''King Dave'' is a 2016 Canadian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by "Podz" (

Daniel Grou Daniel Grou (born August 19, 1967), frequently credited as Podz, is a Canadian film and television director, director of six feature films as well as episodes in dozen TV series. Biography Daniel Grou was born in Montreal, Canada. He has a ba ...

) and starring screenwriter

Alexandre Goyette Alexandre Goyette (born April 11, 1979) is a Canadian actor and writer from Quebec, most noted as the writer of the stage play ''King Dave'' and the screenwriter and star of its 2016 film adaptation.Brendan Kelly"Podz's King Dave: One-shot film ...

and

Karelle Tremblay Karelle Tremblay is a Canadian film and television actress from Quebec. Tremblay received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Actress at the 4th Canadian Screen Awards in 2016 for ''Our Loved Ones (Les Êtres chers)''. She has also appear ...

. Directed as a

single shot In firearm designs, the term single-shot refers to guns that can hold only a single round of ammunition inside and thus must be reloaded manually after every shot. Compared to multi-shot repeating firearms ("repeaters"), single-shot designs ha ...

, it is based on Goyette's stage play of the same name. The film premiered at the

Fantasia International Film Festival Fantasia International Film Festival, also known as Fantasia Fest or simply Fantasia, is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. It focuses on fantasy, horror, sci-fi and cult genre films. Regular ...

. It was nominated for three

Canadian Screen Awards The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

Plot

Dave is a young man who considers himself to be a king as well as a strong man. When he sees another man dancing with his girlfriend, he sets out for revenge, walking and riding on a car and bus over nine kilometres on his way.

Cast

Production

Alexandre Goyette wrote the film, based on his play. Director

, under his professional pseudonym "Podz", filmed ''King Dave'' in five unbroken shots, in five nights. However, all of the footage seen in the released film was taken in the fifth night of shots. Podz said that unlike other "one-shot films" such as

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

's ''

Rope A rope is a group of yarns, Plying, plies, fibres, or strands that are plying, twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have high tensile strength and can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger ...

'', this method was not to portray action in real time, but to portray the character narrating in real time. Despite the challenges in the proposed project, producer Nicole Robert was eager to make it and raised a budget of $4.7 million. Art director André Guimond then went

location scouting Location scouting is a vital process in the pre-production stage of filmmaking and commercial photography. Once scriptwriters, producers or directors have decided what general kind of scenery they require for the various parts of their work ...

, choosing an area of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

for shooting.

Rehearsal A rehearsal is an activity in the performing arts that occurs as preparation for a performance in music, theatre, dance and related arts, such as opera, musical theatre and film production. It is undertaken as a form of Practice (learning metho ...

s took place for weeks before filming commenced. Difficulties on the fourth day caused all of the footage to be unused. Twenty locations were used.

Reception

The film debuted at the

on 14 July 2016 before a theatrical Quebec release on 15 July. Critical reception was generally positive. ''

The Georgia Straight ''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools ...

''s Ken Eisner, reviewing the film in the

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Festi ...

in October 2016, called it "highly kinetic" and fun. Marc Cassivi gave it three and a half stars in ''

La Presse is a French-language online newspaper published daily in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1884, it is now owned by an independent nonprofit trust. ' was formerly a broadsheet daily, considered a newspaper of record in Canada. Its Sunday edi ...

''.

Accolades

References

External links

* {{Daniel Grou 2016 drama films 2016 films Canadian drama films Canadian films based on plays Films directed by Daniel Grou Films set in Montreal Films shot in Montreal One-shot films French-language Canadian films 2010s Canadian films 2010s French-language films