René Lévesque tonight on CBC
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My political "hero" (if such a thing exist).
Not a saint but a great man
CBC’s Levesque is a warts-and-all look at the sovereigntist icon
By NELSON WYATT The Canadian Press
MONTREAL — A new flaws-and-all TV miniseries on the life of sovereigntist icon Rene Levesque has pleased at least one viewer so far — his nephew.
"It’s extraordinary to me," Jean-Michel Cote said at a recent launch for the series, which starts tonight at 8 p.m. on CBC. "It was fantastic to rediscover my uncle."
Viewers will discover a lot about Levesque in the six-hour docudrama. Besides getting a rare glimpse at his early life, they’ll see a sometimes prickly legend who chased women with almost as much zeal as he did his political goals.
"You see the man, with his large flaws, things that were not correct, moral or otherwise, but an extraordinary man," Cote told The Canadian Press at the launch of the French-language version of the series. That version will debut on Radio-Canada, the CBC’s French-language network, on Sept. 14.
Titled Rene Levesque in English and the less formal Rene in its French version, the miniseries begins in 1958 when Levesque was a popular Radio-Canada TV current affairs show host.
It takes him through his tumultuous relationship with the provincial Liberals and then his break with that party to found the Parti Quebecois. It ends in the midst of the 1970 October Crisis, six years before he would take the PQ to power.
"One thing Corinne Levesque, his last wife, told us was ‘don’t make him a saint,’ " said producer Claudio Luca. "He wasn’t a saint and we show that. He was not a saint but he was a great man, he was a great democrat. He was one of the best politicians we had in the 20th century."
Levesque is played with restless, chain-smoking intensity by Quebec star Emmanuel Bilodeau, who doesn’t look much like the former premier but captures his intelligence, rapid-fire speech and ever-present tics and grimaces.
"We didn’t want someone who looked like Levesque," Luca said of the choice of Bilodeau. "We wanted someone who had his energy and Bilodeau has that."
Cote, who was nephew to Levesque’s second wife Corinne Cote, said Bilodeau did a "really, really great job."
"The role of Rene Levesque is a very difficult job," Jean-Michel Cote said. "I really believed in this incarnation of Rene.
"I even cried. It really woke some very deep things inside."
He also praised actor Lucie Laurier’s portrayal of his aunt, who shows up in the third episode to steal Levesque’s heart.
"I recognized my aunt, her eyes," he said of the job done by the striking, dark-eyed Laurier, who is now being seen on the big screen in the hit action-comedy Bon Cop Bad Cop.
Bilodeau described the experience of playing Levesque as "exceptionally stressful and exhilarating," in part because the former premier remains popular with Quebecers almost 20 years after his death in 1987.
"The pressure of playing someone like that is enormous because he’s someone who is extremely important in the collective imagination of Quebec," Bilodeau said.
"He was a man of contradictions," said Bilodeau, who like Levesque was a journalist at one point in his life. "He was trying to be the best father that he could even if he was not there at home very much. He loved his children but he was attracted by women.
"The cigarettes, alcohol, women, politics, everything — this is very important in his life."
Bilodeau, who interviewed Levesque shortly before his death when Bilodeau was an intern at a Montreal newspaper, said he idolized the one-time PQ premier as a youth.
"I was shaking because he was so impressive," said Bilodeau, who noted he reviewed the audio tape of that encounter as part of his research.
"He was a very powerful man because he was intense, he was smart and he thought that the people who listened to him were as smart as he was. He was very respectful of people, of democracy," which formed the basis of his considerable charisma, Bilodeau said.
"You see those kind of men once in a lifetime. I don’t know if we’ll see a man like this again."
Co-star Pascale Bussieres sympathized with the tricky task of playing a well-known figure. She took on the role of beloved Quebec singer Alys Robi in the biography Ma vie en cinemascope in 2004.
"Embodying this huge symbol is no piece of cake," she said of Bilodeau’s performance as Levesque, which he did in English and French. The production was shot in both languages.
"It’s delicate work, it’s dangerous, very edgy," she said of Bilodeau’s job. "He had to be really on the line and it’s a really fine line not to be ridiculous, to be convincing and to be politically involved in what’s he’s saying to understand the real motivation under every speech.
"I would have freaked out!" she added with a laugh.
Bussieres plays Levesque’s first wife Louise L’Heureux, which is challenging due to the fact that little is known about her.
"She was very discreet and an almost invisible woman and through the series I think we can tell that she was actually frustrated about this situation," Bussieres said.
"She would have loved to be more into the light and closer to her husband’s work but I think she was just kept a little away."
Bussieres never met Levesque or L’Heureux, who is still alive, but said she found him to be "a tortured man and a desperate lover.
"He was always looking for seduction, he was very hungry for life, he was burning in every aspect of his life."
She was glad the production didn’t shy away from Levesque’s flaws, which included having a child with one of his girlfriends while married to L’Heureux.
"To discover the weakness and the dark zone of someone makes him beautiful, makes him touching and human," she said. "I really discovered a profound, spiritual and devoted human being doing that."
