissioner at the Quebec Film and Television Council - said Hollywood filming in the city is definitely going to top last year's tally of $150 million. He thinks the total might actually inch toward the $200-million mark and he said the boom is directly tied to the resolution in late February of the feud between the Alliance quebecoise des techniciens de l'image et du son (AQTIS), the local film union, and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), an American union. They were fighting over who should represent the province's film workers. Cate Blanchett: with Brad Pitt. "We were close to total industrial implosion at the beginning of the year," Fraikin said. "It was Armageddon. Now it's looking healthier than expected. But we worked hard on resolving the conflict and convincing people that Quebec was open for business again. And it's paying off." Local industry players got news this week that Death Race 3000 will be produced here. This is a remake of the 1975 cult classic Death Race 2000 that starred David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone in a story set in the future about a violent road race that takes place between New York and Los Angeles. The remake will star British actor Jason Statham and is being produced by Tom Cruise and his producing partner Paula Wagner. The other recent addition to the local film-shoot lineup is Get Smart, the big-screen adaptation of the classic 1960s spy-spoof TV series. Carell will star as goofball secret agent Maxwell Smart, Hathaway will play sultry Agent 99, and Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson will play Agent 23, a newly created character. The producers will shoot only a part of the film here, spending around 20 days in town next month. Pitt and Blanchett will be here for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a Paramount production directed by David Fincher and adapted from the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story about a man who begins to age backwards. That film has already wrapped several months of shooting in New Orleans, and the filmmakers will be here for just eight days at the end of month. They will be filming Old Montreal as Paris and Moscow in winter, which will entail importing huge amounts of artificial snow. Far and away the biggest shoot on the way is The Mummy 3. The crew is already in pre-production for the third instalment in the Mummy series, which begins filming here July 27 and is expected to occupy several sound stages at Mel's Cite du Cinema studio right through to the end of the year. It is estimated that the producers will hire between 800 and 900 local technicians to work on the Universal Pictures project. Brendan Fraser - who was here last summer shooting a new version of Journey to the Center of the Earth - reprises his role as adventurer Rick O'Connell, but Rachel Weisz, who played his wife, will not be on board this time. Action star Jet Li will play the mummy, Michelle Yeoh plays a wizard, and 26-year-old Australian thespian Luke Ford will join the series as O'Connell's son. Filming will continue in China after the Montreal shoot. Kate Beckinsale has been here for a few weeks shooting Whiteout, a thriller about a U.S. marshal hunting a killer in Antarctica, and production has been under way here since late March on the U.S.A. Network series The Dead Zone, which stars Anthony Michael Hall. Alberta-born Lost star Lilly and Malkovich are due here in early June for Afterwards, a Canada-France co-production that co-stars Moliere lead Romain Duris. Brian Baker, business agent at the Quebec branch of the Directors Guild of Canada, said that one reason filming is booming is because the Hollywood producers are ramping up production to stockpile films in case of labour unrest in Hollywood next year. There is widespread speculation that both the Screen Actors Guild and the Writers Guild of America could go on strike in 2008. "But that's not the whole story (behind the Montreal boom) because they're dying in Toronto," Baker said. Fraikin said the shoots are back in our city because the labour issues have been settled. "No producer is going to go anywhere near an unstable industrial environment," Fraikin said. "They can't take the risk." It also helped that two of the bigger hits of the first half of the year, 300 and Blades of Glory, were both shot at least in part here, reminding Hollywood producers that Montreal is a good location. bkelly@thegazette.canwest.com
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Industrie du cinéma à Montréal et tournages mettant Montréal en vedette
un sujet a posté loulou123 dans L'actualité
BLADES OF GLORY Le STADE COMME DÉCOR. Qui eût cru qu'en 2007 le Stade olympique de Montréal serait en vedette dans un film hollywoodien! C'est le cas dans Blades of Glory, une nouvelle comédie avec Will Ferrell où Montréal est à l'honneur. «On a eu tellement de plaisir à tourner à Montréal qu'on aurait aimé y tourner tout le film», dit le plus sérieusement du monde Will Ferrell, en entrevue à Los Angeles la semaine dernière. Blades of Glory est une satire du milieu du patinage artistique dans laquelle Will Ferrell campe un champion déchu. Ceux qui iront au cinéma à partir du 30 mars n'auront pas qu'un air de déjà-vu, le film est une vraie carte postale touristique de la ville ! Tournées l'hiver dernier pendant deux semaines, les scènes du film ont comme décors le Vieux-Montréal, le canal de Lachine, l'Usine Five Roses, l'intérieur et l'extérieur du Palais des congrès et, bien sûr, le Stade olympique où se déroule la finale de patinage artistique. «C'est assez rare que Montréal fasse partie du scénario. Ça ne s'est fait qu'à deux ou trois reprises, comme dans The Score, avec De Niro (2001), et Taking Lives, avec Angelina Jolie (2003)», précise Adrian Knight, directeur montréalais des lieux de tournage. Mis à part le facteur économique, ce qui a séduit les deux réalisateurs du film est l'architecture des années 70. «On aime Montréal, on est fans de l'architecture de la période olympique avec le Stade et Habitat 67, même s'il y en a plusieurs là-bas qui détestent ça !» ont déclaré Josh Gordon et Will Speck, également en entrevue la semaine dernière à Los Angeles. Ces derniers ont aussi été attirés par les canaux fluviaux de la ville où ils ont pu tourner une course en patins. Ils ont toutefois eu des petits pépins avec le bassin Bonsecours qui n'était pas tout à fait gelé en mars, ce qui a eu pour effet de repousser les délais de tournage de deux semaines. Non seulement ils ont tourné une partie du film dans la métropole, mais les spectateurs seront surpris d'entendre quelques figurants s'exprimer en «québécois». Rémy Girard Il y a même Rémy Girard qui fait une courte apparition en homme d'Église au début du film. «Normalement, les équipes qui tournent dans une ville font semblant que ça se déroule ailleurs. Nous, on a mis Montréal partout: sur les sacs, les chaussures, les manteaux», ajoute un des réalisateurs. De fait, sur les objets promotionnels et affiches du film, le nom de Montréal est bien en évidence. À Montréal, on se réjouit d'une telle visibilité. «Ce film sera vu par des millions de personnes dans une soixantaine de pays. Aucune campagne de pub ne peut acheter ce niveau d'exposure», dit Hans Fraikin, du Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision du Québec. «Les retombées économiques d'un tel tournage sont importantes», affirme Adrian Knight, directeur des lieux de tournage, précisant que chaque lieu de tournage bénéficie par le fait même d'un cachet. Blades of Glory (Les Rois du patin) sort en salle le 30 mars. Le film 300, qui bat des records au box-office en ce moment, a été entièrement tourné à Montréal dans les studios Mel's, et ce sont trois sociétés montréalaises qui ont produit les effets visuels. -
300 : de la mythologie et de Montréal Marc-André Lussier La Presse Los Angeles Pour donner forme à la vision mythologique d'une bataille de l'Antiquité qu'a créée l'auteur de Sin City, l'équipe de 300 est venue s'installer à Montréal Vous vous retrouvez dans la cité des anges pour assister à une rencontre de presse organisée à l'occasion de la sortie prochaine de 300, une adaptation d'un roman illustré écrit par l'auteur de Sin City, Frank Miller. La tête encore un peu étourdie par les images saisissantes, créées avec des effets numériques, et la manière très «rock'n'roll» avec laquelle on vient de vous entraîner dans une bataille de l'Antiquité, vous tentez de reprendre un peu votre souffle. En vous attardant à la lecture du générique de fin, vous constatez que les noms à consonance québécoise se multiplient, et défilent pendant un bon moment, liés à pratiquement toutes les étapes de la production. «C'est normal, vous dit alors le réalisateur Zack Snyder (Damn of the Dead). Le film a presque entièrement été fabriqué à Montréal. Dans une proportion d'au moins 90 % je dirais!» La société québécoise Hybride, déjà réputée pour la qualité de ses effets visuels numériques, a notamment été mise à contribution. Les vedettes du film, Gerard Butler, Rodrigo Santoro, Dominic West et Lena Headey, se sont ainsi livrées bataille sur un plateau montréalais devant un écran vert, les décors ayant ensuite été ajoutés à l'étape de la post-production. Jeffrey Silver, l'un des producteurs de ce film épique, doté d'un budget d'environ 55 millions de dollars, a déclaré, lors d'une conférence de presse, que le choix d'établir la production à Montréal avait plein de sens. La bataille des Thermopyles «D'une part, les effets visuels qu'avaient créés Hybride pour Sin City étaient déjà remarquables, a-t-il dit en substance. L'approche de cette entreprise cadrait parfaitement bien avec la vision de Zack. D'autant plus que les techniciens qu'on trouve à Montréal sont de toute première classe. Et puis, il faut aussi dire que les politiques dynamiques mises de l'avant par les autorités pour attirer des tournages à Montréal sont très avantageuses sur le plan financier.» Cet aspect de la chose a évidemment eu son importance. Quand les producteurs sont arrivés dans les bureaux de la Warner Brothers pour lancer l'idée de faire un film à partir de l'ouvrage que Frank Miller avait fait en s'inspirant d'une célèbre bataille de l'Antiquité, l'enthousiasme n'était pas délirant. Du moins, pas au début. «On pouvait les comprendre, explique l'un des producteurs. Troy n'avait pas eu vraiment le succès espéré, et Alexandre avait carrément déçu. Ils pensaient que nous arrivions avec un projet de même nature.» Heureusement pour eux, Sin City a pris l'affiche avec le succès que l'on sait. Le caractère unique de 300, tant sur le plan narratif que visuel, a alors pu convaincre les bonzes de la singularité de la vision proposée. Ainsi, 300 relate de façon très stylisée la mythique bataille des Thermopyles, en 480 avant Jésus Christ, alors que 300 Spartiates, menés par le roi Léonidas 1er (Gerard Butler), se battent jusqu'à la mort contre l'armée perse de Xerxès (Rodrigo Santoro). Gonflé à la testostérone, le film va au bout de son parti pris. Et reste fidèle à l'esprit du graphic novel de Frank Miller. C'est dire que rien n'a été «adouci» au profit d'une vision plus réaliste, plus «humaine», ou plus encline à la rectitude politique. Nous nageons ici en pleine mythologie avec des personnages plus grands que nature, tout en muscles, féroces et sanguinaires. Gerard Butler, vu notamment dans Lara Croft et The Phantom of the Opera, a d'ailleurs dû s'astreindre à une discipline toute spartiate pour donner corps au roi Léonidas. Bernie Goldman, l'un des producteurs du film, affirme que le choix s'est fixé sur Butler quand l'équipe a vu la prestation de ce dernier dans Dear Frankie, un film de Shona Auerbach. «Il émanait de lui une telle masculinité dans ce film que nous avons immédiatement pensé qu'il serait parfait pour le rôle de Léonidas. Gerard fait partie de ces hommes qui n'ont besoin de rien dire pour asseoir leur autorité. Je crois que 300 est le film qui fera de lui une star.» 300 prend l'affiche le 9 mars. Bientôt dans La Presse, nos entrevues avec Rodrigo Santoro, Gerard Butler et Zack Snyder.Les frais de voyage ont été payés par Warner Brothers. J'ai vraiment hate de voir le film... surement j'irais le voir en imax!
