Montreal Gazette

Michel Tremblay’s meagre onscreen oeuvre baffles

- KEVIN TIERNEY

Michel Tremblay is the most popular author in Quebec.

He is 75 years old. In the course of the past 50 years, he has published 16 novels, 26 plays, three musical comedies, three books of short stories and seven film scripts, including translatio­ns.

His latest work, Le peintre d’aquarelles (The Watercolor Painter), has just been published by Lémeac, the Montreal-based publishing house with whom Tremblay has been associated for his entire career.

November could well be Tremblay month. It’s the time of year when he usually publishes a new novel, promotes it at the Salon du livre de Montréal, then packs his bags for Key West, Fla., where he has had a house since 1995.

In the new year, he starts writing a new novel and sends it, like its predecesso­rs, to his editor and by summer it is well on its way to being ready for the following November.

The current period is even more eventful than usual. Apart from the new novel, there is the musical adaptation of his play Demain matin, Montréal m’attend, which starts its tour of Quebec on March 22, after its successful run at the Théâtre du nouveau monde.

There is a new play, Enfant insignific­ant! based on his novel Conversati­ons avec un enfant curieux, that starts its run at Théâtre Jean Duceppe on Dec. 13. And a collaborat­ion with the Montreal Symphony, Le Diable en canot d’écorce: Un conte de nöel, conducted by Kent Nagano and directed by Tremblay’s longtime collaborat­or René Richard Cyr, will be performed Dec. 19, 20 and 21 at the Maison symphoniqu­e de Montréal.

Given all this popularity, I have often wondered why Tremblay’s work is not more a part of the Quebec film and television industry. His is surely the most under-exploited oeuvre in popular Quebec culture, and it’s hard to figure out why.

Some years ago, Tremblay’s agent, Nathalie Goodwin, sent me a new novel that was still in its galley proofs. La traversée du continent (Crossing the Continent) was the first part of what was to be a trilogy that would tell the story of Tremblay’s mother being forced from her bucolic life with her grandparen­ts and two younger sisters in rural Saskatchew­an and sent to Montreal to be with her mother.

The second instalment is La traversée de la ville (Crossing the City) and the third, La traversée des émotions (The Crossing of Emotions).

I loved the first book — read it in one sitting. Set in 1913, it describes a 10-year-old girl’s adventure on various trains to Montreal, with stops to meet crazy relatives in Regina, Winnipeg and Ottawa. Five minutes in I knew it would be too costly to make as a live action movie, but that didn’t stop me from turning the pages, revelling in Tremblay’s fantastic characters, especially, of course, the women.

When I finished it I thought, “Now, this would make a wonderful animated film, something that could easily appeal to the whole family.” I was reluctant to inform Tremblay’s agent of my great “realizatio­n,” but I did. She kept her poker face, but when she got back to me after speaking to the author, she reported he was delighted at the thought of his story being animated; his favourite movie of that year was Ratatouill­e!

Alas, I did not succeed in financing an animated version of Crossing the Continent, but I still think it is a great idea for a film or part of a series.

No doubt there are other producers like me who from time to time have attempted to put Tremblay back on screen. What remains puzzling is why Radio-Canada, for example, has not taken the initiative on such obviously popular fare that clearly appeals to a very wide public, one already buying his books and paying fairly serious dough to go and see musicals based on his plays. The last time a Tremblay work was on any network, for that matter, was Le coeur découvert in 2003.

Last month Tremblay won the Prince Pierre de Monaco prize for the totality of his work up to now, just one of his many provincial, national and internatio­nal acknowledg­ments. A TV audience would be a lovely addition to all those honours.

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Michel Tremblay
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