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Entertainment/526788.html
http://www.cbc.ca/television/
Not a saint but a great man
CBC’s Levesque is a warts-and-all look at the sovereigntist icon
By NELSON WYATT The Canadian Press
MONTREAL — A new flaws-and-all TV miniseries on the life of sovereigntist icon Rene Levesque has pleased at least one viewer so far — his nephew.
"It’s extraordinary to me," Jean-Michel Cote said at a recent launch for the series, which starts tonight at 8 p.m. on CBC. "It was fantastic to rediscover my uncle."
Viewers will discover a lot about Levesque in the six-hour docudrama. Besides getting a rare glimpse at his early life, they’ll see a sometimes prickly legend who chased women with almost as much zeal as he did his political goals.
"You see the man, with his large flaws, things that were not correct, moral or otherwise, but an extraordinary man," Cote told The Canadian Press at the launch of the French-language version of the series. That version will debut on Radio-Canada, the CBC’s French-language network, on Sept. 14.
Titled Rene Levesque in English and the less formal Rene in its French version, the miniseries begins in 1958 when Levesque was a popular Radio-Canada TV current affairs show host.
It takes him through his tumultuous relationship with the provincial Liberals and then his break with that party to found the Parti Quebecois. It ends in the midst of the 1970 October Crisis, six years before he would take the PQ to power.
"One thing Corinne Levesque, his last wife, told us was ‘don’t make him a saint,’ " said producer Claudio Luca. "He wasn’t a saint and we show that. He was not a saint but he was a great man, he was a great democrat. He was one of the best politicians we had in the 20th century."
Levesque is played with restless, chain-smoking intensity by Quebec star Emmanuel Bilodeau, who doesn’t look much like the former premier but captures his intelligence, rapid-fire speech and ever-present tics and grimaces.
"We didn’t want someone who looked like Levesque," Luca said of the choice of Bilodeau. "We wanted someone who had his energy and Bilodeau has that."
Cote, who was nephew to Levesque’s second wife Corinne Cote, said Bilodeau did a "really, really great job."
"The role of Rene Levesque is a very difficult job," Jean-Michel Cote said. "I really believed in this incarnation of Rene.
"I even cried. It really woke some very deep things inside."
He also praised actor Lucie Laurier’s portrayal of his aunt, who shows up in the third episode to steal Levesque’s heart.
"I recognized my aunt, her eyes," he said of the job done by the striking, dark-eyed Laurier, who is now being seen on the big screen in the hit action-comedy Bon Cop Bad Cop.
Bilodeau described the experience of playing Levesque as "exceptionally stressful and exhilarating," in part because the former premier remains popular with Quebecers almost 20 years after his death in 1987.
"The pressure of playing someone like that is enormous because he’s someone who is extremely important in the collective imagination of Quebec," Bilodeau said.
"He was a man of contradictions," said Bilodeau, who like Levesque was a journalist at one point in his life. "He was trying to be the best father that he could even if he was not there at home very much. He loved his children but he was attracted by women.
"The cigarettes, alcohol, women, politics, everything — this is very important in his life."
Bilodeau, who interviewed Levesque shortly before his death when Bilodeau was an intern at a Montreal newspaper, said he idolized the one-time PQ premier as a youth.
"I was shaking because he was so impressive," said Bilodeau, who noted he reviewed the audio tape of that encounter as part of his research.
"He was a very powerful man because he was intense, he was smart and he thought that the people who listened to him were as smart as he was. He was very respectful of people, of democracy," which formed the basis of his considerable charisma, Bilodeau said.
"You see those kind of men once in a lifetime. I don’t know if we’ll see a man like this again."
Co-star Pascale Bussieres sympathized with the tricky task of playing a well-known figure. She took on the role of beloved Quebec singer Alys Robi in the biography Ma vie en cinemascope in 2004.
"Embodying this huge symbol is no piece of cake," she said of Bilodeau’s performance as Levesque, which he did in English and French. The production was shot in both languages.
"It’s delicate work, it’s dangerous, very edgy," she said of Bilodeau’s job. "He had to be really on the line and it’s a really fine line not to be ridiculous, to be convincing and to be politically involved in what’s he’s saying to understand the real motivation under every speech.
"I would have freaked out!" she added with a laugh.
Bussieres plays Levesque’s first wife Louise L’Heureux, which is challenging due to the fact that little is known about her.
"She was very discreet and an almost invisible woman and through the series I think we can tell that she was actually frustrated about this situation," Bussieres said.
"She would have loved to be more into the light and closer to her husband’s work but I think she was just kept a little away."
Bussieres never met Levesque or L’Heureux, who is still alive, but said she found him to be "a tortured man and a desperate lover.
"He was always looking for seduction, he was very hungry for life, he was burning in every aspect of his life."
She was glad the production didn’t shy away from Levesque’s flaws, which included having a child with one of his girlfriends while married to L’Heureux.
"To discover the weakness and the dark zone of someone makes him beautiful, makes him touching and human," she said. "I really discovered a profound, spiritual and devoted human being doing that."
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Entertainment/526788.html
http://www.cbc.ca/television/
"L'homme est né libre, et partout il est dans les fers"
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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