(Paris) Accustomed to screen scenarios of which he is the first author, Christian Carion made an exception for A great race, a film specifically written for Line Renaud. The great lady of the French music hall embodies a nonagenarian evoking her past with a stranger, a taxi driver. Joy and emotion were present. Interview.
While making the Paris-Lyon connection by train, Christian Carion (The Farewell Affair, My boy) read the screenplay by Cyril Gely (Diplomacy, Chocolate) that producers sent to him. Written specifically for Line Renaud, icon of French showbiz also recognized for her social involvement, particularly in the cause of AIDS, A great race recounts this moment in life when an old person has practically no other choice but to go and end his days in a retirement home, taking only his memories with him to furnish the small space granted to him.
To the taxi driver who takes her to her new place of residence, played by Dany Boon, Madeleine, the protagonist, however, insists on making many detours in order to see for the last time the places that have meant a lot in her life. And remember the events, sometimes dramatic, that took place there.
“When I arrived, I was in tears! “, confides the filmmaker during an interview granted to The Press as part of the Unifrance French Cinema Meetings, held this week in Paris.
As I had lost my mother shortly before, I was all the more sensitive to this story.
Chrsitian Carion, filmmaker
“I then contacted the screenwriter, telling him that there were still some things that I liked less and that I would have to put his script in my hand, which he was in complete agreement with”, he adds.
Dany Boon in dramatic mode
One of the first decisions of Christian Carion, a man from the North born in Cambrai, was to offer the role of the taxi driver to his “compatriot” Dany Boon, whose more dramatic potential he had already revealed in Merry Christmas. Sharing with Line Renaud, another woman from the North, a deep friendship for more than 30 years, even considering her as his second mother, the actor, known above all for his comedies, has put himself entirely at the service of his friend and the smooth running of the filming.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY AZ FILMS
Friends in life, Line Renaud and Dany Boon enjoyed playing opposite each other in A great race.
“In addition to being a great actor, Dany was a magnificent soldier, specifies the filmmaker. I always told him that he was like Bourvil and that he could play drama as well as comedy, even if, at the time of Merry Christmas, he had to be convinced. There, he really let go. He was absolutely sincere in laying bare his emotions. There were often times when we only did one take with him because he felt he couldn’t get back into that strong emotion a second time. Anyway, there was no need to do it, because what he gave was immediately perfect. »
A testament film?
Although the story ofA great race is not at all inspired by the very life of the woman who, in the 1950s and 1960s, made the heyday of musical reviews, both in France and in the United States (there is a Line Renaud Road in Las Vegas!), the mirror effect between fiction and reality was so strong that the actress, now 94, confided to the filmmaker that she could not dream of a more beautiful “testament film”.
“I did not react very well when she told me that, reveals Christian Carion. I asked her to keep this idea of a testament film to herself because it was really too much for me to bear. It is too great a responsibility. And then, I pointed out to her that people were going to discover her differently through this character and that other filmmakers would perhaps then come and offer her roles. Today, Line is nostalgic for this film and is now asking me when I plan to send her a new script! »
PHOTO JEAN-CLAUDE LOTHER, PROVIDED BY AZ FILMS
On the set ofA great raceChristian Carion talks with Line Renaud and Dany Boon, the two headliners of his new film.
Coincidence or not, many things in Madeleine’s story overlap with that of her interpreter. Line Renaud also wanted to attend the filming of the scene where the young Madeleine (played by Alice Isaaz) kisses an American soldier, even if her presence was not required.
“At the end of the scene, Line returned to the ball, congratulated the actors, saying that was exactly how it had happened,” says the filmmaker. She then told us that at the age of 15, she had, like her character, kissed an American GI. She had never told this story before. Lots of things of that nature intersect. »
Line has never been a victim of domestic violence herself, but some women in her family have. She told us that was also why she wanted to make this film.
Chrsitian Carion, filmmaker
A happy shoot
Bright, visibly delighted to be able to play such a beautiful score, Line Renaud was able to benefit from the special conditions reserved for her by the filmmaker, well aware of the venerable age of her main actress. All the scenes inside the taxi car were also shot in the studio, while the streets of Paris, filmed beforehand, parade on huge screens installed all around. And then, the fact of having also relied on the deep friendship shared by Line Renaud and Dany Boon made this filming led by three people from the Ch’tis country joyful.
“Line is a woman who loved and still loves life very much. In the film, Madeleine asserts that a smile is a look of youth and anger is a look of age. This formula perfectly indicates who Line Renaud is,” says the filmmaker.
A great race hits theaters January 20.
Travel expenses were paid by Unifrance.