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C.R.A.Z.Y. Director Jean-Marc Vallée
Produced by :
Jean-Marc Vallée & Pierre Even
Jean-Marc Vallée & Pierre Even
Director :
Jean-Marc Vallée
Jean-Marc Vallée
Director of photography :
Pierre Mignot
Pierre Mignot
Artistic director :
Patrice Bricault-Vermette
Patrice Bricault-Vermette
Director of visual effects :
Marc Côté
Marc Côté
Effects coordinator :
Audrey Boivin
Audrey Boivin
Online editor :
Isabelle Langlois
Isabelle Langlois
Chief compositor :
Nicolas Cadorette
Nicolas Cadorette
Senior compositor :
Daniel Coupal
Daniel Coupal
Compositors :
Franck Maillet, Thai Son Doan, Jean-Philippe Traoré
Franck Maillet, Thai Son Doan, Jean-Philippe Traoré
Chief CGI :
Sylvain Théroux
Sylvain Théroux
CGI artist :
Daniel Beaudry
Daniel Beaudry
Matte painting :
Louis Mélançon
Louis Mélançon
Graphic design :
May Taratuta
May Taratuta
Related links :
10 years of toil, and a wondrous result !
Filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée sank heart and soul, not to mean on his own cash, plus $600,000 just for music into his new and intensely personal film, C.R.A.Z.Y. But it was all worth it: He's made simply the best Quebécois movie in years.
Jean-Marc Vallée appears taken aback when told that there is an enormous advance critical Buzz surrounding C.R.A.Z.Y., his latest film.
The Montreal filmmaker has spent the past decade pouring his heart and soul into this ambitious French-language flick, which follows one of five brothers from a suburban Montreal family over the course of two decades, and Vallée seems almost overwhelmed that his labour of love is finally set to hit the big screen, on Friday.
He claims no knowledge of the growing type about C.R.A.Z.Y. from the city’s film critics, though he’s quick to add that “good buzz is ok.” The difference with C.R.A.Z.Y.’s buzz is that for once it’s warranted and isn’t artificially drummed up by film distributor to kick-start ticket sales.
C.R.A.Z.Y. is, quite simply, the best Québécois film in years, and it’s a powerful enough coming of-age tale that it can be legitimately mentioned in the same breath as Jean-Claude Lauzon’s masterpiece Léolo.
It turns out this kind of talk makes Vallée a little nervous.
“We‘ll see how people react to the film” said Vallée, who until now has been best known for the snappy 1995 low-budget thriller Liste noire. “If critics say it’s one of the best in years, that’s their thing.
“It was done with heart. We sweated blood making this film. The actors, the crew, everyone. We wanted to do something different, something special, like the main character, Zach.
”But I don’t want all this hypo to go to my head. I just hope the audience will go see it, because I put so much money in it”
Unlike virtually everyone else in the Canadian film biz, Vallée put his money where his mouth is. He is risking him own dough on C.R.A.Z.Y. and not just spending government handouts. He waived his director and producer fees to help finance the film, which has a $7-millions budget.
He gave up his own salary because he knew he had to direct the film since the moment 10 years ago when co-screenwritter François Boulay told him about his experiences growing up in a family of five brothers.
“I thought it was a beautiful story” said Vallée, who also directed 1997’s Los locos and the 1999 film Loser Love.
Boulay’s story – of bitter family conflicts, of a brother who died at a young age – struck a chord with Vallée, and the two soon started writing the script about the five Beaulieu boys growing up in the lower-middle class burbs here in the ‘60s and ‘70s. The title of the film is an acronym for the names of the five boys: Christian, Raymond, Antoine, Zachary and Yvan.
The main focus in on Zachary, the fourth of five boys, who’s constantly tormented by the oldest kid and has his little world shattered when his macho dad (played with pent-up intensity by Michel Côté) turn on him for being too effeminate. Young Zachary is played by Vallée’s son Émile; as a teenager, the character is portrayed by Marc-André Grondin.
“I feel different, just like this guy,” Vallée said. “I was the artist of the family. This film is also very important for me because of my (two sons). I want them to see this message of tolerance.”
Vallée always had an ambitious vision for the film. “I wanted to play with everything that cinema offers, to make a film with magic,” the director said. “But we can’t often do that in Quebec because it costs too much”
So he decided to make it in English in the United States, where he has good contacts.
“But I approached Michel Côté before going to the States with it, “Vallée said. “Côté read the script, and he gave me sh-, He said: You’ll make the film in Quebec with me.”
The other cool thing about C.R.A.Z.Y. is the soundtrack which features a slew of classic tunes from the ‘60s and ‘70s, including the title-inspiring song Crazy by Patsy Cline, the Rolling Stones’ Sympathy for the Devil, David Bowie’s Space Oddity and Pink Floyd’s Shine on You Crazy Diamond. Rock songs of this calibre don’t usually turn up in Québécois films because it’s too expensive to acquire the rights. But Vallée, a rock-music junkie, felt he needed these tracks in the film, and he was willing to shell-out for the rights. The music budget was $600,000, an unprecedented sum for a local flick.
