A quarter of a century ago, host and actress Marie-Soleil Tougas and her spouse, filmmaker Jean-Claude Lauzon (A zoo at night, Léolo), lost their lives in a plane crash in the Far North.
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At 27, Marie-Soleil Tougas had already worked for 15 years in the body. She and her brother, Sébastien, made their fictional debut in the soap opera Banana skin. As a child, she had already shot in a few commercials, but this role of Zoé, the daughter of the characters played by Yves Corbeil and Louise Deschâtelets, triggered the avalanche of roles that followed.
At 43, Jean-Claude Lauzon had walked the steps of Cannes and the red carpet of the Toronto International Film Festival thanks to his works.
A cultural biography filled with love
To mark the 25e anniversary of the tragic end of their story, Jean-François Poisson – who had the idea with Sophie Charest – directed the documentary Marie-Soleil and Jean-Claude: Beyond the Stars. His film, produced by Attraction, looks back on the journey of the two artists, but also on the tragedy that took them away on August 10, 1997.
Overflowing with love, this cultural biography dwells first on the professional and personal life of the actress – seen in particular in Rooms in town et Chop Suey – as well as those of the filmmaker, then to the accident that cost them their lives. The bulk of the film (a good hour) is devoted to testimonies of love from the relatives of the two victims, among others those of André Robitaille, Guy Fournier, Patricia Paquin, Nathalie Petrowski and Gaston Lepage, in addition to brushing the cultural portrait of the time. The plane crash and the media turmoil that followed are not discussed until the last few minutes.
Most of the relatives who testified in this biography say it: the couple formed by Marie-Soleil and Jean-Claude was ill-matched, at first sight. Each was the extreme of the other, and their highs were as strong as their lows. She: the young television premiere, who lived at a hundred miles an hour and who dreamed of a love as big and as powerful as in the songs of Léo Ferré. Him: a gruff, talented filmmaker who, even if he knew how to make people laugh, had a very bad temper.
“I watched [le documentaire] and I was overwhelmed, first by the happiness of the two and the pleasure of the people who showed their love for each,” indicated Gaston Lepage during a round table in which the QMI Agency took part.
Despite some lengths, the documentary is very touching and interesting. It features many never-before-seen family archive items. Excerpts from diaries, read by Kim Despatis and Daniel Parent, provide access to the point of view of the missing protagonists.
Back to the accident
Marie-Soleil was nauseous that day. At least that’s what she would have told the comrades of the expedition after a first stop, earlier in the day. This suggests to the actor Gaston Lepage, who watched helplessly at the scene, “that Jean-Claude was probably looking for a bag for Marie-Soleil [quelques secondes avant de s’écraser avec son Cessna]. Maybe he wasn’t looking forward, but rummaging in the pockets behind the seats,” he said.
“Let’s be sure of one thing: I saw it arrive, the plane, on the ground, and I know that they were both alive after the impact. The impact was relatively smooth. The plane hit the trees and therefore slowed down enormously. It wasn’t a head-on crash. But the fire took three seconds later … “, then added the actor still affected by these events.
They were both detached when the authorities extricated their remains from the burning cabin. The exact cause of the accident remains unknown to this day. An optical illusion or distraction are among the hypotheses raised in the accident report.
Marie-Soleil and Jean-Claude: Beyond the Stars is available on True.