Even before the documentary was released Outside Serge outside on November 19, previously presented as part of the Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal (RIDM) which opens this Wednesday, a certain stir took hold on social networks. At the mere sight of the trailer, where we learn that the actor Serge Thériault, in the grip of a serious depression, has not left his home for six years, we worried that all of this was than voyeurism. However, this is not the case, on the contrary.
A slightly sensationalist title of a gossip magazine, according to which Serge Thériault would have been filmed without his knowledge, set fire to the powders, think the directors Martin Fournier and Pier-Luc Latulippe, who seem very surprised (and a little overwhelmed ) by the great interest that their film provokes. This is the first question we ask them all the time, if Serge Thériault approves this documentary. The answer is yes, mostly for his wife, it seems, but he doesn’t want to see it. “He is not ready,” explains Martin Fournier.
I reassure you right away, we are a long way here from the documentary formatted for TV with archival footage where, after the break, a dark star in the hell of drugs.
Rather, it is one of the most heartbreaking films I have seen about the impact of mental illness on loved ones of someone in great pain.
Outside Serge outside, shot freely for three years by independent filmmakers, is exceptional, without voyeurism, and of great beauty, which honors the best hours of Quebec documentary cinema. I looked at it twice to get the depth of it.
However, we understand why it arouses so much curiosity. Everyone is wondering where is Serge Thériault, one of the most talented and beloved actors in Quebec, a national gem. Serge Thériault, it’s Ding and Dong, it’s Môman from The Little Life who is still on TV, he is the unforgettable father of the film Gaz Bar Blues. The title Outside Serge outside is a nod to what Ding and Dong sang at the end of Lundis des Ha! Ha !, when they invited the public out of Club Soda. ” Outside my audience, outside … ”
This project was born from the admiration and love that Martin Fournier and Pier-Luc Latulippe had for the actor. They showed up to his house with a plant as a gift and a vague wish to work with him, but instead ran into his wife, Anna Suazo, who explained the situation to them. Serge didn’t want to see anyone and didn’t leave the house anymore.
“It touched us a lot,” explains Pier-Luc Latulippe. We found her very strong. For her, it’s normal to take care of him. A beauty emanated from her, but at the same time you felt her very lonely. We decided to stay in touch, just to get some news. We couldn’t leave her in that situation. As human beings, we found it difficult to just go away. ”
At the end of her tether, Anna was waiting for some sort of miracle to get her partner out of his lethargy, and this miracle is perhaps this modest 67-minute film, where we hardly see the actor, but those who care about him. We then understand the daily life of caregivers, to whom this film is dedicated. How many themselves can be alone when they are the last bulwark that can prevent someone from permanently falling into the abyss. “We called psychologists, psychiatrists, community centers, remembers Martin Fournier. After a year or two, we didn’t have a solution, we couldn’t figure out what we could do to help Anna get through this thing and help Serge, in a way. Serge does not want to receive help. How do you help someone who is in pain and does not want to be helped? We were at a loss. But we thought that maybe the miracle that Anna expected was going to happen during the film. ”
The directors did not want to revisit the comedian’s past or do interviews with his colleagues, but to document what was happening in the present. Thus, they got closer to Anna, but also to Mélina, the teenage daughter of Serge and Anna, who would like her father to get better. Finally, they discovered Robert and Jolande, a couple who live in the apartment under Serge Thériault’s and who help him regularly. People full of candor, touching in their kindness, on whom Anna, Mélina and Serge can count.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CHEVAL FILMS
Jolande, Anna and Robert
The filmmaker Jacques Godbout has already said that by filming a documentary, if you encounter an obstacle or a problem, you have to film it, which Fournier and Latulippe did, by not filming Serge Thériault who, in any case, does not would not have wanted. A large part of the film takes place with Robert and Jolande, witnesses of the spectral presence of Serge Thériault, who lives above their heads. It is very particular to see this type of confinement as we are struggling to come out of that of the pandemic, which lasted much less than six years. What the pain of living can do is tragic.
How is Serge Thériault today? The directors believe that it is not for them to answer, but for Anna, while adding that in mental illness there are ups and downs.
You have to understand that even if the entire planet adores you, depression is terrible in that it makes you suffer, no matter how much care is taken, which is nonetheless essential.
Martin Fournier and Pier-Luc Latulippe simply want the public to receive their film with love, because it is with love that they shot it. “There are still people who have heart, like Anna and Robert, notes Martin Fournier. I find her extraordinary, this woman, I want to put the spotlight on her, that we say that she is a person larger than life. “” We were touched by the history of these people, continues Pier-Luc Latulippe. Looks like it gives some kind of hope in human beings, people who are good. ”
This is exactly what inspires Outside Serge outside : love and hope.
Let’s admit that these days, that is rare.
The documentary Outside Serge outside will be presented on November 13 at 6 p.m. at the Cinéma du Musée, and online from November 14 to 17 during RIDM, before hitting theaters on November 19.