Rookie Lepage tries Hitchcock

By J.K. Radomski

QUEBEC CITY — Alfred Hitchcock’s film I Confess (1953) will be given a starring role in the Quebec film Le Confessional (The Confessional), when Robert Lepage makes his directorial debut this summer.

Lepage, known for his work designing the sets for Cirque du Soleil and most recently for helping design the look of Peter Gabriel’s most recent concert tour, also wrote the screenplay for the fictional French-language film that takes place when Hitchcock shot his thriller in this city.

According to Lepage, his version “won’t just be a remake” of the film that starred Montgomery Clift as a priest who hears a murderer’s confession and is later himself accused of the crime.

“The characters and story in this film are only a part of it,” Lepage said. “What will really make this movie work is Quebec City, where most of the shooting will take place and where the original was also made.”

The film, two years in the planning, will star a local French-language cast. But Rene Hudon and Gilles Pelletier, who were part of the original’s supporting cast, will reprise the roles they had in the Hitchcock film.

Budgeted at $2.5-million, the film will be co-produced by Montreal’s Cinemaginaire, Great Britain’s Enigma Films and France’s Cine-A.

“It’s a pretty good budget for a first-time filmmaker,” said Cinemaginaire’s Denise Robert, the film’s executive producer. “But we’re really not taking a chance on Robert Lepage. We believe in his talent and are simply giving him the chance to work with a different medium. His work in theater and opera has shown he’s very capable of storytelling and can be very original.”

With principal photography under way, the film is expected to premiere in February at the Theatre Capitole in Quebec City, where Hitchcock’s I Confess was first screened.

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