“The music is almost a character in the film “Vallée said. “Most of the songs are there for a specific reason”
Often you see the characters actually laying a vinyl album on to a turntable, including in a memorable scene with Zach lip syncing to Space Oddity.
That’s one more sign of just how personal this film is for Vallée. Much of the soundtrack was lifted off his own record collection.
C.R.A.Z.Y. opens Friday in French and in French with English subtitles at Ex-centris
bkelly@thegazette.canwest.com
Jean-Marc Vallée appears taken aback when told that there is an enormous advance critical Buzz surrounding C.R.A.Z.Y., his latest film.
The Montreal filmmaker has spent the past decade pouring his heart and soul into this ambitious French-language flick, which follows one of five brothers from a suburban Montreal family over the course of two decades, and Vallée seems almost overwhelmed that his labour of love is finally set to hit the big screen, on Friday.
He claims no knowledge of the growing type about C.R.A.Z.Y. from the city’s film critics, though he’s quick to add that “good buzz is ok.” The difference with C.R.A.Z.Y.’s buzz is that for once it’s warranted and isn’t artificially drummed up by film distributor to kick-start ticket sales.
C.R.A.Z.Y. is, quite simply, the best Québécois film in years, and it’s a powerful enough coming of-age tale that it can be legitimately mentioned in the same breath as Jean-Claude Lauzon’s masterpiece Léolo.
It turns out this kind of talk makes Vallée a little nervous.
“We‘ll see how people react to the film” said Vallée, who until now has been best known for the snappy 1995 low-budget thriller Liste noire. “If critics say it’s one of the best in years, that’s their thing.
“It was done with heart. We sweated blood making this film. The actors, the crew, everyone. We wanted to do something different, something special, like the main character, Zach.
”But I don’t want all this hypo to go to my head. I just hope the audience will go see it, because I put so much money in it”
Unlike virtually everyone else in the Canadian film biz, Vallée put his money where his mouth is. He is risking him own dough on C.R.A.Z.Y. and not just spending government handouts. He waived his director and producer fees to help finance the film, which has a $7-millions budget.
He gave up his own salary because he knew he had to direct the film since the moment 10 years ago when co-screenwritter François Boulay told him about his experiences growing up in a family of five brothers.
“I thought it was a beautiful story” said Vallée, who also directed 1997’s Los locos and the 1999 film Loser Love.
Boulay’s story – of bitter family conflicts, of a brother who died at a young age – struck a chord with Vallée, and the two soon started writing the script about the five Beaulieu boys growing up in the lower-middle class burbs here in the ‘60s and ‘70s. The title of the film is an acronym for the names of the five boys: Christian, Raymond, Antoine, Zachary and Yvan.
The main focus in on Zachary, the fourth of five boys, who’s constantly tormented by the oldest kid and has his little world shattered when his macho dad (played with pent-up intensity by Michel Côté) turn on him for being too effeminate. Young Zachary is played by Vallée’s son Émile; as a teenager, the character is portrayed by Marc-André Grondin.
“I feel different, just like this guy,” Vallée said. “I was the artist of the family. This film is also very important for me because of my (two sons). I want them to see this message of tolerance.”
Vallée always had an ambitious vision for the film. “I wanted to play with everything that cinema offers, to make a film with magic,” the director said. “But we can’t often do that in Quebec because it costs too much”
So he decided to make it in English in the United States, where he has good contacts.
“But I approached Michel Côté before going to the States with it, “Vallée said. “Côté read the script, and he gave me sh-, He said: You’ll make the film in Quebec with me.”
The other cool thing about C.R.A.Z.Y. is the soundtrack which features a slew of classic tunes from the ‘60s and ‘70s, including the title-inspiring song Crazy by Patsy Cline, the Rolling Stones’ Sympathy for the Devil, David Bowie’s Space Oddity and Pink Floyd’s Shine on You Crazy Diamond. Rock songs of this calibre don’t usually turn up in Québécois films because it’s too expensive to acquire the rights. But Vallée, a rock-music junkie, felt he needed these tracks in the film, and he was willing to shell-out for the rights. The music budget was $600,000, an unprecedented sum for a local flick.
“The music is almost a character in the film “Vallée said. “Most of the songs are there for a specific reason”
Often you see the characters actually laying a vinyl album on to a turntable, including in a memorable scene with Zach lip syncing to Space Oddity.
That’s one more sign of just how personal this film is for Vallée. Much of the soundtrack was lifted off his own record collection.
C.R.A.Z.Y. opens Friday in French and in French with English subtitles at Ex-centris
bkelly@thegazette.canwest.com