Montreal: Leading man Roy Dupuis makes his comedy debut in J’en suis, a contemporary romance feature film and director Claude Fournier’s return to the genre after an all too long absence of nearly 20 years.

In this film, Dupuis – who has movie idol status with Quebec fans – plays an out-of-work architect who takes a job in a posh antique shop where he becomes an object of gay desire.

The talented, rugged actor (Being at Home With Claude, Scoop) appears beardless in J’en suis, and Fournier says, ‘This is Roy at his most beautiful and glamorous. We’ve treated him as if he were a woman.’

The 32-day shoot is budgeted at $3.4 million and is a coproduction between industry veterans Marie-Jose Raymond of Rose Films and Rene Malo of Malofilm Productions.

As J’en suis opens, a real estate crisis hits and the two leads played by Dupuis and Patrick Huard are obliged to close their architectural offices.

While Huard’s character immediately finds employment as a college professor, Dupuis’ Dominique finds the adjustment somewhat rougher. When he finally lands employment with an antique dealer played by Albert Millaire, he soon gets the none-too-subtle message he might reconsider his ‘orientation.’

Fournier says the role-playing and guessing are at the heart of the movie’s humor, leaving the inveterate heterosexual Dominique in more than a little doubt.

‘It comes to a point when he wonders himself if he is still hetero or gay,’ says the director. ‘He begins to see life as a harassed woman would, because for the homosexuals he becomes a sort of woman, an object of desire.’

Charlotte Laurier, France Castel, Serge Theriault and French actress Arielle Dombasle (Un indien dans la ville) also star.

The film is the first feature for popular standup comic Huard.

J’en suis uses some 85 location setups, and producer Raymond (Jalna) says the filmmakers have rigorously portrayed Montreal as ‘avant-garde, elegant.’

Raymond says the film’s architectural elements ‘make a statementand take on the role of a character.’ Settings include the Moshe Safdie-designed Musee des beaux-arts building on Sherbrooke Street and the unusual award-winning city home on the corner of Marie-Anne and Coloniale Streets.

Fournier (Les Tisserands du pouvoir, Deux Femmes en Or) says the film’s vision is ‘cultivated, happy, gay,’ adding he is especially happy to be shooting a contemporary comedy.

(His last comedy goes back to the late 1970s, Je suis loin de toi, Mignonne. More recently, he shot the miniseries Golden Fiddles for Disney Channel on location in Australia in 1994.)

Fournier always does his own camera framing, with the film’s modern lighting design assigned to dop Eric Cayla (Le Sexe des Etoiles, Cap Tourmente).

The director says Quebec cinema subjects have been too somber in the past. ‘I had the feeling that we should be doing something that is joyful, something we’d want to see.’

Raymond believes J’en suis will find an audience in Europe where there was an offer to shoot the film. A coproduction with France would have delayed the project, she says, ‘but we did do the exercise of adapting the script for Paris.’

Craft credits go to art director Anne Pritchard, costume designer Odette Gadoury, pm Mychele Boudrias, first ad Mireille Goulet, and sound recordist Philippe Scultery. The casting is by Emmanuelle Beaugrand-Champagne. Dan Bigras is the film’s composer. Denis Papillon is editing on an Avid at Montage Metaphore.

J’en suis is financed by private investment, sodec, both tax credits and Telefilm Canada, which has invested $1.6 million. Malofilm has domestic and world rights.

Rose Films is also developing a miniseries for the TVA Network based on the Yves Beauchemin novel Juliette Pomerleau. Fournier heads the writing team.