Spring 1991: In Montreal, director Denys Arcand and Max Films producer Roger Frappier see a stage production of Edmonton playwright Brad Fraser's Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love.

As he watches the Andre Brassard French-language adaptation of Unidentified Human Remains..., Arcand is struck by the play's cinematic structure and immediately agrees with Frappier that they should adapt it to the big screen.

"It was not at all written like a traditional play. The action was happening in 20 places at the same time," says Arcand. "The characters and situations were so modern, so now, that I instantly wanted to do it."

Later, Frappier and Max Films Distribution president Pierre Latour attend the off-Broadway opening of the play in New York City. It is named one of Time magazine's 10 best plays of the year.

Frappier subsequently opens negotiations with Fraser's agent, Shain Jaffe of Great North Artists Management in Toronto. There are other film offers on the table.

A dark, some say very dark, comedy symbolic of the '90s, Love and Human Remains (the eventual title of the film) is billed as "a disturbing exploration of the desperate search for relationships in an age of uncertainty". The story keys on two friends, David, a witty, cynical actor turned waiter, and Candy, a romantic book reviewer. Together the two search for the meaning of love, with both hilarious and heartbreaking results, until they make the horrific discovery that someone they both know is a serial killer.

December 1991: Max Films and Great Artists reach a "definitive agreement" that includes Fraser's participation as screenwriter. Arcand travels to Calgary to meet the writer.

Love and Human Remains is budgeted at $6 million. It is the third feature film collaboration for Frappier (Un zoo la nuit, La vie fantome) and Arcand (Le declin de l'empire americain, Jesus de Montreal). The two earlier worked together on Le Confort et l'indifference and Gina. It is also Arcand's first English-language feature.

The film is slated to go into production in the summer of 1992.

February 1992: Fraser and Arcand have two more meetings before Fraser comes up with a third script that's "close to what Arcand wanted".

"In essence," Fraser explains, "the movie isn't different from the play at all in terms of what it means. But in terms of story structure, character development and visual imagery, it's completely different."

May-July 1992: Frappier attends the Cannes Film Festival with an advanced version of the screenplay in hand. His options include financing the production entirely in Canada by coproducing with Peter Sussman of Toronto-based Atlantis Films and Doug MacLeod of Bradshaw MacLeod and Associates in Calgary, or through presales.

Faced with a tight production schedule, Frappier decides to pass on the generally lower offers available through presales. "We'll be in a much better position with a finished film," he reasons.