In “L’Esprit Coubertin”, Jérémie Sein’s first feature film, Benjamin Voisin – César for Best New Actor in 2022 – invents an absurd and endearing character. Our favorite from the 27th edition of the Alpe d’Huez Festival.
His name is Paul Bosquet. You don’t know him yet and that’s normal. He is the hero of L’Esprit Coubertin, Jérémie Sein’s first feature film – in theaters on May 8 – and we already know it: he is one of the best characters that the year 2024 will offer us.
Paul is an ace shooter and participates in the Paris Games, a great celebration that brings together nations from around the world. The only downside: France has a string of defeats and is scraping the bottom of the rankings. Paul could be the country’s only hope, but for this champion with an atypical character – some will say “dumb” – nothing is won.
Presented in competition at the 27th edition of the Alpe d’Huez International Comedy Film Festival, L’Esprit Coubertin is our favorite. The director and screenwriter Jérémie Sein – at the helm of several episodes of the Parliament series – offers a film that also wants to be “artsy” that popular.
Benjamin Voisin, comic genius
Intelligent satire, this sports comedy makes all the difference thanks to its originality, a sort of daring mix between Napoleon Dynamite and The Solitude of the Long-distance Runner. There is the writing, but above all the interpretation of Benjamin Voisin which reveals his comic genius. The actor, capable of playing Louis-Ferdinand Céline in the theater and giving life to a guy as crazy as Paul Bosquet, offers real creative work.
Bac Films
Benjamin Voisin and Emmanuelle Bercot, amazing tandem in “L’Esprit Coubertin”.
There is the look of the character – accumulation of a chaotic goatee and haircut – but also his posture, his gait, his phrasing. For each of his roles, Benjamin Voisin draws inspiration from an animal. Here he chooses the giraffe. All these little details make Paul a fictional hero who instantly becomes iconic – in the first sense of the term. Opposite him, Emmanuelle Bercot is just as crazy as a coach addicted to chewing gum.
Among all these qualities, there is also the prophetic dimension of the film. Without revealing too much, we talk about bedbugs, the laughable treatment of continuous information and even a rather special Minister of Sports – right on target with political news. The Coubertin Spirit is a real success and an explosive introduction to the Games to come.
The Coubertin Spirit by Jérémie Sein, in theaters on May 8, 2024.