Translation by Babe

Original can be found at: http://www.modem-magazine.com/200310/reportage-j.html
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The place which was formerly an old prison for women, the Gomin House, became during 19 days of September the place of filming of Manners of Dying, the first full-length film by, Jeremy Peter Allen. A film comprising a small budget (1 M$), but not haggling over the means: a story of Yann Martel in a news article that inspired the author with great success and a distribution, with at the head of list, Roy Dupuis and Serge Houde.

"It gives me happiness to carry out such a film, affirms Jeremy Peter Allen (see the interview of May 2002 in Mode M ). Manners of Dying does not have as a challenge the discussion questioning capital punishment. Rather, it works towards the end to try to understand what happens in ones last 12 hours of his life? Thus, there are no lawyer debates. It is an examination of the character vis-a-vis to death from which he cannot escape. The interest is not trying to place where the time and space is in history; moreover, the history is nebulous on this subject, it occurs some place in North America. On the other hand, it makes it possible to seize eight various attitudes vis-a-vis with the pending death: resignation, contempt, disillusion, disappointment, the revelation...

An ideal place for filming

The producer thinks he was lucky to have been able to find the prison in the vicinity. The natural sound of the bars and the solidity of the walls are important details in giving credibility "It is a gift for an actor to have real surroundings, to be able to tap on the walls without them falling", stated Roy Dupuis, in the role of condemned to death, Kevin Barlow."

The film rests primarily on the play of the actors. There are no gymnastics/jumping around in time during filming, one works in a chronological way. This makes it possible in particular for the actors to gradually build their character. This way of playing is a rare opportunity for the actors in cinema ", continues Jeremy.

The filming is done in two principal places: the cells and the execution room "film is cyclic... You return constantly to this last area, explains Jeremy by presenting the room of execution. Here, there is something macabre. People are more nervous here... It could be said that the furnishings affect them "the place causes shivers in the back of the members of the filming team, and this, even if at the beginning this part were not intended to return the last days to the captive ones. Ironically, the table used on which the prisoner is put to death on Manners of Dying is an old obstetrics table" It is, to some extent, a play of contradiction, because thus after having given birth, the table becomes a bed of death! "

All was filmed inside the old prison, except for a scene which took place during the last minutes of the film. It brings us in the kitchen of the Robert-Giffard Hospital for the preparation of the prisoner's last meal.

Walk towards death

If Roy Dupuis agreed to play the part of Kevin Barlow, "it is for the beauty and the intensity of the character, he indicated. It is the kind of character whom one does not manage to forget when one returns home in the evening, it is rather present. To play all these manners of living death, one cannot base his performance on technique, it is necessary to go seek the emotions inside. I had the chance to meet the last prisoner condemned to death in Quebec who is still living: Chartrand. He proved to be a very generous person, somebody who transferred a certain energy to me. Then, for filming, Jeremy nourished me very much also through his research on death. It helped me to be ready as an actor "

Jeremy specifies that the first walk towards the death presented in film is, according to him, most painful: "It is an approach to dying that was very frightening. One that was not the physical part, but well on the emotions... Tearing "

The assembly of Manners of Dying will continue until December. As for the end of the film, it was not fixed yet, but it was mentioned perhaps about the summer of 2004. Concerning the French translation of the film, It will be studied to see if there is the possibility doing it a second time. If that is the case, it will be of good quality, we are assured.

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