''Louis 19, King of the Airwaves'' () is a Canadian comedy film, released in April 1994.
The film stars
Martin Drainville as Louis Jobin, a television fanatic who wins a contest to be on television. Unbeknownst to him, however, his prize is to become a
reality show
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
: he is followed around by a cameraman 24 hours a day for three months, and when his life doesn't make for compelling viewing, the show's producers decide to manipulate his life to make the show more exciting.
The film was directed by
Michel Poulette, and written by Poulette, Sylvie Bouchard, Michel Michaud and
Émile Gaudreault
Émile Gaudreault, ( born March 6, 1964) is a Quebec director, author, screenwriter and producer. Since 1994, he has been directing, writing and producing feature films as well as episodes for television series. Several of his films have won awar ...
. It won the
Golden Reel Award as the year's top-grossing film in Canada.
Cast
*
Martin Drainville : Louis Jobin
*
Zenhu Han : Sam Ying
*
Chantal Fontaine : la reporter
*
Gilbert Lachance : Remi
*
Jean L'Italien : Roger
*
Dominique Michel : Aline Jobin
*
Alexandra Boulianne : une chanteuse de la chorale
*
Mireille Thibault : une chanteuse de la chorale
* Sylvie Bouchard : une chanteuse de la chorale
*
: Michel Gobeil
* Carol Jones : une gardienne de sécurité
*
Patricia Tulasne : Charlotte Dubreuil
*
Marcela Seguel : Marie-Laurence Despins
*
Stephanie Laplante : scripte télé
*
Pierre Paquin : réalisateur télé
*
Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge : le technicien de la régie
*
Agathe de La Fontaine : Julie Leduc
*
Marie-Claude Robitaille: Guylaine
*
Sonia Laplante: Josée
*
Benoît Brière
Benoît Brière (born June 20, 1965) is a Canadian actor from Quebec.Patricia Belzil"Benoît Brière" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', October 23, 2008. He is most noted for his performance in the film ''Seducing Doctor Lewis (La Grande séduction)'' ...
: Caméraman
Release
The film opened on 34 screens in Quebec on April 1, 1994.
Reception
The film grossed $194,732 in its opening weekend
[ It went on to win the Golden Reel Award for the year's top-grossing film in Canada, even though it was only released in ]Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, with a gross of C$1.8 million.[
]
Awards
The film won the Claude Jutra Award for the best feature film by a first-time Canadian film director. It was also a nominee for Best Motion Picture, but lost to ''Exotica
Exotica is a musical genre that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon "Si" Waronker, Liberty Records co-founder and board chairman, named after the 1957 Mart ...
''.
Remake
The 1999 American film ''EDtv
''EDtv'' is a 1999 American satirical comedy film directed by Ron Howard. An adaptation of the Quebecois film '' Louis 19, King of the Airwaves (Louis 19, le roi des ondes)'' (1994), it stars Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrels ...
'' was an adaptation of ''Louis 19''.["EDtv a fun, fluffy Truman Show". '']Montreal Gazette
''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
It is the only English-language daily newspape ...
'', March 26, 1999.
References
External links
*
{{John Dunning Award
1994 films
Canadian comedy films
Best First Feature Genie and Canadian Screen Award–winning films
Canadian satirical films
Films directed by Michel Poulette
Films about television
1994 directorial debut films
French-language Canadian films
1990s Canadian films