Nicolas Bedos’ second feature film, “La Belle Époque” offers a very personal nostalgic odyssey, in which Guillaume Canet doubles as the director’s cinema. A role he accepted, but with some apprehension…
The great success of Nicolas Bedos
Well launched in 2017 with his first feature film Mr & Mrs AdelmanNicolas Bedos transforms this beautiful test in 2019 with The good times. A powerfully melancholy dramatic comedy about the erosion of feelings, in which we follow Victor (Daniel Auteuil), a disillusioned sixty-year-old on the evening of his relationship with the woman of his life, Marianne (Fanny Ardant). Kicked out of their home by this one, he will meet Antoine (Guillaume Canet), a brilliant director who has created a particular service: relive great moments, belonging to the great history as to the personal stories. With his actors, perfectly reconstructed environments, he thus offers nostalgics the opportunity to relive their past.
To give flesh to his melancholy, the scenario unfolds a double love story. Victor chooses to return to his meeting with Marianne, in the mid-1970s, in the La Belle Epoque café in Lyon. And for her part, Margot (Doria Tillier), the actress who plays Marianne in this reconstruction, is in a tumultuous relationship with Antoine. Gradually, Victor will then lose his footing and confuse the present time with his memories…
An extremely personal film
Are revealed in this very personal film all themes dear to Nicolas Bedos, such as the effect of time on feelings and the friction between the past world and the contemporary world. The author obviously put a lot of himself and his relationship at the time with Doria Tillier. But, unlike Mr & Mrs Adelman, he does not appear in his film and entrusts “his” role to Guillaume Canet.
In this vertiginous mise en abyss where the device of confusion between fiction and reality works at full capacity, Antoine is indeed the double of Nicolas Bedos’ cinema. A director to the changeable mood that the latter testified to having been on the set of Mr & Mrs Adelman.
The mise-en-abîme is particularly flagrant concerning the characters played by Doria and Guillaume. I wrote these scenes as an apology letter after my mood swings on Adelman’s set!
Guillaume Canet: “I was a little afraid that we wouldn’t get along.”
Logically, when the role presents itself, Guillaume Canet is touched but also worried.
Knowing that he liked me and wanted to work with me made me very happy. But if I have to be honest, I was a little worried that we wouldn’t get along. Because knowing his character and mine, it could quickly make sparks. I immediately spoke to him about it and he was able to reassure me on this point.
Before working with him, I imagined a director who liked to work in a conflictual relationship. But quite the opposite happened! (…) (Concerning my character, editor’s note) I see him as a mixture of Nicolas and me for his picky and demanding side towards himself and others. So I didn’t have to look very far to create it. Throughout filming, I had a lot of fun watching Nicolas on set. It really fueled my inspiration.
The great success of The good times well worth the apprehensions. The film presented at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival is indeed receiving an ovation of more than 8 minutes and attracts more than 1.2 million spectators in France. He then wins three César out of eleven nominations : César Award for Best Original Screenplay for Nicolas Bedos, Best Supporting Actress for Fanny Ardant, and Best Set Design for Stéphane Rozenbaum.
