“The War of the Tuques” is 40 years old: 5 things you (probably) didn’t know about the famous family film

First film in the Tales for All series, The tuque war celebrates its 40th today^e birthday. Here are 5 things to know about this timeless classic:

• Also read: “The war of the tuques” is 40 years old: what happened to Luc and Sophie?

Inspired by his childhood

The co-writer of The tuque warRoger Cantin, had the idea for the film when he saw children in the countryside who had built a fort in the snow and were having fun throwing snowballs at each other.

“It reminded me of my youth,” says the director of The hanging fortress et Methuselah. I’m nearsighted and because of that I couldn’t play hockey when I was little. So I built forts with blocks of snow. When telling this to a producer friend, he said to me: “That would make a good subject for a film.”

The death of the dog

The most heartbreaking moment in the plot of The tuque war remains without a doubt the death of the dog Cléo, a sad collateral victim of the war between the two groups of friends. Not wanting to make young audiences cry, producer Rock Demers would have preferred the film to conclude with a happier ending. But Roger Cantin insisted that this scene remain in the film.

“I wanted there to be a strong moment that would ensure that people would not forget the film,” he explains. We said to ourselves, Danyèle [Patenaude] and me, what if the dog becomes the victim [de la guerre]the peaceful message of the film would take all its strength because both clans are affected and the public too.

Cult replicas

We often recognize a cult film by its multitude of famous lines that remain anchored in our memories. This is the case of The tuque war with his unforgettable “war, war is no reason to get hurt”, “you have snow there” or even “you have a hole in your mitten”.

“About twenty years after the release of the film, I went to a SODEC cocktail party and I saw people reciting lines from The tuque war. It was at that moment that I realized to what extent the film had marked people’s imagination,” confides Roger Cantin.

Auditions in schools

As distribution agencies for children did not exist at the time, director André Melançon and co-writer Danyèle Patenaude toured Montreal schools to find the young actors of The tuque war. And fun fact: the two main stars of the film, Cedric Jourde (Luc) and Maripierre D’Amour (Sophie), had not been noticed by Melançon and Patenaude during their first visit to their respective schools. In both cases, it was through friends’ parents and distant acquaintances that they were finally invited to audition.

An instant success

The tuque war was released at a time when our cinema was not doing very well in theaters. Unlike today, Quebec films were not released simultaneously on several screens and were often presented in only one or two theaters.

«The war of the tuques, we released it at the Berri Cinema [à Montréal] but it quickly took off, relates Nicole Robert, who began her career as a producer working alongside Rock Demers.

“The public responded extremely well. There were lines going around the corner on Sainte-Catherine. The film remained in theaters for several months, a phenomenon that we no longer see today. The tuque war arrived at the right time because it responded to a public demand for this type of film [familial]. Its success brought new hope for Quebec cinema.”