Montreal filmmaker and critic Denis Côté.
For over 10 years, Montreal filmmaker and critic Denis Côté has been at the centre of Quebec’s independent, low-budget film scene, as director and collaborator on a series of distinct and original shorts, and as a cultural journalist, using his sharp critical pen to trash mainstream cinema he argues is too often banal. Côté’s first feature-length film, Les États nordiques (2005), told the strikingly chilly story of a man who escapes to a small Arctic community after euthanizing his aged mother. This year, he brings Nos vies privée (Our Private Lives) to TIFF, his (typically off-kilter) take on what happens when two Bulgarians (played by real-life Bulgarian couple Anastassia Liutova and Penko Gospodinov) meet in rural Quebec after a lengthy internet flirtation. Côté spoke to CBCNews.ca Arts about his creative process and the divided audience responses to his work.
Q: This is a highly unusual film. Can you tell me a bit about your inspiration for it?
A: It’s a very bizarre story; frankly, you could even call it an accident. My main idea was to create a very modern romance, and I felt there was nothing more modern or new than an internet romance. People know I’m attracted to Eastern Europe. I wanted to go and write a story near the Black Sea. Then it became a crazy dream to go and improvise something on video, with no script, no money, nothing, and do it with the locals there. One day, I was hunting for some actors in Bulgaria on the internet, and I found this great stage director named Javor Gardev. He forwarded me eight e-mail addresses and said, “I don’t know who you are or what you want but here are the addresses of my regular collaborators. Good Luck.” Penko and Anastassia answered me right away. I went to Sofia to meet them. They were very surprised about the proposition. Things changed a little, and I decided to invite them here to Quebec and instead create a story in an environment I could control with my own crew.
Q: I love the performances in this film. Were there a lot of rehearsals? Was there improvisation?
A: Oddly enough, and since I don’t understand a word of Bulgarian, there was no improvisation and no rehearsals. We stayed in contact exclusively through e-mails before production. The actors translated the whole script in their language and then they came here. When they got out of the plane, it was our second encounter, ever! And I also discovered they were a real-life couple, which was quite surprising. On the set, they were so professional it scared me.
A: Les États nordiques was made for $100 000, Our Private Lives for $20,000, on video, hand-held, with minimum crew. Both films were made with very free-spirited guerrilla approaches. Both films are very minimalist, too. Some critics or film buffs are allergic to that urgency and react strongly to it. They get annoyed by what they consider arty, self-indulgent amateurism. Maybe they are right. I don’t really care. [French director Erich] Rohmer used to say that a filmmaker needs to keep his “amateur side” alive to stay passionate. I agree.
A: Well, as I said, I was a film critic, and at times quite a nasty one. So I think it’s a bit easier for me to be a little detached and respect everybody’s opinion. With the internet era and the ‘my-opinion-on-my-shitty-blog-is-as-good-as-yours’ trend, there’s a film critic-bashing phenomenon going on and I think we must fight against that. I respect film criticism a lot. But at the same, being nasty just for the sake of being nasty and different can affect your credibility sooner or later.
A: Not my cup of tea. Sorry. In my critic days, I needed to express an opinion about these blockbusters. Now, thank God, I don’t even have to see them.
Nos vies privée (Our Private Lives) screens at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 7 and 9.
Matthew Hays is a Montreal-based writer.
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