Louis 19, King of the Airwaves

Last updated
Louis 19, King of the Airwaves
French Louis 19, le roi des ondes
Directed by Michel Poulette
Written by
  • Sylvie Bouchard
  • Émile Gaudreault
  • Michel Michaud
  • Michel Poulette
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Daniel Jobin
Edited byDenis Papillon
Music byJean-Marie Benoît
Distributed by Malofilm
Release date
  • 1 April 1994 (1994-04-01)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageFrench
Box office C$1.8 million (Canada) [1]

Louis 19, King of the Airwaves (French : Louis 19, le roi des ondes) is a Canadian comedy film, released in April 1994. [2]

Contents

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: 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. [3]

The film was directed by Michel Poulette, and written by Poulette, Sylvie Bouchard, Michel Michaud and Émile Gaudreault. It won the Golden Reel Award as the year's top-grossing film in Canada.

Cast

Release

The film opened on 34 screens in Quebec on April 1, 1994. [4]

Reception

The film grossed $194,732 in its opening weekend [4] It went on to win the Golden Reel Award for the year's top-grossing film in Canada, [5] even though it was only released in Quebec, with a gross of C$1.8 million. [1]

Awards

The film won the Claude Jutra Award for the best feature film by a first-time Canadian film director. [6] It was also a nominee for Best Motion Picture, [7] but lost to Exotica .

Remake

The 1999 American film EDtv was an adaptation of Louis 19. [8]

Related Research Articles

Claude Jutra was a Canadian actor, film director, and screenwriter.

<i>EDtv</i> 1999 film by Ron Howard

EDtv is a 1999 American satirical comedy film directed by Ron Howard. An adaptation of the Quebecois film Louis 19, King of the Airwaves (1994), it stars Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrelson, Ellen DeGeneres, Martin Landau, Rob Reiner, Sally Kirkland, Elizabeth Hurley, Clint Howard, and Dennis Hopper.

Jean-Claude Labrecque, was a director and cinematographer who learned the basics of filmmaking at the National Film Board of Canada.

<i>Days of Darkness</i> (2007 Canadian film) 2007 Canadian film

Days of Darkness, also known as The Age of Ignorance, is a 2007 black comedy-drama film written and directed by Denys Arcand and starring Marc Labrèche, Diane Kruger and Sylvie Léonard. Presented as the third part of Arcand's loose trilogy also consisting of The Decline of the American Empire (1986) and The Barbarian Invasions (2003), it was followed by a fourth film with similar themes, The Fall of the American Empire (2018). The film follows a depressed québecois bureaucrat who, feeling insignificant, retreats into a fantasy world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michel Brault</span> Canadian filmmaker

Michel Brault, OQ was a Canadian cinematographer, cameraman, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He was a leading figure of Direct Cinema, characteristic of the French branch of the National Film Board of Canada in the 1960s. Brault was a pioneer of the hand-held camera aesthetic.

Richard Sadler is a producer, scenarist and film director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Émile Gaudreault</span> Canadian film director and screenwriter (born 1964)

Émile Gaudreault, 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 awards in Quebec and Canada and have been adapted for the United States and France.

Radio Enfer is a Québécois sitcom broadcast on Canal Famille and its later incarnation, Vrak.TV, about a group of students at an unidentified high school managing their own high school radio station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yves Jacques</span> Canadian film, television and stage actor

Yves Jacques OC is a Canadian film, television and stage actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michel Poulette</span> Canadian film and television director, writer and producer

Michel Poulette is a Canadian film and television director, writer and producer. He won the Claude Jutra Award in 1994 for his first feature film, Louis 19, King of the Airwaves , which became the first American remake of a Canadian movie: ED TV by Ron Howard.

Martin Drainville is a Canadian film and television actor and comedian from Quebec. He is best known for his role in the film Louis 19, le roi des ondes, for which he received a Genie Award nomination for Best Actor at the 15th Genie Awards in 1994.

