Rendez-Vous Du Cinéma Québécois 2019 – The Worm
Inheriting the family home is a chance for Jules and his partner, Alice, to write their own page in his family history. But they are thwarted by a strange force that spreads insidiously throughout the house. Is nostalgia driving Jules into madness?
Interview with Writer/Director/Editor Charles Grenier
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I came upon the book Atavisms (2011), written by Maxime Raymond Bock in 2012. The Worm is one of nine novelas in the book. I was inspired by the quality of the writing but mostly by the ability of R. Bock to create complex and unusual characters with flaws that felt parent to me.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
That’s a tricky question, because I make films to share emotions that I myself do not fully grasp. I use filmmaking to explore a feeling I want to give the audience the chance to enter in a dialog with the film. Nonetheless, I hope The Worm will communicate the contradiction of heritage and the desire to build a family, to build a story for yourself.
I would also love if the goose bumps Francis Lahaye & Emmanuelle Lussier Martinez (actors in the film) and I had during the shoot were communicated!
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
I believe that a secret, a personal story or an intimate thought becomes somewhat universal as soon as it is revealed or shared. The most complex idea can then become universal even though you do not have all the tools to fully grasp its meaning.
The Worm explores heritage and the opinion that it conveys is that the obsession of keeping things as they were is inefficient and tiring.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
With the collaboration of R. Bock, I took the story and played with it, transformed it for cinema but also for my own aesthetic. I’m very grateful to have found in R. Bock a solid partner in writing. We added a few elements to the script that were not in the short story. The pregnancy, for instance, was not in the book. We felt that the contrast and contradiction, if only visual, of a man obsessed with his heritage that could build a future with his family was powerful.
The set, the mansion, which was empty and abandoned, was almost completely refurnished by artistic director Valérie Jeanne Mathieu. Upon arriving, Emmanuelle, Francis (actors) and I walked around the many rooms, talked about the script and got inspired by the eeriness of the place.
With Tobie Marier Robitaille (DP), I had carefully planned every shot, but I knew upon seeing the new décor that I had to improvise with the actors in at least one scene. I wanted to show more of the affection between Jules and Alice and that’s when we came with the dolly in on the couple’s embrace. For me, this one shot encapsulates the whole tension of the film.
Editing was close to a nightmare. I had a very clear shot list and storyboard, but in the editing room I felt like something else wanted to burst out that I hadn’t seen in the script nor on the shoot. The story as it is now is exactly the same, but the discourse and the mood became rather different than I expected. It was hard for me to step back and give the film the space it so clearly needed, but it came up and I am very proud of we have done.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Audiences are very impressed with the quality of sound design, brilliantly crafted by Sylvain Bellemare, and the mix, done by Hans Laitres.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
If there is anything that I learned through creating this short film is that a filmmaker should not hope for a film to have an impact on her or his career nor should she or he dwell on how the audience will revive it. It can only undermine the already frail balance of a film.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Was she really there?
Interview: January 2019
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The Worm
Inheriting the family home is a chance for Jules and his partner, Alice, to write their own page in his family history. But they are thwarted by a strange force that spreads insidiously throughout the house. Is nostalgia driving Jules into madness?
Length: 14:52
Director: Charles Grenier
Producer: Annick Blanc
Writer: Maxime Raymond Bock
About the writer, director and producer:
CHARLES GRENIER was born somewhere between Christmas and New Year's Day, in 1988. Apart from being stuck between two parties, Charles is a director and editor. After completing a bachelor's degree in film production as well as a minor in philosophy from Concordia University in 2010, he edited more than a dozen short films. On the web, he edited the first season of the Public Writer, directed by Hervé Baillargeon, and won the prize for best editing at Marseille Web Fest for Feminin Feminin Chloé Robichaud. As a director, his work, whether comic or dramatic, is based on unspoken and evocative mise-en-scene with images rich in meaning. Whether exploring escape (Waterproof, 2013, Edinburgh Int Film Festival), transition to adulthood (Chelem, 2015, Raindance & Seattle International Film Festival) or the awakening of sexuality (Slurpee, 2016, Dresden & Palm Springs), his vision remains honest and sensitive. His most recent short film, The Worm, 2018 (FNC & FCIAT), reflects on the mysteries heritage. He just recently signed the web-series Georges has died, online on télé-québec.tv, and works with Sarah Pellerin on the development of the second season
MAXIME RAYMOND BOCK (born 1981) is a Canadian writer from Quebec. He is most noted for his 2017 short story collection Les noyades secondaires, which was a shortlisted finalist for the Governor General's Award for French-language fiction at the 2018 Governor General's Awards. His debut short story collection Atavismes was published in 2011, and won the Prix Adrienne-Choquette in 2012. He followed up with the novellas Rosemont de profil in 2013 and Des lames de pierre in 2015. Both Atavismes and Des lames de pierre have been published in English translation, as Atavisms (2015)[4] and Baloney (2016).
ANNICK BLANC has been a producer and director since 2004. Her short film Au milieu de nulle part ailleurs was selected in over 40 festivals and won eight international awards
Key cast: Emmanuelle Lussier Martinez, Francis Lahaie
Looking for: film festival directors, producers
Instagram: @charlesgrenier
Other: RDV Canada
Funders: Conseil des arts du Canada, Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec, SODEC & ONF
Made in association with: Midi la nuit
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? RVCQ/Montréal, QC