“Farador”: an ode to geekness!
The pleasure of fantasy made in Quebec.
Hear, hear, good people: the big screen adaptation of the cult short film The Battle of Farador finally hits theaters! Directed by Édouard A. Tremblay, this ode to geeks and fans of role-playing games is likely to provoke a feeling of nostalgia in people who have spent evenings, even nights, playing Dungeons and Dragons >.
Regarded as an outstanding dungeon master, Charles escapes his daily life and allows his two roommates and friends to do the same, bringing the world of Farador to life. However, this quest that began 18 years ago is put in jeopardy with the unexpected return of Kim, Charles's sister.
Le Geekois cracks the codes of Quebec geek culture for you: comic books, fantasy literature, genre cinema, video games, board games. It's this way.
“When I was young, my room was completely medieval. It looked like the house of the guys in the film, argues Catherine Brunet who plays Kim. I even went to New Zealand to see the filming locations of Lord of the Rings!”
Éric K. Boulianne, who plays the lead role in addition to having co-scripted Farador with Édouard A. Tremblay, Daniel Boulanger and Marc-Antoine Rioux, indicates laughing at having played Dungeons and Dragons himself when he was a teenager: “I approached Charles as if it were me, but a long time ago, in a more naive phase of my life where I was a little more geeky”.
Back from Belgium, Kim (Catherine Brunet) is also on a quest, but an identity one.
Photo: Courtesy, Stéphane Bourgeois
Long epic
Fan from the first hour of the short film, Catherine Brunet absolutely wanted to play in the feature film.
“The short film is a cult of my adolescence. We knew the lines by heart. When I found out he was making the feature film, I told my agency that I absolutely had to play in this film, otherwise I would die,” she says, laughing.
Produced in 2006, The Battle of Farador quickly made the rounds of festivals where it won audience awards, recalls Édouard A. Tremblay. “Not long after, I was approached by producers and we started to develop the project.”
Fifteen years of development were necessary for the feature film to see the light of day. Eric K. Boulianne – who also co-wrote Viking and The Diver – and Marc-Antoine Rioux arrived later in the process.
Their contribution made it possible to complicate the characters of Charles and his sister, believes the actor. “Edouard and Daniel had been working on this for a long time, but I think they needed a fresh look,” he explains.
Charles (Éric K. Boulianne), the dungeon master in Farador.
Photo: Courtesy, Stéphane Bourgeois
Éric K. Boulianne admits he didn't know not really the short film before embarking on the project. It was only when the funding for the feature film was granted that the actor-screenwriter realized the extent of the phenomenon around The Battle of Farador.
The plot of the short film is found in a central scene of the film, which tells what happens before and after the original work.
“It's a prequel and a sequel!”, quipped Éric.
Eye-popping special effects
Like the show Phylactère Cola on which Édouard A. Tremblay collaborated, the special effects are the one of the strengths of Farador. On-set make-up, digital effects and even stop motion are on the menu to show off your eyes.
The frame-by-frame technique is used at the end of the feature film to animate a terrifying monster: a draquin!
“It’s a tribute to Ray Harryhausen [Editor’s note: the special effects designer behind Clash of the Titans, among others], who made stop motion films. My childhood influences are movies like Willow and Return of the Jedi, where the giant monsters were also made with this technique.”
A logical choice according to the director, since he could not afford to pay for quality 3D and that the comic aspect of his film allowed him to opt for this kind of “traditional” effects.
Director Édouard A. Tremblay was able to shoot certain scenes of his film in Normandy.
Extreme Geeks
Before the world of role-playing games, Édouard A. Tremblay wanted to make a film about friendship. A friendship undermined by the arrival of Kim, who turns the world of Farador upside down.
This intruder is particularly perceived as a threat by Guillaume (Lucien Ratio), who, behind his angry and revengeful behavior, hides a great vulnerability and a deep fear of finding himself alone.
“What is extraordinary, it is that we still manage to make it endearing. We understand that his behavior comes from fear,” maintains Catherine Brunet.
This character and that of Louis (Benoit Drouin-Germain) are very caricatural, but Édouard A. Tremblay maintains that the objective is not to make fun of geeks.
“I have a great love for role-playing games and the geek universe,” says the director. I didn't mean to be geeky bashing, that's not my point. I really want people to relate to the characters.”
“Guys want to stay in their fantasy world, because it's more fun and in a sense, they are right, adds Catherine Brunet. What is beautiful with the character of Charles is that he realizes that he can keep this passion for the fantastic, the medieval, but make it his job. I find it full inspiring.”
So even as you grow into adulthood, it is possible to pursue your dreams and passions.   ;
Farador will be presented in theaters from April 21st.
