Funkytown (2011)

1976. Montreal. Eight people who wanted to see and be seen at the trendiest disco will be juggling fame and anonymity until they will be forced to make sober choices in an era when excess was the norm, and when disco was king.

Director:

Daniel Roby

Writers:

Steve Galluccio, Simon Trottier (created by)

Stars:

Patrick Huard, Justin Chatwin, Paul Doucet

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick Huard	...	Bastien Lavallée
Justin Chatwin	...	Santo 'Tino' DeiFiori
Paul Doucet	...	Jonathan Aaronson
Sarah Mutch	...	Adriana
Raymond Bouchard	...	Gilles Lefebvre
Geneviève Brouillette	...	Mimi
François Létourneau	...	Daniel Lefebvre
Sophie Cadieux	...	Hélène
Romina D'Ugo	...	Tina LoMonaco
Jocelyne Zucco	...	Nicole
Janine Theriault	...	Connie Lavallée
Camille Pennell	...	Cynthia Lavallée
Dominic Longo	...	Carlo
Vince Benvenuto	...	Jason
Lina Roessler	...	Sabrina

Storyline

Set in Montreal during the disco phenomenon some 35 years ago, Funkytown follows the life of a group of colorful characters. We follow their lives and tribulations as everyone converges on a regular basis at Montreal's hot disco spot: Starlight. Along the way, several events take place that change these characters' lives. As these characters' lives unfold, the Parti Québécois takes power changing the cultural landscape in Quebec while the disco craze slowly fades. While we keep up with these various characters - it is Bastien who is a central part of this story. His drug addiction, dreams to become an actor and womanizing - make him the "bigger than life" typical 70s character around which the whole story revolves.

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Plot Keywords:

1970s | year 1976 | disco | jaguar f type | cheating husband | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie is said to be filmed in the same narrative style as Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia (1999) and Boogie Nights (1997).

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Goofs

In 1976, Jonathan says he has designer T-shirts from Yohji Yamamoto to give away. Yamamoto showed his first collection in Tokyo in 1977 and Paris in 1981.

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Connections

References A Clockwork Orange (1971)

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Soundtracks

Waiting for your touch
Written by Jean Robitaille, Steve Galluccio and Kim Richardson
Performed by Kim Richardson
Éditions Image Sonore & Caramel Films

User Reviews

Great idea, poorly executed...

I imagine the makers of Funkytown wanted to tell the story of the decline of Quebec in the wake of separatism during the late 1970s in a film that was a cross between American Graffiti and Studio 54. However, what they ended up with was a film that was too long (there was enough plot to feed a television series for an entire season!), had too many story lines, undeveloped stereotypical characters, and was poorly written.

On top of this, the film had numerous serious historical errors that the writer could have checked on wikipedia! The panoramic views of New York and Toronto show skylines that don't match the eras; White parties didn't exist until the mid 1980s; Studio 54 wasn't open until 1977 despite references to it in the movie during 1976; Many songs are played in the wrong years - for example Donna Summer's Bad GIrls is played in 1976; plus there are many things that are pushed into the 70s that are arguably not correct, from AIDS symptoms to New Wave.

Its too bad because at the heart of this mess of a film there is actually a good idea for a Mad Men type television series that follows various characters through late 1970s Quebec.

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

French English Hebrew

Release Date:

4 March 2011 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Funky Town

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$7,200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC), Caramel Film, Quebec Film and Television Tax Credit

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1