René Malo, who died on Aug. 23 at the age of 84, was a driving force behind what many consider to be a before-and-after event in Canadian cinema: the production of Denys Arcand’s 1986 bedroom comedy-drama The Decline of the American Empire.
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many → die → Empire
The film was an unlikely success story and runaway hit, earning Canada’s first-ever Oscar nomination in the Best International Feature Film category.
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film → earn → category
On a more fundamental level, it was a wonderful window into the uniqueness and vitality of Quebec culture for audiences in English-speaking Canada and around the world.
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it → speak → world
A serious-themed comedy of manners often compared to movies like The Big Chill and Annie Hall, it followed a group of talky, bourgeois intellectuals and libidinous academics from the University of Montreal as they navigated love, sex and relationships.
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they → theme → love
Full of bawdy humour and many a verbose monologue, it touched on everything from adultery, prostitution and BDSM to homosexuality, the AIDS epidemic and the nature of love in an era of middle-class stability and prosperity.
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it → touch → stability
Audiences loved it.
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Audiences → love → it
Along with the Oscar nomination, it won nine Genie Awards, including Best Motion Picture; the International Critics Award at Cannes; and the People’s Choice Award at TIFF.
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it → win → TIFF
To this day, few Canadian films have equalled its performance.
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films → equal → performance
From a budget of $1.8-million, the film grossed $30-million worldwide.
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film → gross → million
It paved the way for further success for Mr. Arcand, who garnered another Academy Award nomination for Jesus of Montreal (1989) and a win for The Decline’s sequel, The Barbarian Invasions (2003) – Canada’s first and only Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film/Best International Feature Film.
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who → pave → Film
Not many people would have bet on Mr. Arcand’s edgy script, but Mr. Malo understood its potential.
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Malo → bet → potential
“René was absolutely instrumental in getting the film made,” said co-producer Roger Frappier, a 50-year veteran of the Quebec and Canadian film industries who has worked with the likes of Denis Villeneuve, Jane Campion and Don McKellar.
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who → get → Villeneuve
“At the time there was a resistance within the National Film Board toward fictional films – they preferred documentaries.
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they → be → documentaries
So I said I would do the movie in collaboration with the private sector.
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I → say → sector
I sent the script to René and he loved it.
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he → send → it
He went to Telefilm Canada and he was responsible for the foreign sales.”
Despite the push, Telefilm Canada was initially unimpressed.
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Canada → go → push
“It’s funny, because at the time, Telefilm Canada did not like the movie.
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Canada → ’ → movie
They thought it would not make a penny,” Mr. Frappier said.
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Frappier → think → penny
His flair for business kicked in and, knowing audiences would respond positively after a series of advance screenings in France, he devised a plan to generate buzz for the film in Montreal.
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he → kick → Montreal
“René had this very daring and risky idea: he opened The Decline of the American Empire in only one theatre at first – the Crémazie theatre, high up on Saint-Denis Street,” Mr. Frappier said.
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Frappier → have → Street
“He said ‘People from [northern suburb] Laval will come down to see it, and people from Montreal will go up.’
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people → say → Montreal
Enthusiastic word-of-mouth led to sold-out screenings, with people scrambling to find tickets.
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people → lead → tickets
The movie stayed at the Crémazie theatre for a full year.
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movie → stay → year
The tactic was typical of Mr. Malo’s approach, according to Quebec screen legend Micheline Lanctôt, who worked with him for her directorial debut L’Homme à Tout Faire and its follow-up, Sonatine, which won the Silver Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival in 1984.
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which → accord → 1984
“I first met René in California, when he was there to discuss a deal with Warner Brothers to get the exclusive VHS rights for distribution in Quebec,” Ms. Lanctôt said.
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Lanctôt → meet → Quebec
“I had written a screenplay, and René loved it.
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René → write → it
I had no intention of directing it, but he thought it was too personal to give to someone else, so he asked me to direct it, and I said, Why not?
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“He had a very well-supplied address book,” she continued.
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she → have → book
“I owe him everything, actually.
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He launched me, in a way.
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He got the film financed, and it ended up in the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes in 1980.
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it → get → 1980
We were flabbergasted.
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We had a really good time.
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René Malo was born in the small town of Joliette, Que., on March 7, 1942, the eldest son of a seamstress and a factory worker for the Joliette Steel Company.
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Malo → bear → Company
He attended a Collège Classique programme at the Séminaire de Joliette, firmly in the Jesuit tradition, where he was exposed to the arts, philosophy and a European-style education.
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he → attend → arts
It was an important influence on René, who came of age just as Quebec was shaking off centuries of religious conservatism, culminating in the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s.
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Quebec → come → 1960s
“My dad had humble beginnings,” said his daughter Fanny-Laure Malo, who followed in her father’s footsteps and works in the film industry.
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who → have → industry
“Growing up, he had to sleep on the couch, while his younger brother and sister shared the bedroom.
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brother → grow → bedroom
But he was part of the generation that brought [modern rock] music and arts to small towns in Quebec.”
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that → bring → Quebec
Rénald Paré, a childhood friend who lived in the apartment above the Malo family, was born only 14 days after René.
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who → live → René
…and 25 more, not listed.
