BRUNO — A biography drama based on the real life events of Bruno farmers Percy and Louise Schmeiser as they faced a lawsuit from Monsanto, called Percy, has been released nationwide.
In the 1998 lawsuit, Monsanto sued the Schmeisers for patent infringement after they were found to be growing their patented Roundup Ready Canola without a license or purchasing their seeds.
Roundup Ready Canola is a patented genetically modified canola developed by Monsanto with the unique trait to have a tolerance to glyphosate herbicides.
The trial judge found the patent to be valid and allowed the action, but didn’t require the Schmeisers to pay damages.
The trial decision was upheld by the Federal Court of Appeal in 2002, and later by the Supreme Court of Canada in a 5-4 decision released in 2004.
Percy Schmeiser argued that he wasn’t aware of how the canola originally got in his field in the first place, having never even bought the product’s seeds.
None of the courts made an express finding as to the source of the seed.
Their fight with Monsanto continued, when in 2008, the Schmeisers brought Monsanto to provincial court to charge them the $600 bill for removing the Monsanto patented crop.
The two sides reached a settlement out of court where the company paid for the cleanup.
The 2020 movie, directed by Clark Johnson and written by Garfield Lindsay Miller and Hilary Pryor, focuses on the 1998 lawsuit.
Louise Schmeiser said both her and her husband were offered roles on set as characters, but turned it down.
“When they first asked us to have a movie on this here, I said, ‘I don’t have to see the movie’. I suffered a lot of pain to it and I just felt I was reliving it, so I still have mixed feelings,” Louise said, adding Percy was far more receptive to the idea.
“He had mixed feelings too, but he was a little more excited about it.”
In the movie, Louise is played by Roberta Maxwell, who was in The Postman (1997) as Irene March, Popeye (1980) as Nana Oyl, Brokeback Mountain (2005) as Jack's Mother, and The Changeling (1980) as Eva Lingstrom.
Her husband, Percy, is played by Christopher Walken, who won an Oscar in 1979 for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in The Deer Hunter (1978).
Louise said she hopes people enjoy the movie and be aware of what happened.
She said she hasn’t personally seen the finished product, but her children have seen the movie and liked it.
“I really didn’t see the movie – that much of it, so I can’t really make too many comments about it, but I must say, I said before this, ‘I didn’t have to see the movie, I lived that life.’ I’ve lived the life of fighting Monsanto, so I hesitate yet even going to the movie,” Louise said.
“What I really want to do is thank the people around the world who have given us support, and a lot of love and support.”
Looking back at the events of the movie, Louise said when she left for Saskatoon to hear the judge’s final decision on the original case, she was scared that she may be leaving her house for the last time – with even her home being at risk of getting seized by Monsanto.
“I told this to the lawyer, and he said if it were turned the other way, if you had paid Monsanto something, our house would have been padlocked and we would have had to get somebody, authorities to open it up to get our personal belongings,” Louise said.
“When that decision came down from court, he [the judge] said you don’t have to pay Monsanto anything. I said, ‘Thank goodness, I’ll have a roof over my head.’”
