For his first feature film entitled Fir$, Montreal filmmaker Stéphane Moukarzel was interested in the phenomenon of Quebecers who sell Christmas trees on New York street corners while living in their van. If this dramatic holiday season comedy is, according to him, “whimsical,” it still addresses serious subjects, such as gentrification and openness to others.
Every year, tree planters or fruit pickers migrate to the Big Apple in November, to sell trees there for about a month. The protagonist, Rémi (Étienne Galloy), is not a seasonal worker, but he nevertheless decides to follow the parade to repay a debt contracted after making a blunder in Quebec. At his kiosk in the bustling Bronx neighborhood, he learned the hard way the harshness of this way of life. The 21-year-old man, originally from La Tuque, will also try to tame his teammate, Laura (Diane Rouxel), whom he nicknames “YOLO yoga”.
The idea for this film came to Stéphane Moukarzel in 2018, after a discussion with a friend who had already sold Christmas trees. “He was telling me about his experience and I didn’t know that, so I said to myself: ‘Wow, there’s a lot of stuff going on! There’s a whole cinematic universe to explore,” he told Dutyseated at a bar in the Montreal district of Mile End where there are also Quebecer Étienne Galloy and Frenchwoman Diane Rouxel.
For this feature film co-written with Germain Larochelle, he was inspired by anecdotes gleaned during meetings with Christmas tree sellers. “I was told that there is always someone trying to steal a tree from you,” says Stéphane Moukarzel. In his work, however, the filmmaker has “pushed to the extreme” certain adventures experienced by this type of worker in order to create a comic effect, he explains, displaying a big smile.
The character of Laura, an environmental activist dreaming of going to Nicaragua, corresponds to the typical profile of those who hold this type of seasonal job, according to Moukarzel. In contrast, Rémi is truly a “fish out of water” in this adventure. “The idea was to take someone who is not equipped to do that, but for it to be part of their learning, to be out of their comfort zone. And finally, he managed to do the same. »
Against a backdrop of gentrification
Social themes punctuate this initiatory story, such as the gentrification of the Bronx. This phenomenon will affect the wise old people who run the local bar, a place where they regularly comfort Rémi. The actor Étienne Galloy says he was touched by this more committed part of the scenario. “It’s not just surface comedy, it’s super clever. I also really liked all the openness to others that we find there,” says the man who has notably played in the films Kuessipan (2019) and Prank (2016).
When he embarked on this project about five years ago, Stéphane Moukarzel was concerned about the presidency of Donald Trump in the United States and the rise of the far right in Europe. He therefore wanted to emphasize in this dramatic comedy the importance of leaving home to awaken to other cultures. “You have to meet different people. This is how we avoid falling into radicalization later,” he maintains.
The director also sought to illustrate the stories of the tree sellers who praised the generosity of Americans towards them, particularly when it came to finding a place to shower. “We think that New York is like a big jungle, but in fact, a Quebecer who had done this work there told me that [ce genre d’offres de la part d’inconnus] would never have happened to him in Montreal. »
Two mismatched friends
If tolerance and community are themes that run through Fir$, the filmmaker believes that it is not a “message film”. Instead, he wanted to make a feature film that mixes several genres and subgenres, such as the paranoid thriller or the “ friends movie “. This last type of comedy, also called buddy movie, often presents two mismatched heroes – in this case Rémi and Laura – who end up becoming friends through the trials they experience together.
Étienne Galloy and Diane Rouxel also crack jokes at each other throughout the interview. The actress says she embarked on the project after having a coffee in Paris with Stéphane Moukarzel two months before the start of filming. “I told him about my adventures when I was younger and climbing on freight trains. I think that reassured her, saying to herself: ‘Okay, she’ll be able to spend a month outside,'” says the woman who has played in the films, among others. Heads up (2015) and Sink or swim (2018).
Étienne Galloy and Diane Rouxel, who met through the feature film, say they took care of each other during filming. “At one point it was raining in a dumpster at 4 a.m. I said to myself: “But what am I doing in a Quebec comedy filmed in Montreal in a setting where it’s New York?” […] But it was funny and I have great memories of it,” recalls the one who plays Laura.
As in any good Christmas film, viewers will witness the birth of a love story, but not necessarily the one they expect. “We said to ourselves that we would mix romance in there, but that we would twist it. We found it more interesting than going for something too conventional,” concludes Stéphane Moukarzel.