La France (2007)

Director:

Serge Bozon

Writers:

Serge Bozon
Axelle Ropert

Release Date:

11 July 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Musical | Romance | War

Plot:

In France in the darkest days of the Great War Camille receives an alarming letter from her soldier boyfriend...

Plot Keywords:

Soldier | France | Song | World War One | Singer

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Sylvie Testud	...	Camille
Pascal Greggory	...	Le Lieutenant
Guillaume Verdier	...	Le cadet
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pascale Bodet	...	La fille de la colline
Bob Boisadan	...	Le guitariste
Jean-Christophe Bouvet	...	Elias
Didier Brice	...	Jean
Philippe Chemin	...	L'agent de liaison
Guillaume Depardieu	...	François
Benjamin Esdraffo	...	Pierre
Michel Fossiez	...	Le hautboïste
Vincent Fraiscinet	...	Le gendarme
Laurent Lacotte	...	Frédéric
Emmanuel Levaufre	...	Elias's son
Pierre Léon	...	Alfred
François Négret	...	Jacques
Cécile Reigher	...	Camille's sister
Laurent Talon	...	Antoine
Lionel Turchi	...	Le violoniste
Laurent Valéro	...	Le bandonéoniste
Mehdi Zannad	...	La sentinelle

Directed by
Serge Bozon

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Serge Bozon
Axelle Ropert

Produced by
Lola Gans	....	associate producer
Philippe Martin	....	producer
Géraldine Michelot	....	associate producer
David Thion	....	producer

Original Music by
Benjamin Esdraffo
Laurent Talon
Mehdi Zannad

Cinematography by
Céline Bozon

Film Editing by
François Quiqueré

Casting by
Stéphane Batut

Costume Design by
Renaud Legrand
Elisabeth Mehu

Makeup Department
Stéphane Malheu	....	hair stylist: Sylvie Testud
Francoise Sanner	....	special makeup effects artist
Milou Sanner	....	hair stylist
Michel Vautier	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Hélène Bastide	....	production manager
Benjamin Cohenca	....	unit manager trainee
Marianne Gielara	....	assistant unit manager
David Hedrich	....	production secretary
Jérôme Petament	....	unit manager
Simon Vautier	....	assistant unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nadège Catenacci	....	trainee assistant director
Julie Gouet	....	second assistant director
Thomas Longuet	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Mathieu Barnet	....	assistant decorator
Brigitte Brassart	....	set designer
Grégoire Chombard	....	constructor
Roland Ciprut	....	constructor
Lionel Claude	....	construction manager
Ludovic Garçon	....	constructor
Gurgon Kyap	....	constructor

Sound Department
André Cappello	....	sound recordist (as André Capello)
Mathieu Chatagnon	....	additional boom operator
Florian Fabre	....	assistant foley artist
Laurent Gabiot	....	sound mixer
Pauline Gaillard	....	sound editor
Eric Grattepain	....	foley artist
Adrien Guillemot	....	sound recordist
Gildas Mercier	....	post-synchronisation
Pierre-Yves Nussbaum	....	sound recordist
Loïc Pommiès	....	boom operator
Olivier Roche	....	sound mix technician
Carole Verner	....	dialogue editor

Special Effects by
Philippe Alleton	....	special effects assistant
Hervé Dajon	....	special effects assistant
Michel Gery	....	special effects assistant
Benoît Squizzato	....	special effects supervisor

Visual Effects by
Béatrice Bauwens	....	visual effects coordinator
Sophie Denize	....	visual effects coordinator
Cédric Fayolle	....	visual effects supervisor
Jean Baptiste Le Guen	....	scan and shoot
Mathieu Leclercq	....	color timer

Stunts
Alain Barbier	....	stunt coordinator
Gilles Conseil	....	stunt coordinator
Frédéric Dessains	....	stunt double
Sylvain Gabet	....	stunt double
Emilie Jumeaux	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
Marion Befve	....	first assistant camera
Carole Bethuel	....	still photographer
Pierre Bonnet	....	gaffer
Justine Bourgade	....	assistant camera
Odile Euriat	....	second assistant camera
Vincent Garat	....	groupman
Gaston Grandin	....	grip
Morvan Omnes	....	key grip
Hervé Renoud-Lyay	....	grip (as Hervé Renoud-Lyat)
Didier Rollot	....	electrician (as Didier Rolot)

Casting Department
Stéphane Foenkinos	....	casting consultant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Véronique Gely	....	costumer
Clémence Abigaïl Grivelet	....	additional costumer (as Clémence Grivelet)

Editorial Department
David Hedrich	....	post-production assistant
Sophie Lustière	....	color timer
Magalie Léonard	....	color timer
Juliette Mallon	....	post-production coordinator
Vladimir Rodionov	....	assistant editor (as Vladimir Rodionoff)

Other crew
Chrystèle Bru	....	production assistant
David Faivre	....	animal coordinator
Florence Lemoine	....	production administrator
Chloé Lorenzi	....	press attache
Rémi Orain	....	assistant
Benjamin Pasquier	....	production administrator
Johanna Zerbib	....	production secretary

Production Companies

• Les Films Pelléas
• Centre Images
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)
• CinéCinéma
• Cinémage
• Coficup
• Région Ile-de-France
• Soficas
• Soficinéma 3

Distributors

• Shellac Distribution (2007) (France) (theatrical)
• Kino International (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• TV5 Monde (2008) (worldwide) (TV)

Other Companies

• Airstar  grip and lighting equipment
• Cinéphase  sound mixing
• D.C.A.  sound equipment
• Dinosaures  sound equipment
• Les Dames Augustines  foley
• M.O. Pour Mot  post-synchronisation (as Mot pour M.O.)
• Mikros Image  color grading
• Tapages  sound equipment

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Company:

Les Films Pelléas

Trivia:

Bozon stated in a Cinema Scope interview that the film was shot using "a film stock never used before to shoot a movie, Kodak 5299, which is usually used as an intermediate film in numerical post-production." This was used to achieve the so-called "aquarium feeling" of the film's night scenes.

A musical about a company of soldiers during WW I

I would not have watched this film had I known it was a musical. Not my genre. There are only four songs and they are mercifully not too long. They were recorded live while shooting and the compositions have an odd unpolished quality.

It's 1917 in northern France. A company of eleven French soldiers, including a lieutenant, are moving through the countryside. A woman impersonating a man succeeds in joining the company. While the mission of the company is not immediately revealed, the woman is on a quest to find her husband, also a soldier at the front, whose whereabouts are unknown. The film is taken up by the journey of those twelve characters.

The war is near but battles don't make it to the screen. You may see some smoke, hear the sound of cannons and explosions, and see a few dead bodies. The war is context but it's depiction is not central. The stress is on the men of the company and the interloper they have adopted.

The musical numbers are surreal interludes. Out of the blue makeshift instruments appear, mostly string, a piano once and a clarinet. Obviously the soldiers are not carrying them around. It's fanciful and it rubbed me in the wrong way.