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On the set of Jack Paradise, director Gilles Noël has invited the Press on a great voyage through time and space, landing on earth with a feeling of cheerful nostalgia. It must be said that everything was admirably orchestrated: the sets, the costumes and the music seemed to be steeped in the past, projecting us right into another era. The displacement was total.
Inspired by the life of pianist Bob Langlois, also known as Jack Paradise, this film traces the evolution of jazz in Montreal from 1929 to 1970. Through the obsession of this music-lover, played by Roy Dupuis, cinema-goers will be treated to a series of auditory temptations. They will find themselves having a whale of a time in several temples of jazz in the metropolis, and will meet Curly (Dawn Tyler Watson), a singer with a seductive voice, with whom Jack has an intense and painful relationship, nourished by their mutual love of jazz.
On the set you sometimes feel that the actors’ eyes are glowing with joy. Geneviève Rioux, who hasn’t worked with Roy Dupuis since 1989 (in the play Romeo and Juliet), was happy and relieved to be reunited with her former leading man. “I didn’t know him very well and yet it’s as though we were schoolmates. We have a great rapport …. And I love to dance, so I had a really good time when we were filming the cabaret evenings.” Roy Dupuis seems equally taken with the filming: “Music has always played a big part in my life. I loved the screenplay right away. I adore jazz and have always been fascinated by the craziness that went on in this era.”
Hugo St-Cyr, who is also in the cast, plays a role that allows him to make use of his talents as a percussionist. The filming of Jack Paradise, which lasts only 23 days, is his second cinematic outing. “You could say it’s going well. …. Everyone’s a professional. It’s a hive of activity!”. The film Jack Paradise will be released in 2004.
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