Pascale Bussières didn’t think twice before agreeing to play the lead role limits, the new psychological thriller from director Guy Édoin. Not only did the actress offer her the opportunity to work again with this filmmaker she loves, but she also saw this project as an opportunity to delve back into the rural world, a universe she explored in the drama a dozen years ago had swamps.
Pascale Bussières makes no secret of it: there are many similarities between the Marie she played in Marécages (Édoin’s first feature film) and the Diane she plays in Frontières today. Like Marie, Diane runs a dairy farm on the edge of the American border. It is no coincidence that the two films were shot in the same location, on Guy Édoin’s family farm in the Eastern Townships.
“Diane could be an extension of Marie, Pascale Bussières admits from the start in an interview with the Journal.
“It was very conscious, we even talked about it, Guy and I. Because we are in the same physical environment [que Marécages] and that it was filmed at the same location. Because it’s still a woman running a farm and carrying a gun, we’re in the same ecosystem. It’s as if Guy had a different look each time at this rural reality with all its challenges, its pitfalls, its relationship to land and territory, but also to life and death. »
Tragic accident
Frontières follows a tragic accident that turns Diane’s life upside down, to the point where she even wonders if her house is haunted. Concerned about her health, her two sisters (Christine Beaulieu and Marilyn Castonguay) and her mother (Micheline Lanctôt) try as best they can to support her in this ordeal.
Frontières is the third collaboration between Pascale Bussières and Guy Édoin, after Marécages (2011) and Ville-Marie (2015). According to the actress, the relationship of trust between them made the work on the film set easier.
“I would say it saved us time because there is this existing relationship that could be improved and that could take us further,” confides the 54-year-old actress. It’s like you’ve already played a musical instrument. You know when you might be able to push the note a little. »
Back to basics
After two city films – Ville-Marie and Malek – Guy Édoin felt the need to reconnect with the rural environment.
“The farm has evolved and the territory has evolved,” notes the filmmaker. I wanted to go back there, but at the same time I didn’t want to repeat myself. I felt I had something more to say about rurality.
“I very quickly came up with the idea of enacting this fraternity and these women, impersonating them in this universe commonly associated with men. I grew up in that environment and women like the ones we see in the film, I know a few and I meet a few at Canadian Tire in my area. Several scenes in the film are inspired by real events. For example, I saw my mother run into the field to retrieve a poacher who had just shot a deer on our land. And let me tell you, he didn’t go with his stag! It was very important to me that these characters were authentic. »
On the other hand, while Frontières was shot on familiar territory for Édoin, it is the filmmaker’s first time daring to explore the codes of suspense. He says he enjoyed citing some of the genre’s classics in his film, like Halloween and The Shining.
“I really like thrillers,” he admits. I really wanted to engage the viewer by making a more general film with suspense. And I admit that I had a lot of fun playing with the codes of genre films, thrillers and even westerns. »
limits hits theaters on March 3rd.