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Funkytown (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Funkytown' is a 2011 Canadian drama film directed by Daniel Roby and written by Steve Galluccio.[https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Quebec+filmmakers+take+viewers+Funkytown+Montreal/4382959/story.html "Quebec filmmakers take viewers to Funkytown of '70s Montreal"]. 'Vancouver Sun', March 4, 2011. starring Patrick Huard, Justin Chatwin, Paul Doucet, Sarah Mutch and Raymond Bouchard.
Plot summary
Set in Montreal during the disco era, the film revolves around the Starlight, a fictionalized version of Montreal's famed Lime Light discothque. It depicts this world starting in 1976, when Montreal was considered one of the world's top nightclub destinations, through to 1980, when the fashion for disco was about to experience a sharp decline. By the early 1980s political issues such as Quebec's 1980 independence referendum had fractured and polarized the city, and Montreal had also begun to experience a decade of economic decline. By then, it had ceased to be the largest city in Canada, and had ceased as well to be Canada's financial and industrial centre.[http://www.aucc.ca/_pdf/english/programs/cepra/Investment%20PQ%20Effects%20on%20Qu.pdf] Lederman, Lew. "Some Effects on Investment of the Election in Quebec of the Parti Qubcois". Canadian Insights and Perspectives (Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada) April 18, 2002.
Cast
*Patrick Huard as Bastien Lavalle, an influential radio and television personality. Lavalle is a fictionalized version of real-life Montreal radio and television personality Alain Montpetit.
*Justin Chatwin as Tino Deifiori, a young Italian waiter and disco dancer
*Paul Doucet as Jonathan Aaronson, a flamboyant gay radio, television and fashion personality and trendsetter (a fictionalised version of Douglas Coco Leopold)
*Raymond Bouchard as Gilles Lefebvre, a record producer and impresario who runs the club with his son Daniel
*Genevive Brouillette as Mimi, a former 'Gogo' singer now down on her luck
*Sarah Mutch as Adriana, a model who wants to become a disco singer
*Franois Ltourneau as Daniel, Gilles Lefebvre's son
*Sophie Cadieux as Helene, Daniel Lefebvre's secretary
*Romina D'Ugo as Tino's girlfriend
*Jocelyne Zucco as Nicole
*Janine Theriault as Connie
*Dominic Longo as Carlo
*David Tyler as DJ Scratch
Production
In June 2009, it was announced that Patrick Huard had been cast to play the lead role in the film, Justin Chatwin, Paul Doucet, Sarah Mutch, Raymond Bouchard, Franois Ltourneau and Genevive Brouillette being also cast in supporting roles, with Daniel Roby directing from a screenplay by Steve Galluccio. Principal photography took place between June 9, 2009, and August 8, 2009, in Montreal. Some scenes of the film were in fact shot inside, outside and in the surroundings of the building which had housed the Lime Light, at 1258 Stanley Street. It now houses the premium strip club "Chez Pare" and the dance club "La Boom".Kelly, Brendan "Disco's stayin' alive: Steve Galluccio's latest feature, Funkytown, puts Montreal back into The Limelight to celebrate the city's dance-crazy heyday of the 1970s" The Gazette (Montreal) 15 June 2009. pg. A.22
Language
Like the 2006 film 'Bon Cop, Bad Cop', the film features dialogue in both English and French. For French audiences the English dialogue is subtitled, while for English audiences the French dialogue is subtitled.
The film has faced some controversy for its mixture of languages, with one journalist for 'La Presse' accusing it of being essentially an English film with only token dialogue in French, rather than a truly bilingual film.[http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/movies/funkytown-explores-the-dark-heart-of-disco-in-english-and-french-117193563.html "'Funkytown' explores the dark heart of disco in English and French"]. 'Winnipeg Free Press', March 1, 2011.
Release
'Funkytown' opened in a limited release in Canada on March 4, 2011. In the United States, the film was released straight-to-DVD on October 2, 2012.
References
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