Tchéky Karyo embodies a lunar and very endearing father in the joyful “A romantic comedy”. During the last La Baule Festival where the film was presented, we met the actor, who spoke to us about his career, his unique voice and told us about one of his most memorable memories from the shooting of “L ‘Bear”.
A romantic comedy : a joyful romantic reunion
First feature film directed by Thibault Segouin, A romantic comedy takes the viewer into the messy daily life of César (Alex Lutz), a pick-me-up singer who hasn’t released anything new for years. If his professional life is a mess, his sentimental life is a real disaster. The musician feels guilty for having abandoned overnight – and without warning – Salomé (Golshifteh Farahani), his great love. Inevitably, when he reappears casually, she explodes. Determined to win her back, César will do everything to repair his mistakes and overcome his fear of commitment.
Olivier Chantreau and Lucie Debay complete the cast of this delightful film, which benefits fromneat writing and fun with the codes of the genre (read our review here). Tchéky Karyo lends his features to César’s father, who is somewhat disoriented. If his appearance lasts only a few minutes, it is one of the most successful, funniest and most touching scenes in the feature film.
Meeting with Tchéky Karyo
During the eighth edition of the La Baule Cinema and Film Music Festival, where A romantic comedy was presented and where Golshifteh Farahani won the Best Performance Prize, we met Tchéky Karyo. The actor confided in the pleasure he took in participating in this comedya genre in which we see him only too rarely.
He also returned to his career, to the many dark roles he played, offering multiple memorable Machiavellian performances (Dobermann, bad boys, The Dragon’s Deadly Kiss), but also on his contribution to ambitious productions such as 1492: Christopher Columbus, The Patriot and The Bear. Tchéky Karyo also told us an unforgettable memory from the shooting of Jean-Jacques Annaud’s film, from which he almost did not come out unscathed:
I was at the edge of the ravine, I made the film for this scene and when I arrived, there was really the ravine. I was told: “Tchéky, there is a net, if there is a problem, you jump into the net”. (…) I was galvanized. Galvanized by what this scene represented. (…) I was aware of everything that could happen. I was preparing for a lot of possibilities. That’s why I was hyper focused on the bear. Which means that when he sent his paw on my face, which was not expected, I was… (He mimics a backward movement) He could have stared at me completely, since he still had his claws. . That’s what happened to me.
Watch our full interview in the video at the top of the article. A romantic comedy is to be discovered in cinemas from November 16, 2022.
