On September the 30th, a celebration took place near la Place des Arts in Montreal. Guy Édoin was celebrating, along with his cast, crew, extras and we journalists, the premiere of his new movie Ville-Marie. As a new movie is always something to be happy about, I joined the event to meet a few members of Guy Édoin’s team and of course, to meet the director himself.
I conducted this interview a few minutes before seeing his movie, and after learning a lot about this project. I was actually hooked before seeing it and the movie did not let me down. Guy Édoin seemed to have a lot of fun, to deeply enjoy the work he had accomplished with his cast, and had some very nice words to say to every actor involved. Here is our conversation:
Jennifer Guillet (JG): You wrote and directed the movie. Where did your inspiration come from?
Guy Édoin (GE): This story comes from a lot of different things. For the last 10 years, all my movies have been taking place in the countryside, so I wanted to make one in a city. I wanted Montreal to be one of the characters. I also wanted a story in the medical world, I wanted an hospital in it so I could explore that kind of atmosphere. That is how the character of the nurse [Pascale Bussière’s character] was born. I also had the idea of a foreign actress [Monica Bellucci’s character] coming on a Montreal set in the movie. I liked that. You could say it was born from multiple ideas, and desires.
JG: This is not the first time that you filmed Pascale Bussière. Is she your favourite actress?
GE: I really love this actress, I think she is extraordinary. I would not necessarily say she is my favourite, but she is excellent at what she does. The idea of this nurse was stuck with me and her image came in my mind more and more. It sort of just happened.
JG: And how is it to work with Monica Bellucci?
GE: It’s…it’s extraordinary. It is amazing, and at the same time it is exactly the same as directing another actress. The work is the same as a director. It was very simple actually. She is highly professional, she knows exactly what she does, she always comes prepared. She is also very intelligent and I love how she makes the script sound. She has an intelligence for the words that is very interesting. It was just a giant pleasure to direct Monica.
JG: I have a last question for you. When I wrote and co-directed a student movie, I remember my feelings when I saw it on screen. Do you remember the first time you saw your work on screen? What do you feel when one of your movies is done and it goes on the big screen?
GE: I haven’t seen my movies in a long time, but there is always a very special emotion linked to those movies. A feeling of work well done, of a duty that is completed. When the movie is wrapped up, when the post-production is complete, I always feel a very particular thing. I guess it is the kind of things that you experience after an accomplishment.
Ville-Marie premiered in Montreal on September 30th and is now playing in theatres.
