Among the undeniable successes of Alexandre Astier’s “Kaamelott – Premier Vole”, there are the magnificent costumes worn by the characters in the film. And especially that of Lancelot, whose design we come back to.
Kaamelott – First part great French success of 2021
Awaited for twelve years and the end of the broadcast of the cult series created by Alexandre Astier, the film Kaamelott – First part opened in July 2021 the trilogy of films desired by its author. The success was there, despite a difficult period for cinemas, with 2.6 million admissions in France. Which makes it the most seen French film in theaters, ahead of The Touches 4 (2.4 million admissions), and North ferry (2.2 million entries).
If the huge community of fans was not unanimous on the overall quality of the film, questioning in particular certain choices of staging and an often weak narration, elements of the film were acclaimed, in the first place of which his music and costume design. Particular attention has been paid to it, which gives the film its epic breadth and its own identity. Alexandre Astier has a passion for the Arthurian legend and he thus intends to honor it.
And of all the magnificent costumes worn by the characters of Kaamelott – First part, that of Lancelot (Thomas Cousseau) charmed as much as intrigued. A real second skin this famous antagonist of King Arthurthis costume deserves serious consideration.
An animal costume
In an exclusive interview with Captain Cinemaxx, the film’s costume designer Marilyn Fitoussi returned to the creation of Lancelot’s costume. In this costume, Lancelot appears huddled up, with difficulty moving, and with a head that seems to gradually sink into the costume. First and foremost, Marylin Fitoussi talks about making the feeling of a “to be unhealthy”. Sensations indicated by Alexandre Astier directed her towards a hybrid-inspired costume between the dragon and the spider.
Alexandre likes dragons of course, but he is also arachnophile. I thought about the elements of the spider that we could be afraid of: the proportions, the head, encased in the middle of the legs, the hairy side for some people. (…) It was necessary that the head of Lancelot is in mutation, that it starts to even disappear, to sink into a personal slump (and in the costume). The costume bothers him, and it’s done on purpose.
The costume designer then says that until the day before the shoot, the costume was made of fake furs. But his rendering seemed to him “very soft, too tender, and less disturbing“. The costume is therefore urgently redone, returning to the inspiration of the dragon with the use of screen-printed vinyl, to finally give the fascinating rendering which you can see in the picture.
An evolving being and costume
With its animal inspiration, also comes to the idea of making the costume evolutionary, intrinsically linked to the evolution of the character. He’s the only character in Kaamelott – The first part who has such a habit. This perfectly suits Alexandre Astier’s idea for the next film in his trilogy: insist on Heroic fantasy and show an evolving world. Marilyn Fitoussi explains:
Lancelot transforms. I can’t say more, but he’s in a madness, he’s hidden in a sort of tower (…) He’s also himself consumed, swallowed up by his own jealousy. (…) It’s a costume in transformation, in evolution, we see the beginnings of something there / Parts, for example, can be added, intertwined with other elements. It is the only character whose costume, linked to the person, will be in complete mutation.
The work of the costume designer is remarkable, and Lancelot’s costume is finally like the film. Surprising and sometimes awkward, very beautiful visually and witness to a passionate, bizarre, and indeterminate care, Lancelot’s costume as Kaamelott – First part are creations in motion. Creations that expose a new world, extended, rich, epic. And who we hope will take all its majesty in the second part!
