Rocket’s Red Glare

Some people call me Maurice: Roy Dupuis as Maurice Richard in The Rocket. Courtesy Alliance Atlantis.

For Quebecers — in particular, francophone Quebecers — Maurice “Rocket” Richard holds a singular place in social and political history. He overcame physical difficulties (he broke an ankle early in his career) and prejudicial attitudes (the National Hockey League was run by English Canadians who had a clear disdain for predominantly working-class Québécois players) to become a hockey phenomenon. He helped make the Montreal Canadiens virtually unbeatable in the 1950s.

Given Richard’s life story — a classic underdog sports tale that intersects with politics — it’s surprising that it’s taken this long for the narrative to wend its way into cinemas. After a successful commercial run late last year in Quebec, The Rocket opens across Canada on Apr. 21. Directed by Charles Binamé (who helmed the massive Quebec hit Seraphin: Heart of Stone) and written by Ken Scott (Seducing Doctor Lewis), the biopic is a hugely entertaining and invigorating bit of filmmaking. Granted, much of its style is predictable, particularly composer Michel Cusson’s musical score, which swells during the multiple climaxes to let us know when to cue the goose bumps. There are other disappointments — especially the largely dimensionless role Julie Le Breton is handed as Richard’s long-suffering wife.

But these are minor quibbles. For the most part, The Rocket is great fun, a beautifully shot, carefully rendered tale of a legendary sports figure. Quite surprisingly, its director confesses he’s not a big fan of the game. “I don’t watch it religiously,” Binamé confides. “I mean, I might watch the finals each year, if they happen to be exciting, in the same way I might watch the Rose Bowl if it’s a good match-up.”

What drew Binamé to a biopic about Richard was the rich drama of his life. “The day after Seraphin opened, I was sitting in [producer] Guy Gagnon’s office. Without even recovering his breath from Seraphin, he asked me if I wanted to do a film based on Richard’s life. I thought about it for a quarter of a second. I saw what it could be. I could see the energy his story could take on in film form.”

Binamé’s central casting call couldn't have been better. Roy Dupuis, iconic at the Quebec box office, delivers a commanding performance, bringing emotion to the role without crossing over into pathos. The fact that a household name like Dupuis plays Richard made The Rocket something of a double whammy for Quebec audiences.

The Rocket opens with Richard, played as a young man by François Langlois Vallières, struggling to make ends meet with a wretched factory job. We are shown how Richard saw his life as a Québécois shaped by anglophone bosses; the owners of the factory are depicted as cold, unfeeling union-busters. When Richard’s hockey career begins, there are initial questions about his ability, with sports journalists casting doubt on his ability to overcome a broken ankle.

Two minutes for looking so good: The real Richard, circa 1954. CP Photo.

They were wrong, as The Rocket makes entirely clear. When Richard returned to the ice, his goal-scoring ability turned him into one of the great legends of Canadian hockey. Along with the success, however, came resentment, too often taking the form of prejudice. On the ice, anglophone rivals called him “French pea soup,” a taunt that infuriated the hockey star. The Rocket becomes a story not just of a sports star, but of a working-class hero and champion of the oppressed.

That Richard came to symbolize something more than just hockey excellence became clear in March 1955, when, after a bruising fight (in which he was taunted and eventually decked a referee), he was banned from playing for the Habs for the remainder of the regular season and that year’s Stanley Cup playoffs. His tormenter, an English Canadian, received no penalty whatsoever. The verdict was seen by the Québécois as a slap in the face from English Canada and led to a night of rioting outside the Montreal Forum. The moment is seen as a key turning point in Quebec’s Quiet Revolution.

“I didn’t want to demonize the English,” Binamé insists. “Rather, I wanted to show what we, the Québécois, have achieved since this time — how far we’ve managed to come. The film was not about being black and white. It’s about Maurice’s desire to express his own courage and difference. Resistance, after all, is about the creation of a hero.”

Political issues and questions of national identity aside, Binamé manages to capture a great deal of the blood-and-sweat details of 1950s hockey — i.e. the pre-helmet era. “These guys were hurt all the time, it was routine. And they were exhausted. We talked a lot about [Ridley Scott’s] Gladiator. I really wanted to capture hockey the way Scorsese had captured boxing with Raging Bull.”

The Rocket received almost unanimously glowing reviews from the Quebec press, as well as nods of approval from Richard’s children and his former teammates. With the launch of the film across Canada, Binamé is hopeful that, despite differences between English and French, the common language of hockey will entice filmgoers to see The Rocket.

While Canada’s Governor General Michaëlle Jean has urged Canadians to see past the Two Solitudes, Binamé believes a “fire wall” still exists between French- and English-speaking Canada.

“I was invited to do a miniseries, H2O, in Toronto a couple of years ago with Paul Gross. And you know, I didn’t know who he was, I wasn’t familiar with his work. And he didn’t know who I was, and didn’t know my work, either. The fact is that our two realities remain very remote.”

The Rocket opens Apr. 21 across Canada.

Matthew Hays is a Montreal writer.

CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - links will open in new window.