The original video (New Window), which shows RPG fans fighting each other over amazing adventures set in the fictional world of Farador, won over the jury of several festivals in the mid-2000s before garnering millions of views across internet platforms. Some of his phrases, like “You killed my husband” or “We’re playing, it’s serious”, are repeated today by his most loyal fans.
The feature now offers a better understanding of the fears and dreams of Charles (Éric K. Boulianne), a jaded writer who devotes more time to his role as Farador’s game master than to his book, as well as Louis (Benoît Drouin-Germain) and Guillaume (Lucien Ratio), his eternal roommates. We find her in her thirties still grappling with the same endless search in Farador’s universe and struggling to find her way in life.
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Kim (Catherine Brunet), Charles’ sister, will arrive like a meteor from Europe in the trio’s subdued everyday life, upsetting its balance and laying the groundwork for a learning story that explores the creatures of Farador, the joys and sorrows of friendship, as well as a selection of more or less crude jokes.
A declaration of love to the fantastic
It’s a love letter to fantastical universes, explains filmmaker Édouard Albernhe-Tremblay in an interview at Randolph, a board game pub in Montreal. It was very important to me not to simply inflate the short film into a feature film. I wanted to give the characters life, storylines, an origin and an ending.
In other words, fans of the first hour will find in this new version some of the iconic moments of the video, some tributes to the director’s favorite works and a series of new lines to add to their repertoire. But Farador isn’t exactly a geek film; rather, the filmmaker hopes to reach a wide audience.
Édouard Albernhe-Tremblay fine-tuned his screenplay with the help of Éric K. Boulianne, who also plays Charles, as well as Marc-Antoine Rioux and Daniel Boulanger.
Photo: Farador
“I wanted to make a film about friendship, about people setting their own limits on the realization of their dreams. Topics anyone can join. »
— A quote from Édouard Albernhe-Tremblay, director
Friendship and its challenges are undoubtedly at the heart of the story of Louis and Guillaume, two characters we didn’t know much about other than their unhealthy passion for the world of Farador and their companions – respectively, Mordak, a level 57 Archmage, and Gardakan, a level 66 paladin.
Despite their caricaturist side, Benoît Drouin-Germain and Lucien Ratio never consider parodying their characters; The actors have instead opted for a sensitive interpretation of the two friends, who hide wounds behind their bad wrinkles.
Louis (Benoît Drouin-Germain) and Guillaume (Lucien Ratio) haven’t changed a bit since high school…and still grapple with the same quest of 18 years in the Farador universe. .
Photo: Other image banks / Stéphane Bourgeois
It was very important to us that we believe these characters exist, even if they are larger than life, explains Guillaume Drouin-Germain. I think there’s something in adapting the web phenomenon in film that requires this: adding a layer of drama, of life, of experience.
Thus, the sexual frustration, jealousy, and fear of abandonment that stigmatized the lovable duo served as leverage to evoke some of the film’s funniest moments, which risk shaping the collective imagination of Farador’s followers.
We told each other that we couldn’t play our lyrics, which are very funny, in punchlines, says Lucien Ratio. These people still carry drama, and that drama makes it fun.
Charles (Éric K. Boulianne) must make decisions to advance his writing career. Can he keep his job in an electronics store and his role as the game master in the Farador universe?
Photo: Yan Turcotte
way of the cross
The idea of breathing new life into the Battle of Farador is not new. Carrying a script in his suitcase since the release of his short film, Édouard Albernhe-Tremblay joined the Parallaxes production company a few years ago.
The director has since worked in the world of advertising, directing several short films and producing Feuilles mortes (2016), a first anticipation film with Roy Dupuis; Adventures that allowed him to gain the credibility needed to lead Farador to safety. Of course, it “looked” a little better on paper than some guy who came out of nowhere and wanted to make a feature film with fireballs, he laughs.
After several attempts, the inveterate filmmaker finally managed to raise enough money to launch his project, particularly by seeking support in Europe. It is therefore no coincidence that Tom (Florent Losson), Kim’s ex-boyfriend, is Belgian and scenes from Farador were filmed in a Normandy castle.
Kim (Catherine Brunet), Charles’ sister, will discover the world of Farador, her brother’s great passion, against her will before she can enjoy it.
Photo: Stephane Bourgeois
And if the feature film doesn’t have the monster budget of Dungeons and Dragons: Honor of Thieves, another fantastic offering that’s doing great box office these days, that was nothing to discourage Édouard Albernhe-Tremblay, who’s used to doing it himself afterwards I worked for years on Phylactère Cola, an absurd series that is kept at a distance by young self-taught artists.
“I wrote a story with monsters and then let the producers tell me what I couldn’t do because of the budget. And finally we managed to do it all! »
— A quote from Édouard Albernhe-Tremblay, Director
One of the film’s most surprising creatures was even created in step-by-step animation (stop motion), a nod to old sci-fi classics.
The main protagonists of the film Farador are the actors Éric K. Boulianne, Catherine Brunet, Lucien Ratio and Benoit Drouin-Germain.
Photo: Radio Canada
A concentrate of Quebec culture
Like many fans, Jean-Michel Berthiaume, a doctor of semiology and specialist in popular culture, has been waiting for the release of the film Farador since the announcement of his production. I’m really excited that we’re finally doing this kind of production here in Quebec, he says in a phone interview. It’s a safe bet that Farador has something to say about Quebec’s identity.
The nonchalance, the libido, the Quebec suburbs, creating a fantastic identity through roleplay; The intellectual will surely have plenty of material to analyze with the publication of Farador. And that’s not counting the memes that are likely to thrive on the internet.
“I cannot underestimate my enthusiasm to see this Quebec manufacturing country and be reinvested on the internet. I stumble That’s for sure. »
— A quote from Jean-Michel Berthiaume, doctor of semiology and specialist in popular culture
Jean-Michel Berthiaume knows the world of role-playing games very well.
Photo: Radio Canada / Christian Côté
If bringing a viral phenomenon to the big screen can prove a dangerous adventure, the popular culture specialist fears no flop for this new version of The Battle of Farador, even if its raw material is jealously guarded by a generation of role-playing gamers.
Because the film is more of a homage than a parody. A nostalgic homage to fantasy worlds and their players of the early 2000s, which he says can now be shared with a new generation more open to those universes than his.
For example, his young daughter is now playing Dungeons & Dragons with him after watching the Netflix series Stranger Things. We had a completely different approach to role-playing games. We didn’t arrive at the dice at the same time, we didn’t arrive in the same way, but we roll the same dice, he illustrates.
According to popular culture specialist Jean-Michel Berthiaume, “geek” culture is less niche than it was 20 years ago. The Dungeons and Dragons: Honor of Thieves movie has grown significantly since its release on March 31.
Photo: Stephane Bourgeois
It will do, Farador. It will capture the essence of a generation born of a time when Dungeons & Dragons and geek culture weren’t highly regarded, and it will update it for a time when it’s finally highly regarded.
And to the delight of Edouard Albernhe-Tremblay, one of the craftsmen of this ongoing transformation, after a fifteen-year crossroads, he finally sees his efforts rewarded with a feature film.
It’s like a paycheck. She arrives 15 years later, but she has arrived.