The French Connection

He ain't heavy, he's my father: Michel (Olivier Gourmet) travels from Belgium to Quebec to find his biological father (Jean-Pierre Cassel, being carried) in Philippe Falardeau's film Congorama. (Christal Films)

Given that his new film, Congorama, is having its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, it's not surprising that director Philippe Falardeau is a bit obsessed. What's puzzling, however, is the specific object of his fixation: the film's trailer.

"How do we do this without giving the film away?" Falardeau says during a recent interview in his production offices in Montreal's Plateau neighbourhood. "There's humour in the film, but it's not a comedy. There's drama and even a bit of melodrama, but it's playful. Even the poster was a hard one to come up with, because it's a complex film."

Congorama is indeed all that. A delicate family drama with comic flourishes, it's the eagerly anticipated follow-up to Falardeau's feature debut in 2000, La Moitié gauche du frigo (The Left Side of the Fridge), a darkly humorous faux-documentary about two very different men attempting to live together.

Falardeau's new film played to packed houses and received standing ovations at Cannes. The story concerns Michel and Louis — the first is Belgian, the other Quebecois — who form a strange bond when Michel travels to Quebec to find his father and trace the rest of his biological lineage. The film is a sprawling meditation on cultural identity, parenthood, the act of invention and the Congorama exhibit at the World's Fair in Brussels in 1958. If it sounds odd, it is, but there remains a discipline and economy to Falardeau's storytelling style. In writing about the film, one can see Falardeau's dilemma in creating an appropriate trailer: there are some surprising plot twists, none of which should be given away.

"I was extremely surprised about the success of La Moitié gauche du frigo," says Falardeau. "I mean, I was hoping it might play for a few weeks. The audience loved it, as did the critics, but that experience froze me. I got blocked. It was hard to find an idea after that one."

A native of Hull, Quebec, Falardeau says he spent so much time promoting his first feature that all the schmoozing went straight to his head. "Trying to find the subject for a film is like trying to find a girlfriend: it doesn't happen [so easily]. You don't look for a subject, but suddenly something will come up and you realize it'll make a great film. During the fest circuit, I met a lot of Belgian filmmakers, and the Belgian cinema is something I've really been enjoying for the past 15 years."

Congorama director Philippe Falardeau. (Christal Films)

Falardeau found many parallels between Belgium and Quebec, both of which have sometimes strained relations with France. "Belgium is francophone, but it's not French. The humour is much different," says Falardeau. "They have an ability to laugh at themselves, which the French are very reluctant to do. They have a very interesting perspective on life, on politics and poverty. I felt certain affinities with the Belgians. I spent some time there, and it struck me that Quebecers are always caught up in questions of identity. The Belgians really are, too. They have very odd feelings about the French, but they also need them."

Falardeau's next step was to write a deeply personal film that would delve into issues of cultural and familial identity but would not be self-consciously political. On a flight back to Montreal from Brussels, he wrote a brief treatment, no more than a few pages. He showed it to Montreal-based producer Luc Dery, who quickly pulled together funding for the picture. Despite the leap of faith a film like Congorama requires, Falardeau says Dery immediately saw something unique.

"Yes, much of what happens in the film becomes quite unusual," concedes Falardeau. "This man is seeking his father in Quebec, but he's also seeking out his own identity at the same time, and there are coincidences. But it's amazing, the number of coincidences in one day that we experience. In a film, such events would seem contrived or unbelievable."

Falardeau throws a lot of ingredients into this huge, complicated plot, but keeps it all grounded in believability — no small feat. "[Stanley] Kubrick said that real is good, but interesting is better. We have had a strong tradition of cinema verité documentary here in Quebec, and that's meant a certain way of filming things. I like to take my stories elsewhere, but continue to film things and keep the actors very real and believable. I always make sure the actors can keep you believing in it."

Falardeau's casting is outstanding. Olivier Gourmet, the seasoned Belgian actor who has appeared in critically acclaimed films like L'Enfant, plays Michel. Paul Ahmarani, who won a Prix Jutra for best actor in La Moitié gauche du frigo, plays the Quebecer Louis.

Thematically, Falardeau says he finds inspiration in two British masters of class-warfare filmmaking, Ken Loach and Mike Leigh. "I can't watch Secrets and Lies without crying," he confesses.

If there was a hitch in the filmmaking process, it came when Falardeau realized he was treading on familiar cinematic territory — here was yet another Quebec film about tortured relations between men and their fathers. "C.R.A.Z.Y. had just done this, and Les Invasions barbares had just done this, and done it very well. I tried to do mine quite differently in style, however. I've worked to keep things very playful."

Congorama screens at TIFF Sept. 11 and 13.

Matthew Hays is a writer based in Montreal.

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