Director Jean-Philippe Duval spent several months preparing for the filming of his new series The Weaponsa luxury he was able to enjoy thanks to his long and fruitful collaboration with producers Fabienne Larouche and Michel Trudeau, of Aetios, with whom he has produced projects such as Unit 9, All life et With beating heart.
The one who is also an associate producer on The Weapons had just finished editing the third season of Reasonable doubt that he was already familiar, in October 2023, with everything relating to the Canadian Armed Forces for the needs of The Weaponsfiction written by Pierre-Marc Drouin and which will be broadcast on TVA starting Monday, September 9, at 8 p.m.
Author Pierre-Marc Drouin, director Jean-Philippe Duval and producer Fabienne Larouche.
Photo CHANTAL POIRIER
In addition to casting the roles – and what an impressive cast! – Jean-Philippe Duval participated in an open house at the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu military base, visited Valcartier and took part in drill and weapons handling classes.
“I can say that I did my homework, because you can’t touch on subjects like prison, for Unit 9or the military, for The Weaponswithout having been on the ground. I am not a specialist, but I wanted to be as close as possible to the truth for this fiction inspired by the army,” he said in an interview.
What attracted the director from the moment he read the script, if not the synopsis, was that The Weapons sticks to current events, particularly by focusing on the Russians. From the outset, they threaten Canadian sovereignty and, due to urgency, a series of perilous decisions are taken on the Kanawata military base, where the intrigues essentially take place.
Vincent-Guillaume Otis and Larissa Corriveau in a scene from the series “Les Armes”.
Photo provided by TVA
“The motivation of the colonels and soldiers is to prepare for a possible war. In the current context of global geopolitics, we must protect our territory. Will we also one day be forced to take up arms like other countries? It is also a more global reflection, The Weapons. I really like all the layers that there are in this series.”
The Weapons fuels suspense by feeding on the codes of the thriller, in addition to focusing on action, psychological issues, including intimidation and sexual harassment, as well as on the power struggles between the rising generation, represented by Lieutenant-Colonel Louis-Philippe Savard (Vincent-Guillaume Otis), and the established generation, represented by Colonel Allan Craig (François Papineau).
The two actors are at the top of their game, just like their playmate Eve Landry, who plays military police officer Kim Falardeau.
François Papineau in “The Weapons”.
Photo provided by TVA
Savard arrives in Kanawata to clean up the base that Craig has been running for 25 years, with his own methods. The latter also pilots the secret elite commando JFT16, within which a murder occurs at the beginning of the series.
“What we want is to offer characters with humanity, with nuances and emotions,” said Jean-Philippe Duval, adding that there was also “a lot of love and humor in the series, and a little sex.”
“I’m joking when I say that I’m a seller of emotions, but my priority is to find the shots and images that will give the most emotions to the viewers. It’s a shoot that goes quickly, but we are efficient and we don’t waste our time doing just anything.”
He dreams of filming in the Canadian North
Since the Arctic is mentioned in the first two episodes we saw, Jean-Philippe Duvel “dreams” of filming in the Canadian North one day.
Eve Landry is military police officer Kim Falardeau.
Photo provided by TVA
“We’re setting the table in the series, and I’m crossing my fingers that we’ll eventually go and film in the Far North. Everyone started laughing when I talked about it, but at the same time, why not. We’re in Canada, it would almost be essential.”
The first 12 episodes, out of a total of 24, were filmed this spring and summer. The director and his team will resume work on Monday to complete the first season.
- It is Aetios, the company of Fabienne Larouche and Michel Trudeau, which produces The Weapons in collaboration with Quebecor Content. The first episode will air on Monday, September 9, at 8 p.m., on TVA and TVA+. The next episode will be available from 9 p.m., every Monday, on Club illico.
