GIRARD JOINS HIS PASSIONS
Music, film meet in Boychoir
An underdressed François Girard stood on the fire escape of his immaculate St- Laurent Blvd. loft on a frigid Monday afternoon, taking hauls off a cigarette as he chatted freely with the Montreal Gazette photographer about the virtues of Nikon vs. Canon cameras and changing tides in the realm of cultural criticism.
“Are you in touch with John Griffin?” the acclaimed Quebec film, theatre, opera and Cirque du Soleil director asked, as I joined the exchange, in reference to the former Gazette film critic who retired in 2010. After inquiring as to Griffin’s whereabouts and well- being, Girard asked for his contact information so he could drop him a line. Business, for the director, is always personal.
Back inside the divided loft — one side of which serves as office and studio; the other, hidden behind a discreet sliding door, as Girard’s home — tea was offered and poured, and the conversation continued.
Girard’s assistant Chantal worked at a desk at the front of the loft. We sat at the back, by a wall of large windows. Behind us was a piano, which he plays when no one is around.
“I’m a self- taught piano bum,” he confided, later, “a dilettante, a closet pianist. My sister was a trained pianist. I dropped out from that but I always stayed close to it. I’ve been improvising at piano since I was three, never with any real purpose.
“For a short time as a teen, I fantasized about doing soundtracks, and I did a couple. I had bands. I had a jazz band, and was serious about it for a short while, but through all my childhood it was just fun, and it still is. I’m very happy about not having to ( perform) anything. I’m super private about it.”
Music is a guiding light in Girard’s work, from his 1993 breakthrough Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould to the Oscar- winning ( best original score) The Red Violin ( 1998) and now Boychoir, his first feature in eight years, starring Dustin Hoffman as a no- nonsense elite children’s choir director who pushes a rebellious young charge to be all he can be.
In between, there have been stage productions including Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, Oedipus Rex and Novencento, the Cirque shows Zed and Zarkana, and TV specials on Yo Yo Ma and Peter Gabriel.
It was music that first brought Girard into contact with Hoffman, over a decade back — an obsession with the ’ 80s BBC musical crime show The Singing Detective, to be precise, which the director was determined to adapt for the big screen.
“Right after The Red Violin, I started chasing the script,” he said. “( The TV series) is still the best TV serial work I’ve seen in my life. I had heard that before ( creator Dennis Potter) died, he made a movie script out of it, which I started chasing like a madman for three years. Eventually, I found a producer in New York who had the rights. Then out of the blue I got a call saying Dustin Hoffman wants to do it with me.”
Girard flew to England to meet with the famous actor. A scheduled 40- minute têteà- tête turned into 36 hours of brainstorming and friendship-forming. The film, sadly, slipped out of Girard’s grasp ( and into the hands of Keith Gordon, who oversaw the 2003 flop, starring Robert Downey, Jr.) — an injury that stings to this day.
“I always stayed bitter about that,” Girard said. “Boychoir is a healing of that ( painful experience),” he continued, “a failure turned positive.”
Hoffman’s involvement was crucial to getting the film made, from securing funding to attracting the rest of the cast, which includes Kathy Bates, Debra Winger, Eddie Izzard, Josh Lucas and Kevin McHale.
“Kathy was super- kind,” Girard said. “She pretended she was a fan of my work. They were all so kind; but the reason they all showed up is Dustin. Everybody wants to work with Dustin, including me.”
Hoffman brought an essential element of humanity to the role of cold, stern choirmaster Carvelle. He also brought a surprising musicality and his notorious dedication to getting every detail just right — he plays the piano himself in the film and spent time perfecting a conductor’s gestures.
For a short time as a teen, I fantasized about doing soundtracks, and I did a couple. I had bands. I had a jazz band.
“I heard so many stories of Dustin being difficult,” Girard said. “I don’t think he’s ever been one of those egomaniac stars. He’s an obsessive- compulsive artist; I fit into that category, in the peewee league. I heard a lot of stories about how he drove people near the cliff. He was extremely generous with me on set.
“We shot the film super fast. If I was an actor on this film, I would have complained at times. We were on a roll, and Dustin was on a roll with me, which made everybody shut up because Dustin was not complaining — especially at his age ( now 77), working with me on that madness. He and I maintained a positive spirit, pushing and pushing. We shot the film in 27 days, less than half the time I had for The Red Violin.”
Girard brought that same devotion to all aspects of the filmmaking process. He auditioned more than 1,000 candidates before finding Garrett Wareing to play 11- year- old protagonist Stet.
And he took on the duties of musical director, selecting the repertoire performed in the movie. He began his research by digging through 40 years of recordings by the American Boychoir School, the real choir that appears in the film.
“I was amazed and shocked by the quality and exquisite taste of the work, which goes far beyond the cliché of what we imagine boy choir music to be,” he said.
So affecting was the choral music that Girard found he could not listen to it for more than a couple hours at a time.
“I would become too emotional,” he said. “It’s the extra factor with those kids, the pureness of their voices … It’s like a rod straight to your heart. If I was exposed to it for too long, I would become nostalgic and uncomfortable. Once I realized that, I thought, ‘ Great. This can be a driving force for the film. If you tame it, you have something powerful in your hands.’”