“War, war, is no reason to get hurt”… 40 years ago, the Quebec public cracked up when they heard the peaceful Ti-Guy La Lune deliver this tasty line in the cult film The tuque war. To mark the 40the anniversary of its theatrical release, The Journal looks back at the creation and immense legacy of this timeless classic which has left its mark on generations of children and adults.
• Also read: The tuque war at 40: 5 things to know about André Melançon’s cult film
Four decades have passed since Cédric Jourde lent his features to the character of Luc, one of the two main heroes of The tuque war. However, not a year goes by without the man who became a professor of political science at the University of Ottawa being told about the film by one of his students.
“Everyone has their own story in relation to the film,” relates Cédric Jourde, in an interview with Journal.
“There are some who tell me that they watched it with their parents, others tell me that they saw it in their French immersion classes. My students were born in 2003 or 2004, so for most of them, it’s a movie their parents saw when they were growing up. And soon, we’re going to enter the grandparents’ zone… It’s crazy!”
How can we explain that André Melançon’s film co-written by Roger Cantin and Danyèle Patenaude still remains present in our collective imagination? Its numerous rebroadcasts on television (notably at Ciné-Cadeau) and the release of an animated version (in 2015) have certainly helped the work cross the ages. But it’s not just that.
“I think it’s a film that stands the test of time,” says Maripierre D’Amour, the interpreter of Sophie, Luc’s enemy and possibly lover.
“The music and costumes have aged a little, but the rest really holds up. It’s a beautiful film that stands out for Quebec.”
For her, it’s not just the film that revolutionized our cinema by launching the successful franchise Tales for everyone. Her character of Sophie, a strong and determined girl who dares to take her place in a group of boys, was also something avant-garde at the time.
“She’s an important character for our generation because there weren’t any strong female roles like that at the time,” she emphasizes.
“For me, there is a before and an after The tuque war in terms of female roles in cinema.
Photo MARC-ANDRÉ LAPIERRE QUÉBEC CINEMA
Like a summer camp
Cédric Jourde and Maripierre D’Amour have excellent memories of the filming of The tuque warin the winter of 1984. The very first film in the series Tales for everyone was originally to be filmed in the Montreal region, but the absence of snow in the metropolis that winter forced production to move to the Charlevoix region.
The children in the film, almost all of whom had been recruited directly by André Melançon and Danyèle Patenaude in their Montreal schools, therefore found themselves living together for several weeks in an inn in Baie-Saint-Paul.
“As a child, it was an extraordinary experience, a bit like a summer camp,” says Cédric Jourde.
“It didn’t feel like work because we were asked to play war by throwing snowballs at each other, which was very similar to our daily lives as children at the time. I have memories of friendship, games and laughter waiting in the tents where we would warm up by having hot chocolates.”
Courtesy photo
The release of the film, on October 3, 1984, obviously changed their lives. Overnight, people recognized them at school and in the street.
“No one saw the success of the film and the impact it had on our lives coming,” says Maripierre D’Amour, who today works as director of communications at the Quartier des spectacles in Montreal.
“The success of the film took us by surprise. I don’t think we were ready for that!”
Forty years later, Cédric Jourde and Maripierre D’Amour assure that they still enjoy watching the film again.
“I watched it with my children when they were old enough to see it and I watch it again occasionally when it is shown on Ciné-Cadeau,” says Cédric Jourde. The funny thing is that the brain works on its own and the lines come out orally or just in my head. I still have a very strong attachment to the film.”
Courtesy photo
About The tuque war
- The tuque war was released on October 3, 1984.
- Produced by Rock Demers of Productions La Fête, this is the first feature film in the popular children’s film series Tales for everyone.
- The tuque war collected more than a million dollars at the Canadian box office at the time of its theatrical release, which allowed it to become the first French production from Quebec to win the Bobine d’or, a prize awarded each year to the film highest-grossing Canadian.
- The tuque war was also sold in 125 countries.
- An animated version, The war of the 3D hats, hit the screens in 2015 and was distributed in more than sixty countries.
