In 1831, Victor Hugo imagined the destruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, writing: “All eyes had been raised to the top of the church. What they saw was extraordinary. On the summit of the highest gallery, higher than the central rose window, there was a great flame which rose between the two steeples with swirls of sparks, a great disorderly and furious flame from which the wind carried away at times a shred in the smoke. »
When a terrible fire broke out on April 15, 2019, this passage, which had become premonitory, was often quoted. Although in view of Notre Dame is burningthe very researched film of John Jacques Annaud, we understand that it was, to quote Hugo again, “the damage, the countless mutilations that time and men simultaneously subjected to the venerable monument” which made the disaster possible upstream.
Joined in Paris, the filmmaker explains that he experienced painfully the spectacle of the fire which, in the long term, ravaged the roof and the spire of the cathedral.
“I know Notre-Dame very well: I live right next to it, 150 meters away. As a kid, I took my first photos there. I was moved, like many. Except I didn’t expect to do anything about the disaster at all, believing that a bunch of filmmakers were going to rush to make a movie — it wasn’t until later that I found out how much of a storyline reality was. spectacular and unheard of. I was first approached to shoot a documentary and I declined. But in reading the documentation, I noticed that there was dramatic material there of an unimaginable density and a tension worthy of a thriller. »
Jean-Jacques Annaud confides in having perceived in the events an “almost Hitchcockian” construction at work before and during the fire.
“We weren’t prepared for this symbol of Paris and Christianity to go up in smoke. I repeated to myself “but it’s not possible!” What I learned after talking to the speakers turned out to be even worse; even more implausible. We would not dare, if we were not supported by reality, to invent such a thread of events. Like this guy, the only guy who has the key, who is in Versailles and who misses his train… All that is unimaginable, but true. »
The number of unforeseen events, bad decisions and setbacks that led to this disaster is staggering. “I’m thinking, for example, of those firefighters stuck in traffic jams, who don’t arrive while the Grande Dame — the star — is dying. It is from the moment when I drew up the chronological list of all these setbacks that I realized that I had my narrative structure. I was then very excited. »
A fiction of reality
It should be noted that often, during the interview, Jean-Jacques Annaud describes the cathedral as “ star”, and for good reason: she is the star, that is to say the protagonist, of her film. The antagonist is fire, ruthless and charismatic.
“We have this huge international star who is attacked by the most demonic villain. It’s, in a way, the classic drama of the dying star and the help that doesn’t reach her,” sums up the filmmaker.
Precisely, with such elements, Notre Dame is burning, which is thus not a documentary but a docufiction, could easily have been envisaged as a traditional fiction, with a “hero”, why not a firefighter… That would certainly have been the conventional Hollywood approach. The idea makes Jean-Jacques Annaud, who lived in Los Angeles for a long time, burst out laughing.
“Walking around in pure fiction, I would have found it bogus and banal. I like to do things that don’t look like other things. I said to myself: here is an incredible plot, so I am going to integrate it into what I would be tempted to call a “real fiction”. Very quickly, I wanted to embrace the different points of view of all these dumbfounded people who were directly affected by these events — I met almost all the people who were confronted with the tragedy. »
Recreate the fire
In the same breath, Jean-Jacques Annaud recalls that at first sight we knew very little about the details of the said events. “There were no cameras inside to capture the start and progress of the fire. All of this I had to recreate. »
How ? By resorting to an ingenious mix of sets and models, special effects, of course, and above all, by finding a good understudy for the “ stars”. Here, the director’s vast knowledge of rose name in matters of the Middle Ages were of great help to him.
“I know medieval architecture well: I did a degree in literature with options in medieval art history and medieval history. My main actress being sick and in danger of collapsing, I knew that I couldn’t use her much — we still shot for three or four days at Notre-Dame. Anyway, I knew that Notre-Dame was inspired by the first Gothic cathedral in France, which is located in Sens. Notre-Dame also made small ones, and several cities subsequently wanted their own. The closest I have found is that of Bourges. »
By “making up” the place and playing with the shot and the reverse shot, the filmmaker was able to connect all of this: it’s the essence of cinema. He is quite proud of it: even the clergy of Notre-Dame confessed that they were incapable of recognizing what had not been shot on location. The insertion of archive images and the use of interpreters, mostly little known, contributed to perfecting the desired impression of authenticity.
In the end, Jean-Jacques Annaud believes that Notre Dame is burning has “all the advantages of fiction, but it’s also the truth”.