Funkytown (film)
| Funkytown | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Daniel Roby |
| Produced by |
Simon Trottier André Rouleau |
| Written by | Steve Galluccio |
| Starring |
Patrick Huard Justin Chatwin Sarah Mutch Paul Doucet Raymond Bouchard François Létourneau Romina D'Ugo |
| Distributed by | Caramel Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 132 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language |
English French |
| Budget | CAD $7.2 million |
Funkytown is a 2011 Canadian drama film directed by Daniel Roby and written by Steve Galluccio.[1]
Set in Montreal during the disco era, the film revolves around the Starlight, a fictionalized version of Montreal's famed Lime Light discothèque. It depicts this world starting in 1976, when Montreal was considered one of the world's top nightclub destinations, through to 1980, when the fashion for disco was about to experience a sharp decline. By the early 1980s political issues such as Quebec's 1980 independence referendum had fractured and polarized the city, and Montreal had also begun to experience a decade of economic decline. By then, it had ceased to be the largest city in Canada, and had ceased as well to be Canada's financial and industrial centre.[2]
Some scenes of the film were in fact shot inside, outside and in the surroundings of the building which had housed the Lime Light, at 1258 Stanley Street. It now houses the premium strip club "Chez Parée" and the dance club "La Boom".[3]
Cast
Raymond Bouchard stars as Gilles Lefebvre, a record producer and impresario who runs the club with his son Daniel (François Létourneau). Paul Doucet stars as Jonathan Aaronson, a flamboyant gay radio, television and fashion personality and trendsetter (a fictionalised version of Douglas Coco Leopold). Patrick Huard stars as Bastien Lavallée, an influential radio and television personality whose dance music shows play a key role in promoting the city's disco scene. Lavallée is a fictionalized version of real-life Montreal radio and television personality Alain Montpetit.[1]
The cast also includes Geneviève Brouillette (as Mimi, a former Gogo singer now down on her luck), Justin Chatwin (as Tino, a young Italian waiter and disco dancer), Romina D'Ugo (as Tino's girlfriend), Sophie Cadieux (as Helene, Daniel Lefebvre's secretary), and Sarah Mutch (as Adriana, a model who wants to become a disco singer).
Language
Like the 2006 film Bon Cop, Bad Cop, the film features dialogue in both English and French. For French audiences the English dialogue is subtitled, while for English audiences the French dialogue is subtitled.
The film has faced some controversy for its mixture of languages, with one journalist for La Presse accusing it of being essentially an English film with only token dialogue in French, rather than a truly bilingual film.[4]
References
- 1 2 "Quebec filmmakers take viewers to Funkytown of '70s Montreal". Vancouver Sun, March 4, 2011.
- ↑ Lederman, Lew. "Some Effects on Investment of the Election in Quebec of the Parti Québécois". Canadian Insights and Perspectives (Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada) April 18, 2002.
- ↑ Kelly, Brendan "Disco's stayin' alive: Steve Galluccio's latest feature, Funkytown, puts Montreal back into The Limelight to celebrate the city's dance-crazy heyday of the 1970s" The Gazette (Montreal) 15 June 2009. pg. A.22
- ↑ "'Funkytown' explores the dark heart of disco in English and French". Winnipeg Free Press, March 1, 2011.