''Funkytown'' is a 2011 Canadian drama film directed by

Daniel Roby Daniel Roby (born October 25, 1970, in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian film director and cinematographer. An alumnus of the film programs at Concordia University and the University of Southern California, he worked as a camera operator and cinemat ...

and written by Steve Galluccio."Quebec filmmakers take viewers to Funkytown of '70s Montreal"
''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'', March 4, 2011. starring

Patrick Huard Patrick Huard (born January 2, 1969) is a Quebec-born Canadian actor, writer and comedian. Career Patrick Huard broke into the Quebec show business scene in 1989 as a comedian, actor and television personality. A hard-working multifaceted talen ...

Justin Chatwin Justin Chatwin (born October 31, 1982) is a Canadian actor. He began his career in 2001 with a brief appearance in the musical comedy ''Josie and the Pussycats''. Following his breakthrough role as Robbie Ferrier in the blockbuster ''War of the ...

Paul Doucet Paul Doucet (born 1970) is a Canadian actor known for his portrayal of Jean Duceppe in ''Jean Duceppe''. Early life Doucet was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1970. He studied drama at the Université du Québec à Montréal. Career His most ...

Sarah Mutch Sarah Mutch is a Canadian fashion model and actress. She is best known for the Guess campaigns, Italian ''Vogue'', ''Maxim'' covers and commercials. Mutch has also starred in films including ''Chillerama'', ''Funkytown'' and ''The Seamstress''. ...

and Raymond Bouchard.

Plot summary

Set in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

during the

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

era, the film revolves around the Starlight, a fictionalized version of Montreal's famed Lime Light

discothèque A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

. It depicts this world starting in 1976, when Montreal was considered one of the world's top

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

destinations, through to 1980, when the fashion for disco was about to experience a sharp decline. By the early 1980s political issues such as Quebec's 1980 independence referendum had fractured and polarized the city, and Montreal had also begun to experience a decade of economic decline. By then, it had ceased to be the largest city in Canada, and had ceased as well to be Canada's financial and industrial centre.
Lederman, Lew. "Some Effects on Investment of the Election in Quebec of the Parti Québécois". Canadian Insights and Perspectives (Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada) April 18, 2002.

Cast

as Bastien Lavallée, an influential radio and television personality. Lavallée is a fictionalized version of real-life Montreal radio and television personality Alain Montpetit. *

as Tino Deifiori, a young Italian waiter and disco dancer *

as Jonathan Aaronson, a flamboyant gay radio, television and fashion personality and trendsetter (a fictionalised version of

Douglas Coco Leopold Douglas Leopold, nicknamed Coco (c. 1944 – April 4, 1993),Schnurmacher, Thomas "Douglas Leopold dies at 49: One of city's best-known radio, TV personalities" The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec) 6 April 1993, p. D9. was a television and radio personalit ...

) *

Raymond Bouchard Raymond Bouchard (born March 7, 1945 in Lauzon, Quebec, Lauzon, Quebec) is a Canadians, Canadian film, television and stage actor. He is most noted for his performances in the film ''Seducing Doctor Lewis (La Grande séduction)'', for which he rec ...

as Gilles Lefebvre, a record producer and impresario who runs the club with his son Daniel *

Geneviève Brouillette Geneviève Brouillette (born August 23, 1969 in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec) is a French Canadian television and film actress from Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. Since 1998 she has gradually appeared in film and she appeared in ''A Sunday in Kigali'' in ...

as Mimi, a former '' Gogo'' singer now down on her luck *

as Adriana, a model who wants to become a disco singer *

François Létourneau François Létourneau (born 1974 in Sainte-Foy, Quebec) is a Canadian actor and writer, best known as co-creator and star of the television series '' Les Invincibles'', ''Série noire'' and '' Happily Married (C'est comme ça que je t'aime)''. ...

as Daniel, Gilles Lefebvre's son *

Sophie Cadieux Sophie Cadieux (born August 25, 1977) is a Canadian actress from Quebec. She is most noted for her role as Valérie Danault in the television series ''Lâcher prise'', for which she won the Prix Gémeaux for Best Actress in a Comedy Series in 201 ...

as Helene, Daniel Lefebvre's secretary * Romina D'Ugo as Tino's girlfriend *Jocelyne Zucco as Nicole *

Janine Theriault Janine Theriault (born 1975) is a Canadian actress known for her work in the films '' Bleeders'' (1997), ''Owning Mahowny'' (2003), and '' Relax, I'm from the Future'' (2022), as well as the TV series ''A Nero Wolfe Mystery'' (2001–2002), ''MVP ...

as Connie *

Dominic Longo Dominic Longo (born 23 August 1970) is an Australian retired football (soccer) player. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.

as Carlo * David Tyler as DJ Scratch

Production

In June 2009, it was announced that

had been cast to play the lead role in the film,

and

being also cast in supporting roles, with

directing from a screenplay by Steve Galluccio.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

took place between June 9, 2009, and August 8, 2009, in

. Some scenes of the film were in fact shot inside, outside and in the surroundings of the building which had housed the Lime Light, at 1258 Stanley Street. It now houses the premium strip club "Chez Parée" and the dance club "La Boom".Kelly, Brendan "Disco's stayin' alive: Steve Galluccio's latest feature, Funkytown, puts Montreal back into The Limelight to celebrate the city's dance-crazy heyday of the 1970s" The Gazette (Montreal) 15 June 2009. pg. A.22

Language

Like the 2006 film ''

Bon Cop, Bad Cop ''Bon Cop, Bad Cop'' is a 2006 Canadian dark comedy-Thriller (genre), thriller buddy cop film about two police officers – one Ontarian and one Quebec, Québécois – who reluctantly join forces to solve a murder. The dialogue is a mixture of E ...

'', the film features dialogue in both

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and French. For French audiences the English dialogue is subtitled, while for English audiences the French dialogue is subtitled. The film has faced some controversy for its mixture of languages, with one journalist for '' La Presse'' accusing it of being essentially an English film with only token dialogue in French, rather than a truly bilingual film.

Release

''Funkytown'' opened in a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on March 4, 2011. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the film was released

straight-to-DVD Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

on October 2, 2012.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Funkytown 2011 films 2010s English-language films 2010s French-language films Canadian drama films Canadian LGBT-related films Films set in Montreal Films directed by Daniel Roby 2011 LGBT-related films LGBT-related drama films 2010s Canadian films