Rebel yell

>> >> Pierre Falardeau discusses his separatist take on history, 15 Février 1839

by SIOBHAN O'CONNOR

"This is one of my many paradoxes," Pierre Falardeau laughs, tapping a finger on his pack of unfiltered Camels. "They're American cigarettes." The self-proclaimed separatist filmmaker, responsible for such films as Octobre, Le Party and the Elvis Gratton serial, needs little introduction--at least not in Quebec, where he's received blackbelts not only for his cinematic portrayals of Québécois history, but also for his inimitable knack for getting people's backs up.

His latest, 15 Février 1839, tells the story of two rebels incarcerated in the Prison of Montreal at Pied-du-Courant following the Patriote insurrection of 1837 against the British authorities. The film shows the last 24 hours in the lives of Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier (Luc Picard) and Charles Hindelang (Frédéric Gilles), who are condemned to be hanged "till they be dead." Though the material isn't as blatantly controversial as, say, that of Octobre (the director's '94 film, which depicts four members of the FLQ and their hostage during the heated October Crisis), Falardeau has nonetheless had a hard time getting the film made.

No common ground

The film offers exactly what most historical dramas do: a very one-sided account of an event. According to Falardeau, however, getting backed for this kind of project depends on what side you're on. "You can do it if you are an English Canadian filmmaker, like the series about Canadian history [on CBC TV]. There's no problem there because they show what is considered the 'official' point of view. But if we try to show these things from our point of view, it's very tough. People say, 'You're biased. You're a crook, a goddamn separatist showing things that never happened.' They say that together we have to find a common story, but it's impossible. In 1837 Quebec there is oppressed and oppressor, hanged and hanger," Falardeau insists. "There's no common point of view."

A seasoned fighter, these troubles are not new to Falardeau. "With every film I've done there have been problems," he says. "Octobre took 10 years of trying. This one only took me five--so in a way it was easier." Financial backing for 15 Février 1839 came from several sources, among them SODEC and the grass-roots Comité du 15 Février, who were formed in '96 after hearing Falardeau on Radio-Canada attacking Telefilm Canada's selection process. According to him, the major dam in his way was Telefilm who, after refusing him funding three times, "gave me less than 10 per cent of my total budget. We asked for peanuts and they gave us the shells."

Open wounds

While parts of 15 Février 1839 were steeped a little too long in the pathos pot, Falardeau has managed to treat some of the material delicately, something he attributes to the story itself. "In every society in the world there are a few wounds that the society doesn't want to look at. This is one. It's kind of forbidden for us to look at these things, which is part of why I tell the story."

Needless to say, Falardeau is anticipating an onslaught of criticism about his portrayal of the English soldiers. While les anglais don't come off as cold-hearted killers, they don't exactly seem like the sharpest tools in the shed. But in Falardeau's world of the oppressed and the oppressor ("there is no grey in prison"), there's no room for in-between. "I know how people in Toronto, at the National Post, the Globe and Mail, react to my films--people take it very personally. There are a few nice guards in the film, but so fucking what? Even nice soldiers will hit you when they're told to. When I was working with the actors, I told them not to play crazed killers--they're just soldiers doing their jobs. "

Despite what one may assume about the film's intended audience, Falardeau insists this film is "more than just a separatist story." While he feels the story of 15 Février 1839 is part of the history of all Quebecers, he concedes that when push comes to shove, "you have to decide for yourself if this is part of your history."

Not only concerned with what's gone on in his own backyard, Falardeau maintains that the film has a larger scope. "Maybe I sound very pretentious, but for me this is about humanity. Quebec is not the only place in the world where things like this happen," he says. "This is my contribution to humanity and it came out of my own way of being human, which is essentiellement Québécois." :

15 Février 1839 opens Friday, Jan. 26