Sensing something to gain from it, Albert (Pio Marmaï) and Bruno (Jonathan Cohen), two over-indebted men, join an eco-friendly group fighting against overconsumption. Soon they are alongside Cactus (Noémie Merlant), who falls in the eye of the former, and Quinoa (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet), who has a crush on the latter, to participate in spectacular actions.
For the purposes ofA difficult year, their eighth feature film, Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache have themselves swelled the ranks of an international socio-ecologist group, Extinction Rebellion, also known as XR. Before revealing their identity and their intentions, the two writer-directors were invited by members of XR to attend demonstrations in the streets of Paris.
“There was something of the order of staging in their actions, so it was pleasant for us because there is a mise en abyme of filming people who are staging for alert consciences. Then we made friends with a group and we told the members that we were going to make a film and that those who wanted to be extras or silhouettes were welcome. Around ten of them, those we see around the actors, were there the entire time of filming,” says Éric Toledano, met in January at the Unifrance Rendez-vous in Paris.
Flirting with reality and fiction
In order to swell the ranks for large-scale scenes, the tandem then called on other eco-friendly groups. The filmmaker estimates that 80% of the extras inA difficult year are true activists. The non-activist extras were also surprised to find that they did not eat with them and only talked about the subject of the film.
“We have always been interested in flirting with reality and fiction,” reveals Éric Toledano. We did it in Exceptional ; it was special because we took autistic children and educators. »
Over time, we have allowed ourselves to have a thinner and thinner line between reality and fiction. If we were in psychoanalysis, like in the series In therapy that we achieved, I would say that we allowed ourselves to mix.
Éric Toledano, screenwriter-director
According to the director, the activists who took part in the various scenes of the film quickly developed good relationships with the actors in the film, even going so far as to invite them to parties during filming.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY SPHERE FILMS
Pio Marmaï in A difficult year
“Afterwards, there were real in-depth discussions and that was interesting. With Olivier, that’s also what we’re looking for. By bringing together characters close to those we have to play, we create discussions. And these discussions also nourish the game because the actors see the people they have to play at lunch, between takes. And that acts like a kind of little liquid that diffuses something. »
However, this process did not prevent Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, who wanted to provide a photograph of our time in the style of an Italian comedy, from being accused by a good number of critics of having cynically illustrated the environmental movements, for being cruel to the militant characters.
“We have not been kind to the characters who are in over-indebtedness either. What we have described is a reality, but sometimes the reality is a little over the top. It’s true that they have nicknames, that they often come from a bourgeois background because indeed, when we need to make ends meet, we think less about the end of the world. »
With Olivier, we described lots of groups, undocumented immigrants, autistic people, disabled people, people from the suburbs, but we never allowed ourselves to judge the groups. We have always tried to live up to people’s expectations.
Éric Toledano, screenwriter-director
Justify your choices
Since his debut in 1995 with his first short film The day and the night, the popular tandem of French cinema has never had so much to justify its choices. However, this does not seem to worry Eric Toledano too much.
“Comedy is holding up a mirror and not laughing at people, but laughing at ourselves as Molière and commedia dell’arte did. Sometimes you have to have perspective; sometimes we are in full synchronization, as with Untouchables. Ecology is a tense subject, which oscillates between guilt and guilt. Criticism is part of the game, and in a career where you don’t necessarily seek security, you’re going to put yourself in a bit of danger. This happened to us with So close in 2009 ; I think the film has aged well. Films are a bit like wine, you have to wait to drink it. So for A difficult year, I wait. »
In theaters April 12.
Travel expenses were paid by Unifrance.