Raymond-St Jean Talks “Fascinating” Layers Behind ‘Dusk For A Hitman’

Now available on Digital and On Demand, Dusk for a Hitman is a first rate crime thriller that is based on a true story. Donald Lavoie (Éric Bruneau) is a hitman who is unfailingly loyal to mob boss Claude Dubois (Benoît Gouin). When his irresponsible brother Carl (Simon Landry-Desy) enters the picture, Donald must choose whether his crime organization is more important than family ties. Filmmaker/co-writer Raymond St-Jean talked to Deepest Dream about his Dusk for a Hitman experience.

One of the strongest aspects of Dusk for a Hitman is that Donald Lavoie (Éric Bruneau) is, according to Raymond St-Jean, “not a hero.” Lavoie kills in cold blood, and to have sympathy for him is not story’s focus. This feature reminds me of the James Cagney classics (The Public Enemy, White Heat) where cinephiles experience life through a criminal’s point of view.

“I think it’s important that the audience identifies with the character and gets into his skin and lives his story.” said filmmaker Raymond St-Jean. “But they shouldn’t have too much sympathy or empathy for him. You have to keep in mind that he is a bad guy and he’s doing very bad things. Donald Lavoie was also a handsome man and very intelligent, so that makes him fascinating. When the trial was over and when he went free – he never committed a crime again. That makes for a very complex and layered character that is (interesting) to explore.”

CinemAddicts co-host Eric Holmes and I both love Dusk for a Hitman. Listen to our review:

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Full interview with Raymond St-Jean is below (video and audio version), along with timestamps for the interview:

Timestamps:

0:00 – Intro
0:37 – What made Donald Lavoie a fascinating character – “He’s not a hero”
2:57 – The screenplay started with newspaper articles and obtaining archives/interviews on Donald Lavoie
7:13 – Raymond St. Jean talks about the post-production process of the film.  
10:21 – St-Jean talks about the song “Mes Blues Passent Pus Dans Porte” which is featured in the song.
11:25 – One of St-Jean’s favorite films is “Thief,” a Michael Mann directed feature that starred James Caan, Tuesday Weld and Robert Prosky

Catch Dusk for a Hitman on Demand and on Digital. Rent/purchase the feature on Amazon to support our CinemAddicts podcast (we receive a commission).

Eric Holmes also interviewed Raymond St-Jean for CinemAddicts and they went over movie funding in Canada and how vastly different it is from the U.S.:

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