Midnight Madness Blog

- 2008
- 2007















As promised, here's my interview with JCVD director Mabrouk el Mechri. Beyond what I wrote yesterday, what's really fascinated me about this film is the cross-cultural duality of the Van Damme mythos, and as Mabrouk explains in this clip, the reaction he's received so far in North America is exactly the one he was seeking when he undertook the project.

As a French-Canadian, the whole JCVD phenomena has had me thinking about what it meant to be a JCVD fan on our side of the pond. I remember arguing with a cousin who was convinced JCVD was from Montreal, as though he wanted to claim him as one of our own. Although I didn't think about it when I was watching Bloodsport as a ten-year old, I'm now glad I had this Francophone super-hero while growing up. Tintin and Lucky Luke -- although great -- they didn't have les couilles it took to be Van Damme.

Enjoy the interview, tabarnac!