A large-scale film is being prepared in Sarthe: The Great Odalisque, directed by Mélanie Laurent. Adapted from the successful comic book of the same name, with a three-star cast (Adèle Exarchopoulos, Isabelle Adjani or even Mélanie Laurent herself), all the ingredients are there for it to work, according to Julien Sénéchal of the Cité du film .
La Cité du film, an actor in Sarthe cinema
La Cité du film is an association created in March 2020, with the aim of promoting cinema in Sarthe and supporting producers and directors. And the goal has been achieved, since they are now working on the reception of the filming of the Grande Odalisque, in collaboration with the regional reception office (Pays de la Loire). This is their first major production. “It was Gaumont that produced the great Odalisque. They were looking for specific sets and in particular a circuit. So they contacted us to find out if we could put them in touch with the Le Mans circuit. Which is obviously going to happen. We are very happy with it.“
The link with the Cité du film therefore made it possible to promote the arrival of filming. And for this, the members of the association have been hired: Julien Triger, for example, is scouting in the Sarthe to find the appropriate sets: “It is both an investigator’s job and a researcher’s job, of course. We spot a decor at the level of the image, but we also spot a decor at the level of the sound. We check if there is not the passage of a train, and if so, how often it passes“, explains Julien Triger.
Because in addition to the scenery of the circuit, the film crew also needed natural scenery such as forests and roads. But finding the right forest is not easy: “There were several parameters, there had to be a pond nearby. All this in the spirit of the film, which fits well with the script“, develops Julien Triger.
A hundred people
Feature film, action film, a “french mission impossible“, according to the producers. Which makes a shoot with a lot of people. A hundred people are expected, including about forty extras. “It will make catering, hotels work“says Julien Sénéchal, from the Cité du film.And then it makes extras work at Le Mans. We had more than 1,000 applications that went through the Cité du Film website.“
The filming of the film will begin in the city of Le Mans, at the beginning of September, before flying off to Corsica and Paris, while passing through the Sarthe region.