Les émotifs anonymes (2010)

Director:

Jean-Pierre Améris

Writers:

Jean-Pierre Améris
Philippe Blasband

Release Date:

25 November 2011 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

What happens when a man and a woman share a common passion? They fall in love. And this is what happens to Jean-René...

Plot Keywords:

Chocolate | Chocolate Factory | Boss | Rose | Practicing A Line Of Conversation

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Benoît Poelvoorde	...	Jean-René Van Den Hugde
Isabelle Carré	...	Angélique Delange
Lorella Cravotta	...	Magda
Lise Lamétrie	...	Suzanne
Swann Arlaud	...	Antoine
Pierre Niney	...	Ludo
Stéphan Wojtowicz	...	Le psychologue
Jacques Boudet	...	Rémi, un émotif anonyme
Alice Pol	...	Adèle, une émotive anonyme
Céline Duhamel	...	Mimi, une émotive anonyme
Philippe Fretun	...	Maxime, un émotif anonyme
Grégoire Ludig	...	Julien, un émotif anonyme
Philippe Gaulé	...	Philippe, un émotif anonyme
Joëlle Séchaud	...	Joëlle, une émotive anonyme
Isabelle Gruault	...	Sylviane, une émotive anonyme
Claude Aufaure	...	M. Mercier
Philippe Laudenbach	...	Le président du jury du salon du chocolat
Marie-Christine Demarest	...	Madame Legrand
Pascal Ternisien	...	Le serveur restaurant
Jean-Yves Chatelais	...	Le réceptionniste
Christiane Millet	...	La mère d'Angélique
Vincent Paillier	...	Franck, l'amant de la mère
Eric Naggar	...	Le gérant méprisant
Vijay Singh	...	Le vendeur de roses
Noémie Landreau	...	La vendeuse 'À la Mère de Famille'
Pierre Adenot	...	Le pianiste bar
Christophe Tourrette	...	Membre du jury Salon du chocolat
Claude Humbert	...	Membre du jury Salon du chocolat
Anny Vogel	...	Vendeuse Mercier
Florence Mallet-Laffay	...	Vendeuse Mercier
Alexandra Morales	...	Hôtesse salon
Cindy Mollaret	...	Hôtesse salon
Robert Barnouin	...	Membre du jury Salon du chocolat
Christophe Tarare	...	Membre du jury Salon du chocolat
Rémi Patoux	...	Membre du jury Salon du chocolat
Nancy Tate
Sabrina Baldassara
Jean-Pascal Abribat
Pierre Bénézit
Mustapha Abourachid
Dominique Verrier
Philippe Briegh	...	Violoniste orchestre restaurant
Philippe Garcia	...	Contrebassiste orchestre restaurant
Jacques Bretaudeau	...	Accordéoniste orchestre restaurant
Gilles Haddad Areski	...	Guitariste orchestre restaurant
Constantin 'Kosty' Lacatus	...	Joueur de Cymbalum orchestre restaurant
Franco Vega San Francisco	...	Groupe mariachi Salon du chocolat
Lester Vega San Francisco	...	Groupe mariachi Salon du chocolat

Directed by
Jean-Pierre Améris

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jean-Pierre Améris
Philippe Blasband

Produced by
Nathalie Gastaldo	....	producer
Philippe Godeau	....	producer
Olivier Rausin	....	co-producer
Arlette Zylberberg	....	associate producer: RTBF

Original Music by
Pierre Adenot

Cinematography by
Gérard Simon

Film Editing by
Philippe Bourgueil

Casting by
Tatiana Vialle

Production Design by
Sylvie Olivé

Costume Design by
Nathalie du Roscoat

Makeup Department
Avril Carpentier	....	additional makeup artist
Corinne Maillard	....	key makeup artist (as Corine Maillard)
Aurélie Rameau	....	makeup artist
Jimmy Springard	....	key hair stylist

Production Management
Baudoin Capet	....	production manager
Varujan Gumusel	....	post-production manager
Olivier Lagny	....	unit manager
Christophe Masson	....	assistant unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nils Hamelin	....	first assistant director
Charlotte Marrel	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Benjamin Bouygues-Faugeron	....	assistant art director
Pascal Chevé	....	plasterer
Georges Kafian	....	graphic designer
Nicolas Migot	....	assistant art director
William Mordos	....	set dresser
Daniel Parceaud	....	on-set dresser
Pascaline Pitiot	....	props: exteriors
Francoise Rouge	....	painter (as Françoise Rouge)
Romain Scavazza	....	assistant art director
Martina Seeber	....	painter

