It was by hearing a friend recount his experience as a Christmas tree salesman in New York that filmmaker Stéphane Moukarzel knew he had found a perfect playground in which to set his first feature film, which he wanted above all to be funny.
“I found that there was a lot of comic and unusual potential, but also atmospheric. I saw something there,” he explains.
PHOTO LAURENCE GRANDBOIS BERNARD, PROVIDED BY MAISON 4:3
Scene from Fir$
Fir$produced by Ziad Touma, stars Rémi (Étienne Galloy, seen in the series Red braceletss and High demolition), 21 years old, in debt of nearly $15,000 following an accident. To repay what he owes, the young man hops on a bus, heading to the Big Apple, to go sell Christmas trees. There he will meet Laura (Diane Rouxel, seen in the films Land of men And Sink or swim), a reckless French environmentalist who rebuilds herself after militant exhaustion.
I wanted to present an initiatory journey of discovery and learning. So I wanted a character who is pushed out of his comfort zone. And Rémi would never have gone there by himself.
Stéphane Moukarzel, director
For the performers of the main roles, Étienne Galloy and Diane Rouxel, reading the script left no doubt: the comic potential of the tree stand was well exploited. “It made me die of laughter,” says the one who plays Laura straight away. “Me too, completely cramped,” adds Étienne Galloy. And it was just so up my alley. »
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Director Stéphane Moukarzel surrounded by actors Étienne Galloy and Diane Rouxel
It’s a little different for Diane Rouxel, who had mainly acted in dramas before, but who had wanted to experiment with comedy for a long time: “There’s something freer in the comedic tone. I wanted to be a character who has nothing to hide, so this film does a lot of good. »
The community at the heart of the story
Although it is primarily a situation comedy, many social themes run through Fir$. At the heart of the story, the Bronx community that the two young people will tame. Rémi will make friends with shopkeepers and learn important lessons from the “bricks” of the street.
“At the end of his journey, Rémi has not necessarily accomplished his mission of collecting lots of money, but he has acquired much more: life experience, meetings, openness and tools to face the rest of the world. his life,” underlines the director. The one who was born in Lebanon and grew up in Ivory Coast believes that reaching out to others is perhaps the only remedy for the rise of the extreme right and xenophobia.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Director Stéphane Moukarzel
If there is a message in the film, it is that we must expose ourselves to other realities. This is what makes us more human and this is how we maintain the social fabric.
Stéphane Moukarzel, director
“It’s very enriching to confront people who are different from us. There is a beautiful lesson in openness to the world in Fir$ “, adds Diane Rouxel. His playing partner agrees, specifying that the protagonists learn through unusual encounters, but also through each other. “Our two characters, on different levels, let go and learn to be less rigid by watching the other exist in adversity. »
More than a comedy
If Stéphane Moukarzel decided to work with Germain Larochelle – whom he met at INIS – to write the screenplay, it was because he liked its “pop, but trashy” side. “. “When I suggested it to him, he was excited and he really understood what I wanted to do. The mixture of our two pens created a very particular tone,” says the director.
PHOTO LAURENCE GRANDBOIS BERNARD, PROVIDED BY MAISON 4:3
Scene from the movie Fir$
A tone that really pleased Étienne Galloy. The latter appreciates the ambiguity of the cinematic genre and shines in catastrophic comedies.
I like it when you don’t know whether to laugh or be emotional. In Quebec, we mainly consider that a good performance is to make people cry. I like to deconstruct this belief with films that touch on a little bit of everything.
Etienne Galloy
The actor considers Fir$ like a tour de force: an auteur film that knows how to entertain, but which is also ultra-modern and depicts multiple realities and cultures. A proposition not so usual in Quebec cinema.
“It marked my life, the abundance of cultures and diversity,” says Stéphane Moukarzel. For me, it was essential to represent that in my film, especially considering that it takes place in New York, which like almost all big cities, is very diverse. » And this film is indeed the image of a metropolis: from its disparate influences emerges an inexplicably fluid chaos.
In theaters December 22