Rodeo recounts the chaotic journey of a confused father and his young daughter to attend the most important truck rodeo in the world. A headlong rush carried by the sensitivity of Joëlle Desjardins Paquette’s gaze and the complicity of her two main performers: Maxime Le Flaguais and the young Lilou Roy-Lanouette.
We quickly understand why the current goes so well on the screen between Lilou Roy-Lanouette and Maxime Le Flaguais when we find ourselves facing the tandem: between them, it does not just click in front of the camera. He’s old enough to be her father – she’s 12, he’s 40 – but they tease each other like two good friends or like an uncle and a niece who have something in common.
Joëlle Desjardins Paquette, director and co-screenwriter (with Sarah Lévesque) of Rodeo, ensures that the complicity between the two felt from the hearings. “We talked to each other full, even before starting the audition. I liked it because it is so nono”, launches Lilou Roy-Lanouette (Jouliks) about Maxime Le Flaguais, with a big smile like that.
PHOTO KARENE-ISABELLE JEAN-BAPTISTE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Maxime Le Flaguais, Lilou Roy-Lanouette and Joëlle Desjardins Paquette
The filmmaker was not satisfied with this chemistry due to chance, specifies Maxime Le Flaguais.
Joëlle forced us to meet before the shoot. She organized activities for us to spend time together and it was really a good idea.
Maxime Le Flaguais, who lends his features to Serge Jr. in Rodeo
The actor notably played minigolf with his young vis-à-vis.
That the chemistry operates between these two actors was essential: they are the only characters we see on screen during most of the film. Rodeo is a kind of camera that tells the trip to Canada that Serge Jr. (Maxime Le Flaguais) undertakes with his daughter Lily (Lilou Roy-Lanouette) to go to the biggest truck rodeo in the world, in the badlands region , Alberta.
This surprise trip hides a murkier reality: Serge Jr. and Lily’s mother are separated. He is unreliable, unstable, not very mature. This risks costing him custody of his daughter, whom he adores and with whom the trucker shares a passion for heavy metal and trucks. Not the little ones pickupthe real ones trucks : those tractor trucks that pull heavy trailers on the roads of America.
fatherly chaos
Joëlle Desjardins Paquette drew on her memories to write the screenplay for Rodeo. As a child, she accompanied her father to festivals where truckers race and smoke shows. “It was special father-daughter moments because my mother didn’t come,” she recalls. The world of trucking came quickly enough for the story I wanted to tell. She also films with great affection, even poetry, these immense metallic beasts.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE PRODUCTION
Maxime Le Flaguais and Lilou Roy-Lanouette in Rodeo
The essence of his film is, however, in the relationship of affection and chaos between the father and his daughter. “He’s nice and he has his own way of showing it, let’s say, says Lilou Roy-Lanouette about Serge Jr. And he thinks quickly: he makes decisions by relying on his emotions, at that time. At times, he’s super irresponsible, but deep down he just wants to hang out with his daughter. It’s understandable, but he’s not doing it the right way. »
“What marked me the most in their relationship is that he realizes at some point that she is a bit of his mirror, underlines Maxime Le Flaguais. When Lily has behaviors that he finds reprehensible, he realizes that it comes from him. He takes responsibility as a father. The trip to Alberta thus turns out to be a metaphor for the inner journey of this dad who is not always friendly.
Joëlle Desjardins Paquette wanted an imperfect character full of love.
Me, I really love him. Yes, he is an impulsive guy who is really not the champion of good decisions, but we feel that it comes from a good background.
Joëlle Desjardins Paquette, director and co-screenwriter of Rodeo
Lily herself knows that this improvised trip has something suspicious even if, from the top of her 9 years, she cannot put her finger on it. The spectator is never fooled by the lies and manipulations of Serge Jr., a desperate guy, but not to the point of becoming dangerous. “It was important to follow this fine moral line, so that we couldn’t say to ourselves that it was just a bad thing or that it was really beautiful what he was doing for his daughter,” says the director.
Rodeo earned Joëlle Desjardins Paquette the prize for best direction at the Whistler Film Festival last fall, where she also picked up the EDA award for best film directed by a woman. Women occupied almost all the key positions in this production. Lilou Roy-Lanouette received a special mention from the jury in Whistler for her performance.
On display