Sound Department
Marc Bastien	....	sound editor
François Dumont	....	dialogue editor
Jean-Pierre Duret	....	sound
Aline Gavroy	....	foley sound engineer
François Groult	....	sound re-recording mixer
Pierre-Jean Labrusse	....	sound mix technician
Olivier Thys	....	foley artist

Visual Effects by
Thibaut Couwenbergh	....	visual effects
Bertrand de Saint Seine	....	end titles
Eric Dupont	....	digital compositor
Aurélien Grand	....	retouch and restoration
Marie Maulet	....	digital compositor
Marc Umé	....	visual effects supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department
Loïc Andrieu	....	steadicam operator
Marie Barronet	....	still photographer (as Marie Barronnet)
Jean-Guy Cheny	....	grip
Raphael Jourdan	....	key grip
Melinda Lignot	....	second assistant camera
Julien Muller	....	second assistant camera
Patrick Rebatel	....	gaffer
Patrick Renault	....	electrician

Casting Department
Céline Delamour	....	casting assistant
Morgane Peron	....	extras casting assistant
Alexandra Weyers	....	extras casting

Editorial Department
Catherine Le Mignant-Labye	....	assistant editor
Natacha Louis	....	colorist

Music Department
Pierre Adenot	....	conductor
Pierre Adenot	....	orchestrator
Cyrille Aufort	....	orchestrator
Tom Bowes	....	musician: first violin
Jo Buckley	....	assistant orchestra contractor
Simon Chamberlain	....	musician: piano
Eric Chevalier	....	music programmer
Olga FitzRoy	....	music assistant engineer
Isobel Griffiths	....	orchestra contractor
Aymeric Letoquart	....	pro tools operator: music
Valérie Lindon	....	music supervisor
Patrick Millet	....	consultant: original music
Stéphane Reichart	....	music mixer
Guy-Paul Romby	....	copyist
Nick Wollage	....	music sound engineer

Other crew
Jean-Pierre Arquie	....	Pierre Adenot & Cyrille Aufort's agent (as Jean-Pierre Arquié)
Marie Barré	....	location scout
Virginie Breydel de Groeninghe	....	assistant producer
Myriam Bruguière	....	press attache
Laurent Coppola	....	assistant unit manager
Laetitia Dom	....	production secretary
Olivier Guigues	....	press attache
Eric Jooris	....	legal counsel
Charlotte Marrel	....	locations
Thomas Percy	....	press attache
Catherine Poels	....	press attache: Belgium
Mathieu Pradinaud	....	making-of director
Delphine Régnier	....	script supervisor (as Delphine Régnier-Cavero)
Marie Sabbah	....	Pierre Adenot & Cyrille Aufort's agent
Schelenz Sebastian	....	production staff
Pierre Selinger	....	production attorney
Anne Serrié	....	production administrator
Breydel Virginie	....	assistant producer

Production Companies

• Pan Européenne Production (as Pan Européenne)
• Studio Canal (co-production)
• France 3 Cinéma (co-production)
• Rhône-Alpes Cinéma (co-production)
• Climax Films (co-production)
• Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (RTBF) (co-production)
• Canal+ (participation)
• CinéCinéma (participation)
• France Télévision (participation)
• Banque Postale Image 3, La (in association with)
• Cinémage 4 (in association with)
• Uni Étoile 7 (in association with)
• Le Tax Shelter du Gouvernement Fédéral de Belgique (support)
• Casa Kafka Pictures (support)
• Movie Tax Shelter Empowered by Dexia (support)
• Programme MEDIA de la Communauté Européenne (support)
• Procirep (support)
• Angoa-Agicoa (support)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)
• Dexia (support)

Distributors

• Delphi Filmverleih Produktion (2011) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Filmtrade (2011) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Lucky Red (2011) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Studio Canal (2010) (France) (theatrical)
• StudioCanal (2010) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Tribeca Film (2011) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Big Bang Distribution (2010) (Belgium) (all media)
• DCM Film Distribution (2011) (Germany) (all media)
• Madman Entertainment (2011) (Australia) (all media)
• Orlando Films (2011) (Israel) (all media)
• Savor (2011) (Spain) (all media)
• Zon Lusomundo Audiovisuais (2011) (Portugal) (all media)

Special Effects

• Digital Graphics
• Duboi (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Air Studios  music recorded at
• BCG  publicity
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Film Music Services  composer's agency, score coordination
• Fuji  film stock
• Studios de Meudon  music recorded at
• TSF  camera equipment provided by

Also Known As:

