Goodbye Happiness: What a family!

Even if he had already touched on the topic in Starbuck, his popular 2011 comedy about a man who learns to be the biological father of 533 children, director Ken Scott has long wanted to write a film that explores the complexity of family ties. He enjoyed his new feature film, goodbye happiness, a comedy-drama film featuring four siblings who are not on the same wavelength.

“When I write a film, I like to mix drama and comedy, and I always had the impression that in the family we find everything that is in a good dramatic comedy: we laugh, we get moved, there is drama, there is frustration,” enumerates Ken Scott, in an interview with magazine.

“Films about family touch us especially because we get to know ourselves in them and experience the same things. A dialogue or exchange between two brothers is not just a dialogue. There is always a whole history behind it sometimes going back to 20 or 30 years of complicity or frustration or conflicts. This dynamic adds more depth to the story.”

goodbye happinessIt is the story of four siblings who come together at their summer home in the Magdalen Islands to pay a final tribute to their recently deceased father. There is the Epicurean (François Arnaud), the nostalgia (Antoine Bertrand), the businessman (Louis Morissette) and the author (Patrice Robetail). Completely different from each other, the four brothers will find it difficult to agree on the management of their father’s estate.

Don’t look for a connection between this story and the Ken Scott family. Unlike the characters in his movie, screenwriter Great Seduction He has no brother and his father is still alive and well.

He laughs “I have sisters, I’m the father of three daughters and yet I wrote a movie about four brothers.” But that does not mean that I did not participate in this story. I would say that I identify with each of the four brothers in the movie. “

Speaking of family, Ken Scott had the chance to experience a photography adventuregoodbye happiness With one of his daughters, Victoria, who studies production strategies at UQAM.

“She did a post-production internship in the field while filming on the islands,” explains the proud father. There was something beautiful about making a family movie with your daughter. It was a pleasure to have you by my side during filming. “

The beauty of the islands

In early versions of the scriptgoodbye happinessThe summer home of his movie characters was located in Provence. For budget reasons, Ken Scott first moved the story to Havana. Then the epidemic and the closing of the borders prompted him to choose the Magdalen Islands. Evil is forever, he said.

“At the end of the day, I watch the movie and tell myself that it can’t be shot anywhere other than the islands, Ken Scott insists. It’s an exceptional setting that fits perfectly with the film’s themes, such as mourning and gloom. It’s a great opportunity to be able to go and shoot there.” “

goodbye happiness It marks a return to his roots for Ken Scott, who hasn’t toured Quebec for ten years. Courtship abroad after success StarbuckThe director has spent the past decade shooting two films in the United States (including remake Hollywood Starbuck) and one in Europe and India (Fakir’s Extraordinary Journey).

“I was fortunate to have these great opportunities to work in the US, Europe and India, and I took advantage of them,” he says. It gave me the opportunity to tour with great actors from all over the world. But I live in Quebec and always wanted to continue making films here with Quebec actors. It’s a great opportunity to be able to do both alternately between projects abroad and here. I want to continue where I can tell good stories. “

goodbye happiness Premiere December 17th.