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En 1961, en Angleterre, un jeune homme est parti de Newcastle pour se rendre à la National Gallery de Londres. Son but ? Subtiliser l’une des nouvelles acquisitions du célèbre musée, un portrait du duc de Wellington par le peintre Francisco Goya, pour ensuite le rendre et toucher une éventuelle somme en récompense. Son plan a fonctionné. Mais c’est son père, Kempton Bunton, un homme de 60 ans engagé dans de multiples causes sociales, qui a pris la faute sur les épaules. Et eu un procès quatre ans plus tard.
PHOTO FOURNIE PAR LES FILMS SÉVILLE
Helen Mirren et Jim Broadbent sont les têtes d’affiche de The Duke (Le duc), un film réalisé par Roger Michell.
Vous n’avez jamais entendu parler de cette affaire qui a véritablement eu lieu ? Rassurez-vous, Helen Mirren non plus. « Quand j’ai lu le scénario [écrit par Richard Bean et Clive Coleman]I said to myself that they had undoubtedly exaggerated, entrusts the actress during a videoconference interview granted to The Press. But I was also sent documentation and that’s when I realized this story was genuine. I don’t know why she escaped me at the time. I was still a teenager! »
Not a counter-use at all
It should be noted, however, that although the case made headlines in the 1960s, the full details of this story were not revealed until 50 years later. To give the answer to Jim Broadbent, the producers of The Duke quickly thought of Helen Mirren, to whom they nevertheless sent the script for the film without really believing it. They couldn’t see how an actress of this caliber, accustomed to big roles and larger-than-life characters, could agree to lend her features to a modest, working-class woman, hurt from within by the accidental death of her husband. daughter.
“However, I loved playing Dorothy! “, insists the one who won an Oscar thanks to The Queen surprised by this erroneous perception. “I remember that at the time, I had clearly indicated that in the event of a scheduling conflict with another project, that one had priority. I liked this mix between the tragedy that this woman carries within her and the way she leads her life. I liked her quiet strength, her way of supporting her husband, even if he makes him live through impossible times. In fact, it is a very human story. »
She also refuses the notion of misuse when the time comes to evoke a character who, although more anonymous, is no less dramatically rich. “An actress’s life is made up of characters from all kinds of backgrounds,” she explains.
PHOTO MAGDALENA WOSINSKA, THE NEW YORK TIMES
Even if the producers thought otherwise, Helen Mirren didn’t feel like a misfit at all in The Duke (The Duke), a film directed by Roger Michell.
My pleasure has always been to find the humanity of a character, regardless of its nature. I would have a very hard time playing someone in whom I couldn’t find the human being inside.
Helen Mirren
This opportunity to bring Dorothy Bunton, about whom there is no documentation, back to life is also a form of homage to these women of 60 years ago.
“These strong women, from the working class, went through the war in their youth. They drew from it a very particular strength of character. I obviously relied on the script’s indications to build the character, but while researching the women of that time and the environment in which they lived, I came across a photo that inspired me a lot. It showed a working-class woman wearing her apron walking, very assertively and resiliently, down an alley between two backs of houses. I have often been inspired by portraits to build a character. It’s very useful. »
Tribute to a deceased filmmaker
The Duke, filmed in 2019, also marks the first collaboration between the actress and director Roger Michell. Great theater director, director whose greatest success in cinema remains the romantic comedy Notting Hillalong with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, Mr. Michell passed away last year, aged 65.
PHOTO NICK WALL, PROVIDED BY SEVILLE FILMS
In The Duke (The Duke), Helen Mirren plays a woman from the British working class in the early 1960s.
“His death devastated me in many ways,” says Helen Mirren. I saw the film for the first time with him at the Telluride festival two years ago. The reception of the festival-goers was magnificent. Roger was probably at the top of his game and I think The Duke shows it well. Lightness, finesse, tone, everything is there, including the emotion of the story. It really is a great accomplishment. We have lost a great British filmmaker. »
The Duke (The Duke in French version) will be shown on August 5 exclusively at Le Tapis Rouge cinema in Trois-Rivières. It will drop on Amazon Prime Video on August 11.
PHOTO NICK WALL, PROVIDED BY SEVILLE FILMS
Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent headline The Duke (The Duke), by Roger Michelle.