Patrick Hivon is a Canadian actor from Montreal, Quebec. He was a Jutra Award nominee for Best Supporting Actor at the 17th Jutra Awards in 2015 for Guardian Angel , a Gémeaux Award nominee as Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2015 for Nouvelle adresse, a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Supporting Actor at the 4th Canadian Screen Awards in 2016 for Ville-Marie, and a Prix Iris nominee for Best Actor at the 21st Quebec Cinema Awards in 2019 for We Are Gold .

Le Banquet is a Canadian drama film from Quebec, directed by Sébastien Rose and released in 2008. The film's original working title was Comme une flamme.

Life After Love is a Canadian romantic comedy film, directed by Gabriel Pelletier and released in 2000. The film stars Michel Côté as Gilles, a man who is desperately trying to win back the love of his ex-wife Sophie after she leaves him for another man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvie Drapeau</span> Canadian actress

Sylvie Drapeau is a Canadian actress and writer from Baie-Comeau, Quebec.

<i>A Sense of Humour</i> 2011 Canadian film

A Sense of Humour is a Canadian crime comedy film, directed by Émile Gaudreault and released in 2011. The film stars Louis-José Houde and Benoît Brière as Luc Dubé and Marco Fortier, two stand-up comedians who are kidnapped by Roger Gendron after making fun of him in a comedy show, and must protect themselves from his revenge by teaching him the art of comedy.

Family History is a Canadian comedy-drama film, directed by Michel Poulette and released in 2006. The film is a family drama, tracing the complex story of the Gagné family through a period of change both in their family and in the wider society of Quebec, from the dawn of the Quiet Revolution in 1960 through to the election of the Parti Québécois in the 1976 Quebec general election; the events are wrapped in a frame story in which Julie Gagné finds and reads a book that seems strangely close to her own family history, and attempts to track down its author Jean Calixa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michel La Veaux</span> Canadian cinematographer and documentary filmmaker

Michel La Veaux is a Canadian cinematographer and documentary filmmaker. He is most noted for his work on the films The Dismantling , for which he won the Jutra Award for Best Cinematography at the 16th Jutra Awards, and The Fireflies Are Gone , for which he won the Borsos Competition award for best cinematography in a Canadian film at the 2018 Whistler Film Festival.

Alice's Odyssey is a Canadian family comedy fantasy film, directed by Denise Filiatrault and released in 2002. The film stars Sophie Lorain as Alice Tremblay, a single mother who becomes drawn into the fairy tale that she is reading to her young daughter as a bedtime story.

Daniel Jobin is a Canadian cinematographer from Quebec. He is a two-time Genie Award nominee for Best Cinematography, receiving nods at the 12th Genie Awards in 1991 for Cargo and at the 17th Genie Awards in 1996 for Lilies, and a four-time Jutra/Iris Award nominee for Best Cinematography, receiving nominations at the 11th Jutra Awards in 2009 for Mommy Is at the Hairdresser's , at the 12th Jutra Awards in 2010 for Je me souviens, at the 14th Jutra Awards in 2012 for Coteau rouge, and at the 18th Quebec Cinema Awards in 2016 for The Passion of Augustine .

References

  1. 1 2 Kelly, Brendan (November 2, 1994). "'Louis 19' takes Canada's B.O. crown". Daily Variety . p. 14.
  2. "In new Quebec comedy, the joke's on paying public". Montreal Gazette , April 2, 1994.
  3. "Film Review: Louis 19". The Globe and Mail , April 22, 1994.
  4. 1 2 Klady, Leonard (April 11, 1994). "'Major' minor; 'Spirits' down; 'Jimmy' dead". Variety . p. 12.
  5. "Quebec comedy wins box office prize". Toronto Star . November 2, 1994.
  6. "Quebec director wins Jutra award". The Globe and Mail , November 4, 1994.
  7. "Exotica snaps up 13 Genie nominations". Hamilton Spectator , October 20, 1994.
  8. "EDtv a fun, fluffy Truman Show". Montreal Gazette , March 26, 1999.