See the Eiffel Tower differently

What could be better than a large-scale period film on the construction of the Eiffel Tower to make us want to go to the cinema and to transport us to Paris? Interviews with the director of the film eiffelMartin Bourboulon, the actor Romain Duris, who becomes Gustave Eiffel, as well as Emma Mackey, who embodies the one without whom the symbol par excellence of Paris would perhaps never have existed…

Emilie Cote
The Press

Romain Duris is known for his roles in The Spanish inn and The Beat That My Heart Skipped, but those who follow him on Instagram know that he also pursues a career as an illustrator. “It’s free drawing,” he says. Without calculation. »

If Romain Duris says he has a much less Cartesian mind than that of Gustave Eiffel, he points out that his father was a civil engineer and architect. In a scene from the movie eiffel, his character also launches: “Engineers also have the right to make things beautiful. »

“The useful should not separate us from the beautiful”, adds Romain Duris in a virtual interview, with Emma Mackey, seated at his side. Note, however, that we took part in the round of interviews with the two actors and director Martin Bourboulon almost a year ago, because the release ofeiffel has been repeatedly postponed due to the pandemic.

Those who watched the Netflix series Sex Education will take time to recognize Emma Mackey without the grungy look of her character Maeve.

You should know that the actress was born in France and that she therefore masters the language of Molière. Its role is pivotal in the scenario ofeiffeland it is he who makes the film a “fiction freely inspired by real events”.

Facts ? Adrienne Bourgès did indeed exist. She and Gustave Eiffel loved each other and they were even to marry in 1860.

The fiction and the heart of the film? Adrienne meets Gustave Eiffel two decades later, and this pushes the latter to design and erect the Eiffel Tower for the 1889 Universal Exhibition in Paris after he had refused. He then just participated in the construction of the Statue of Liberty and the French government put pressure on him. “For us, there is only one possible explanation for this turnaround,” explains director Martin Bourboulon.

Eiffel would have changed his mind after seeing the woman he loved so much when he was younger. “This is where the cinema intervenes in the form of hypothesis and romance”, indicates the filmmaker to whom we owe the films mom or dad and Mom or dad 2.

“How can an engineer who is afraid of nothing and who builds a building 300 meters tall measure so few centimeters in front of a woman who overturns her emotions? This contrast appealed to me from the start,” maintains Romain Duris.

A woman behind the tower

The French and regulars of Paris probably take the Eiffel Tower too much for granted. “Like many people, I knew nothing about the Eiffel Tower except that it had been built for the Exhibition, confesses Emma Mackey. The film allows us to discover all the work that was done upstream. »

“I didn’t know it was originally red,” adds Romain Duris, who was also surprised to learn that Eiffel didn’t want to associate his name with the metal tower at the start.

Like the Eiffel Tower project, which was, according to Duris, “unimaginable, unfeasible and a bit crazy”, Martin Bourboulon’s film is a blockbuster that took a long time to shoot.

The first draft of the screenplay dates back 22 years. The names of actors Liam Neeson, Gérard Depardieu, Isabelle Adjani and director Ridley Scott have even been associated with the project.

The director adds that a woman is at the base of the scenario, that is Caroline Bongrand, who tried to mount this project during all these years. When Martin Bourboulon was attached to the project in 2017, he quickly handed over the role to Romain Duris. There were special effects, he points out, but a foot of the Eiffel Tower was simply reproduced and built for the needs of the filming.

The major role of the character of Adrienne in the story lends a feminist touch to a film that recounts a time when history with a capital “H” was essentially that of men. “She’s not just the muse,” says Emma Mackey.

Martin Bourboulon says he was charmed by the idea that “without a woman, the Eiffel Tower would never have been the same”. Telling only the construction challenge would have been too documentary, he argues. “We absolutely wanted the female character to be strong and to be a driving force in the narrative and the dramaturgy of the story. »

The film takes place in two eras: when Eiffel and Adrienne first meet in 1860, then about 25 years later, when they cross paths before the construction of the Eiffel Tower and after that of the Statue of Liberty. However, the second part was shot before the first (and was separated by the first confinement).

Romain Duris liked to embody Eiffel young, if only for the game. “A fiery and dynamic game with lighter steps. »

For him, who has already interpreted Molière, is it intimidating to embody historical figures? “It’s to understand them in our time,” he adds. I play Gustave Eiffel in a 2020 film. What resonates with this character today? »

Note that Martin Bourboulon is working on an adaptation of three musketeers with Romain Duris, Vincent Cassel, Pio Marmaï and Eva Green.

“You have to take risks in what you do,” argues Romain Duris, who recalls that Eiffel risked his fortune and his reputation with the Eiffel Tower, which the film exposes very well.

eiffel will be presented in theaters from April 29.