‘French Immersion’ director Kevin Tierney says film isn’t political

TORONTO – Filmmaker Kevin Tierney insists he’s not making any political statements with his new bilingual comedy “French Immersion,” about five anglophones who take a crash French course in a Quebec village.

“Essentially the jokes, the stuff of the comedy is not political, it’s cultural. And you know, culture’s funny,” said Tierney, who makes his directorial debut with the film, which he also co-wrote.

Still, “French Immersion” does have a lighthearted street hockey scene that begins with Quebecers singing a profanity-laced version of the national anthem. It also includes comical references to separatism, nationalism and various politicians.

Explained Tierney with a grin: “I can’t resist cheap political jokes.”

“I can’t make the movie without making a joke about Jean Chretien because after all, he is for all intents and purposes, the only prime minister we’ve ever had who didn’t speak either official language,” he added with a laugh.

“We do have a Brian Mulroney joke, but it’s about free trade.”

Then there’s the film’s French subtitle: “C’est la faute a Trudeau.”

“This is something that I wasn’t really that aware of, but in Quebec, for generations of people, they blame everything on Trudeau,” Tierney said, chuckling again.

“It’s like, ‘Oh, look at the debt! Ah, c’est la faute a Trudeau.'”

“French Immersion” – which opens Oct. 7 in Toronto, Ottawa and Quebec – also has a Trudeau-esque character: Michael Pontifikator (Colm Feore), a leadership candidate for the Completely Canadian Party.

Wearing a rose on his suit jacket lapel, the dapper politician challenges his leadership opponent, Bobby Sexton (Gavin Crawford) – the first openly gay member of Parliament from Newfoundland – to a bilingual debate.

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That sets Bobby on a journey to the fictional, remote Quebec village of St-Isidore-du-Coeur-de-Jesus, where he and four other anglos (Martha Burns, Fred Ewanuick, Jacob Tierney and Olunike Adeliyi) stay with “pure laine” Quebec families and attend school for two weeks in a bid to learn French.

Quebec stars in the huge ensemble cast include Karine Vanasse, Dorothee Berryman, Pascale Bussieres, Yves Jacques and Robert Charlebois.

The seed for the film’s story was planted many years ago, when co-writer Jefferson Lewis heard about his sister-in-law’s experience in a French immersion program in Jonquiere, Que. Lewis thought it would make for a good film and asked Tierney to produce.

Initially Tierney thought it was a fun idea and one to which he could relate. Born and raised in Montreal, Tierney said he was a unilingual anglophone until age 24, when he and his wife taught abroad and learned French.

Still, Tierney – who produced and co-wrote the Genie Award-winning bilingual box office hit “Bon Cop, Bad Cop” – thought the story “was more associated with the Trudeau era than contemporary,” he said.

But about three years ago it dawned on him: “It was a Trudeau-era idea but maybe it’s even funnier as a Harper-era idea.”

“And so,” he added. “We started working on the script.”

Drawing upon cultural stereotypes, Tierney said he and Lewis took pains to strike the right tone so no one would think they were being made fun of. Tierney – whose TV productions have been nominated for a total of 11 Emmys and 12 Geminis – decided to direct because he got so involved in the writing of the story and loved the characters so much.

After a financing hurdle, they shot it last summer in Saint-Cesaire, Que. Tierney said he had a wish list of actors he wanted and “did virtually no auditions” to get most of them. One of them is his son, Jacob, who is also a filmmaker.

Tierney said he asked Feore to make his character a parody of the role he played in the 2002 TV movie “Trudeau,” “with a little bit of Michael Ignatieff thrown in for good measure.”

Tierney got the idea for the aforementioned national anthem scene after hearing some of his Quebecois crew members singing the dirty version in a meeting.

“When I’ve watched the movie with francophone audiences, it’s almost like the secret’s out, they’re laughing guiltily because they know bloody well they do it,” he said with a chuckle.

“It’s like one of those very interesting cultural phenomenons, like a secret. It’s out.”

Like their characters in the movie, several of the stars got their own French immersion experience during shooting as they tried to communicate with locals.

Vancouver-based Ewanuick, whose character falls for the immersion teacher (Vanasse), said he’s “horrible” at speaking French but he tried his best during filming.

He now wants to take a French course.

“I got really inspired to really go for it because of this film and being there,” said Ewanuick, who’s known for his roles on TV’s “Corner Gas” and “Dan for Mayor.”

“I hated the fact that everywhere I went, especially Montreal and even in Saint-Cesaire, where we shot, people could … switch from French to English and could communicate with me and I couldn’t do the same and I felt like an idiot.

“I felt like that was completely ignorant of me, to call myself Canadian and not be able to do that.”

“French Immersion” opens in Vancouver Oct. 14 and Winnipeg Oct. 28. Other cities will follow throughout the fall.