Noémie Lvovsky sings the virtues of “La Grande Magie” in a spirited musical

With her imagination and the complicity of a fine line-up of actors, Noémie Lvovsky freely adapts this play by Eduardo de Filippo to the cinema in a deep and joyful musical comedy. The great magic hits theaters on February 8, 2023.

The film opens on a maritime horizon. “We are bored”, says a joker while stirring her tea. We are in France in the 1920s, in a hotel by the sea. There is an atmosphere of the end of the 19th century there, even if we understand in certain details that do not deceive that the War of 14 passed through there. The only distraction for the regulars of this opulent hotel, the jealousy of Charles, who watches his young wife Marta like milk on the fire. But the arrival with fanfare of a troupe of magicians will definitely scare away the boredom of this peaceful vacation spot.

In the evening, during the performance given by the troupe in the semi-darkness of the gardens, Marta takes advantage of a number to disappear for good. Albert the magician, overwhelmed, offers the husband a small wooden box, promising that his wife will be there. Only, he warns her, he will only have to open it if he regains his confidence in her, otherwise his wife will disappear forever…

The “great magic” of the show

Noémie Lvovsky chose to adapt this play by Italian playwright Eduardo de Filippo in the form of a musical. Through this farce full of energy in a scenario where the female characters have been fleshed out, the director of Camille repeats questions the viewer about the powers of illusion and spectacle.

Drum beating, the troop of illusionists brings the “great magic” into this confined hotel despite its view of the open sea, and upsets the tranquility, the small habits and the established order of this featureless resort. But doesn’t “great magic” risk leading to madness? These themes run through this comedy placed under the sign of farce, characters drawn as in a fantastic tale, where the feelings of men, the purest as well as the darkest, are put to the test.

The director serves this freely adapted text with generosity, in a staging set like a ballet. On a lively original score, deliciously anachronistic, composed by Feu! Chatterton, the actors bend to the exercise of musical comedy with skill for some (seasoned), like Judith Chemla or François Morel, with acrobatic poetry for others, moving Denis Podalydès in his desperate dance of a jealous husband. Sergi Lopez bonhomie portrays a somewhat charlatan illusionist, tackled by his volcanic wife Zaira (Noémie Lvovsky).

A hymn to freedom and love, this imaginative musical version of Eduardo de Filippo’s play is also and above all a tribute to “the great magic” of the spectacle, of illusion, of fiction, which distracts us from everyday life, amazes us, and sometimes even, is essential to us to survive, to update certain truths, until, paradoxically, to bring down the masks.

The sheet

Gender : Musical comedy

Director: Noémie Lvovsky, after the work of Eduardo De Filippo

Actors: Denis Podalydès, Sergi López, Noémie Lvovsky, Judith Chemla, Damien Bonnard, François Morel, Rebecca Marder, Paolo Mattei

Duration : 1h50

Exit : February 8, 2023

Distributer : Ad Vitam

Summary: France, the 1920s. In a hotel by the sea, a magic show distracts idle guests. Marta, an unhappy young woman with her jealous husband, agrees to participate in a disappearance number and takes the opportunity to disappear for good. To respond to the husband demanding the return of his wife, the magician places a box in his hands, telling him that she is inside. However, he must only open it if he has absolute faith in it, otherwise it will disappear forever. Doubt then sets in with Charles…