"Romantics Anonymous" - International (English title) (imdb display title)
"Ahava ve-Chocolate" - Israel (Hebrew title) (literal title)
"Anonyme romantikere" - Norway (imdb display title)
"Anonyme romantikere" - Denmark (imdb display title)
"Anonymoi romantikoi" - Greece (imdb display title)
"Anonyymit romantikot" - Finland (imdb display title)
"Die Anonymen Romantiker" - Germany (imdb display title)
"Emotivi Anonimi" - Italy (imdb display title)
"Franska nerver" - Sweden (imdb display title)
"Przepis na milosc" - Poland (imdb display title)
"Românticos Anónimos" - Portugal (imdb display title)
"Românticos Anônimos" - Brazil (imdb display title)
"Tímidos anónimos" - Spain (imdb display title)

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

France | Belgium

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

France:U | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Ireland:12A | Sweden:15 | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Château de Montgeroult - 9 Rue du Frochot, Montgenoult, Val-d'Oise, France

Company:

Pan Européenne Production

Trivia:

Nomination: Prix Lumières de la meilleure actrice à Isabelle Carré (14-1-2011).

Soundtrack:

You Are My Destiny

When bashful Harry meets timid Sally

Jean-Pierre Améris, a good but somewhat overlooked French director, had hitherto specialized in harsh dramas (such as the intriguing 'Les aveux de l'innocent" (1996), in which an ordinary man declares he has committed a crime whereas he is innocent, or the profound "C'est la vie" (2001), a haunting meditation about life and death). For the first time, with "Les émotifs associés" (2010), Améris has opted for a lighter tone, ... without indulging in superficiality for all that. His new effort marks in fact an interesting evolution in Jean-Pierre Améris's way to address his subjects. At ease with the problems of others (his characters), the writer-director has now decided to examine a question that concerns his own self and to do it with optimism.

For if there is a subject that Jean-Pierre Améris knows like the back of his hand it is hyper emotionality. A highly emotional person himself since he was a child, Améris has however been able to give a film crew orders, to guide them and to impose himself on them, a thing an overly timid creature would never dream of ever managing to do. Having now overcome his handicap (at least to some extent as he occasionally still finds it hard to make a decision or deal with strangers), the director has undertaken to share his experience with his audiences and help the victims of hyper emotionality to have a better life.

And what better way to achieve this goal than resorting to the romantic comedy genre? For sure, provided a filmmaker avoids falling into the trap of over-sentimentality, he or she will make an audience susceptible to the attraction of one character to the other and take advantage of this feeling of empathy to instill his message in the complicit viewers. What Jean-Pierre Améris needed first was two amiable spokespersons to pass on his message and, with the help of his co-writer Philippe Blasband, he has given life to an engaging couple, consisting of Jean-René, the owner of a small chocolate factory who has never overcome his mental blocks and has remained single despite his deep love for women, and Angélique, probably the best chocolate maker alive, but who, for exactly the same reasons, has failed to make a name for herself and to find the genial soul. Mission accomplished, as the two characters are well delineated and remarkably interpreted by Benoît Poelvoorde and Isabelle Carré.

This established, all the suspense will lie in the fact that though Angélique and Jean-René share a common passion for chocolate and are drawn to each other, the fear of giving a bad image of themselves and of taking the first step, is a source of misunderstanding and tends to estrange them. Will there be a happy ending? Nothing is less certain...

Through this situation and these two characters, Jean-Pierre Améris describes, with the light touch allowed by comedy, the nightmare experienced by those people who are so scared of life that they miss out on it, preferring the safety of doing nothing over the risks of taking action. And not taking action does not only bring frustration to the people concerned , it is also misleading to others. Deep inside themselves neither is Jean-René this gruff unpleasant boss nor Angélique this slightly retarded little girl. They are much better persons and deserve better. "Les émotifs anonymes" will thus recount Angélique and Jean René's desperate efforts to become a couple on the one hand and to become who they are on the other, describing the various means they use to this end (consulting a behavioral psychologist, doing exercises to try to ACT even if the odds seem impossible, using auto suggestion, trying to touch someone, to invite a person to the restaurant, joining a mutual aid movement such as the "Emotifs Anonymes" (hence the title)...

A useful film for the overly timid, an entertaining and charming one for the more extrovert, "Les émotifs anonymes" is played to perfection by the ever delightful and fresh Isabelle Carré and cast- against-type Benoît Poelvoorde. There is such a chemistry between the two on-screen partners that you never doubt for a single moment that the princess can be infatuated with a bullfrog!

A comedy with a heart, "Les émotifs anonymes" contains several scenes to remember : the disaster dinner at the restaurant, Jean-René singing 'Dark Eyes' to Angélique at the hotel, Jean-René's declaration of love to Angélique during an "Emotifs Anonymes" meeting.

Don't be shy. Go and see it. Your audacity will be rewarded!