So you looked IXE-13 and the race for uraniumthe new Club Illico series written by Gilles Desjardins, the excellent author who gave us a re-read Oberland?
It's rare for a series to receive positive comments from both younger audiences and baby boomers. The criticism is unanimous!
But one thing bothers me: Why have several critics overlooked the author of the first IXE-13, Pierre Daignault, father of cultural columnist Daniel Daignault?
At a time when Chantal Cadieux (author of Providence and Mémoires vives) writes an open letter asking for recognition of the author's profession, it seems to me that we must give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.
Not a musical!
I was surprised to read in Le Devoir: “This reinterpretation of the 1971 musical comedy IXE-13, produced by Jacques Godbout, has little to do with the original, which showed Les Cyniques in a cardboard decoration.”
Um, sorry, but we forgot to mention that Godbout's film itself was a satire of Pierre Daignault's books.
However, after Daignault's death in 2003, Le Devoir wrote: “His adventures of Agent IXE-13, the ace of Canadian spies, interwoven with emphasis, clichés and thrilling and improbable adventures, sold 28 million copies between 1947 and 1967.” He produced more than 950 of them in small pocket format, almost as booklets, real publishing fast food.
In Urbania I read: “Inspired by Jacques Godbout's film of the same name, IXE-13 and the Uranium Race (pronounced X-13) tells the story of a war commando led by the courageous Jean Thibault (Marc-André Grondin). )”.
My late father-in-law Jacques Martineau was an avid fan of Pierre Daignault's IXE-13 books in the 1950s and 1960s, of which he owned every copy and whose incredible adventures he adored.
When he saw Jacques Godbout's film in 1971, he left the cinema angry when he realized that his beloved hero had been mocked.
The songs written by Godbout with music by François Dompierre were at the heart of the film's success. In particular, the very vulgar song and its famous lyrics “My Tabarnak army, you will eat my hand in the face / You hit me with it, broke your two stilts / My drooling Calisse, there is no one to hold me back / You.” I I blew my nose, my brat, you will scream and say martyr / host, host, host, host, ciborium.
Let's just say the father-in-law didn't think it was funny!
In a strange turn of events, those who watch the IXE-13 series in the 2024 version today and are thinking of finding the humor of Godbout's film will be surprised that the episodes are so serious!
I'll venture a comparison: Godbout's film was a caricature of the IXE-13 novels in the same way that the Austin Powers films are a caricature of the James Bond films and the original books by Ian Fleming.
Not cynical
The Club Illico series is neither crazy like Godbout's film nor full of clichés like Daignault's books.
To understand the tone, you have to look at it like a comic. A comic from home. But without vulgar songs.