What do the songs have in common And if you did not existby Joe Dassin, It’s vacation time, by Pierre Lalonde and HappyTogether, from The Turtles? These old hits can be found on the musical score of slush heartthe new film by Mariloup Wolfe adapted from the youth novel of the same title by Sarah-Maude Beauchesne.
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This is Mariloup Wolfe (Arlette) and Sarah-Maude Beauchesne (Fork) who had the idea of punctuating their film with old songs to tinge it with a certain nostalgia.
“We could have put hits of the hour everywhere in the film, but I don’t think it would have been a good idea to go in this direction, explains director Mariloup Wolfe, met on Tuesday, on the occasion from the exit of slush hearton June 16.
“In two years, young people will no longer listen to the songs they listen to today. On the other hand, there are hits that were released 50 years ago and will still be hits in 50 years…”
Sarah-Maude Beauchesne, who herself wrote the screenplay adapted from her novel, believes that not having anchored the film in a specific era could help it reach a wider audience.
“We wanted to get as much the teenager who is 16 years old in 2023 as the mother who is nostalgic for her first love and the music she listened to during her adolescence, underlines the author and screenwriter.
Supervised by Frédéric Paco Monnier, the musical score of slush heart also includes Love Is Strangeby Mickey & Sylvia (a nod to the film dirty dancing) And Big Jet Plane, by Angus and Julia Stone. Singer Fanny Bloom has recorded new versions of Littlest Things (by Lily Allen) and When I love once I love forever (by Richard Desjardins) especially for the film.
Negotiations
The film’s producer, Christian Larouche (Confessions, Louis Cyr), hadn’t planned to put so much music in the film at first. It was Mariloup Wolfe who convinced him of the need to do so.
“It was my negotiation with him, laughs the director.
“I think you never put enough money into soundtracks. We always chew up part of the music budget during filming and when we get to choosing the songs, we don’t have any more money to acquire the rights.
“But in the case of slush heart, as soon as I brought up the first images, it was clear in my head that it took a lot of music. I told Christian that to reach the target audience (teenagers), he’s going to put on a lot of tunes. Because young people listen to music everywhere: in their car, in their room, at parties…”
In the end, Christian Larouche said he was very happy to have agreed to loosen his purse strings to buy the rights to the songs that Mariloup Wolfe wanted to have.
“It was over budget by a lot of people but I think it’s for the good of the movie. It was worth it,” he argues.
Adapted from the novel of the same title by Sarah-Maude Beauchesne, slush heart chronicles the summer of Billie’s first love, a 16-year-old teenager (played by Liliane Skelly) who works as a lifeguard at a water park. The film will be released on June 16 in some fifty theaters across the province.
Some of the songs from the movie:
And if you did not existby Joe Dassin
It’s vacation timeby Pierre Lalonde
HappyTogetherfrom The Turtles
Love Is Strangeby Mickey & Sylvia
Big Jet Plane, by Angus and Julia Stone
Littlest Things, by Lily Allen (played by Fanny Bloom)
When I love once I love forever, by Richard Desjardins (played by Fanny Bloom)
Unchained Melodyby Hy Zaret and Alex North (played by Fanny Bloom)