Delayed following the pandemic crisis, “The Origin of the World” is finally in theaters since September 15, 2021. Laurent Lafitte’s first film is a surprising and expert comedy, which offers several levels of reading. We were able to meet the actor and director to tell us about his first production, his adaptation work, his casting … Meeting.
Laurent Lafitte, first!
This is a first achievement for Laurent Lafitte, and what a first! For The origin of the world, adaptation of the play created by Sébastien Thiéry in 2013, the actor famous for his roles in Little handkerchiefs, Mom or dad or The other side of the ring-road’, surrounded himself with a cast of brilliant actors, including Vincent Macaigne, Karin Viard, Nicole Garcia and Hélène Vincent. Together, they tell a story like no other, that of Jean-Louis who realizes one day that his heart is no longer beating. No one understands or has solutions, except perhaps Margaux (Nicole Garcia), the coach of his wife Valérie (Karin Viard), who may have a solution …
The origin of the world, a unique film
No need to present the qualities of actor Laurent Lafitte, a sure bet of French cinema and resident of the Comédie-Française, equally at ease in comedy as in drama. One could wonder about the tone he would give to his first film, and the surprise is beautiful. With The origin of the world, he delivers a comedy without taboos – it is almost the central subject of the film -, hilarious, astounding, sometimes hallucinating.
There is risk taking in The origin of the world, but this is controlled. We feel that Laurent Lafitte has mastered his intentions and his realization, by offering a show that is always surprising and that tackles subjects where it is easy to give in to vulgarity. This is not the case here, and as he says in the interview given during the 2021 Angoulême Francophone Film Festival (to discover at the top of the article):
I really didn’t want to do something schoolboy, vulgar. On the other hand, it amuses me to be on the wire, and to go to the end of the situations.
Thing said, thing done, Laurent Lafitte offers a total film and invests himself fully in this comedy. The origin of the world is to be discovered in theaters, where it has been presented since September 15, 2021.
