La Petite bande, a new colorful comedy by Pierre Salvadori, is likely to bring a breath of fresh air to this scorching summer of 2022!
After the crazy En liberté, released in 2018, Pierre Salvadori is back with La Petite bande, his new wacky comedy.
This troupe that gives its name to the film is Cat, Fouad, Antoine and Sami, four 12-year-old schoolboys. Out of pride and provocation, they embark on a crazy project: to blow up the factory that has been polluting their river for years.
But in the freshly formed group, disagreements are frequent and tie votes constantly paralyze the action. To decide between themselves, they then decide to bring Aimé, a rejected and lonely kid, into their little band.
As excited as they are maddened by the magnitude of their mission, the five accomplices will learn to live and fight together in this funny and uncertain adventure that will totally surpass them.
FIVE KIDS AND A KIDNAPPING
After the wacky robbery in En liberté, Pierre Salvadori this time stages a kidnapping that turns into a fiasco, all carried out by 12-year-old teenagers!
Originally, the film was not intended to be worn by children. It focused on a small group of adults “incompetent and clumsy”. The director changed his tune because he found it hackneyed.
“I slid towards children for reasons of dramaturgy. I was suddenly much more interested in their sense of improvisation, of lying, of resourcefulness.
What I like is to see these kids set out to move towards commitment, explore their ideas of justice and injustice, show how children invent themselves”explains the filmmaker.
THE SUMMER’S COMEDY?
The Little Band is the perfect film to have a good time at the cinema with the children in these hot weather! The film, which takes place in Corsica, brings its share of magnificent landscapes, all in a refreshing atmosphere, thanks to the energy and vitality of this group of teenagers.
However, because of certain somewhat difficult scenes linked to the plot of the kidnapping of the boss of a factory, La Petite bande is recommended for ages 10 and up.
Pierre Salvadori has managed to bring together a pretty troupe of talented young actors, from Colombe Schmidt to Mathys Clodion-Gines via Aymé Medeville, Redwan Sellam and Paul Belhoste. The latter pulls out of the game, absolutely hilarious in the costume of Aimé, a whipping boy from college.
According to the actor, this character is basically a wimp. But to find friends, he is brave. He’s also the kind of person who immediately wants to be the boss, wants to get involved even if he doesn’t know the people he finds himself with, nor the situation.
Roger ARPAJOU – 2022 LFP – LES FILMS PELLÉAS / GAUMONT / FRANCE 2 CINEMA / TOVO FILMS Paul Belhoste plays Aimé
“For me, a newcomer to a band can’t get involved in everything like that! He should calm down and this is not at all the case with Aimé who directly offers stuff. He’s also someone who does like the others to integrate”underlines the young actor of 12 years.
During the casting, Pierre Salvadori selected “endearing, interesting personalities. I also wanted children who wanted to play, who had fun doing it. Who could be interested in a character even if he is very far from them.”
A COMMITTED DIRECTOR
To put these apprentice actors at ease, the director gave of his person: “I deliberately ridiculed myself: I played all the roles, the little boy, the little girl, I rolled in the dust!” Not being afraid to make a fool of himself, he wanted to encourage them to surrender in front of the camera.
Redwan Sellam had never acted until he participated in a short film for a festival in his city. His big sister, who was filming him, then went through the casting announcements and signed him up for La Petite Bande.
Colombe Schmidt, Paul Belhoste and Mathys Clodion-Gines were already doing theatre. The latter had played in a musical and a Canadian short film.
Finally, Aymé Medeville sent a video of himself for the casting, because he couldn’t go to Paris: “I had chosen to talk about my passion: History. I am really passionate about the Second World War and cinema, in particular the propaganda films of that time”he confided.
Roger ARPAJOU – 2022 LFP – LES FILMS PELLÉAS / GAUMONT / FRANCE 2 CINEMA / TOVO FILMS
Pierre Salvadori and his Little Band
AN ECO-FRIENDLY FILM?
In addition, La Petite bande raises awareness on the theme of ecology without giving lessons, something that Pierre Salvadori wanted at all costs to avoid when writing the film.
The filmmaker denies having made a film “uplifting or soothing on ecology”. Being wary of subject works, he wrote characters who are not originally in a militant approach but who are nevertheless aware of environmental problems.
According to him, today’s children “know very well that their habitat is threatened, they are aware of the possibility of a finitude but that does not overwhelm them. There is this form of amnesia specific to childhood which makes them still open to games, to inventions. ..
It’s as if there were a new breed of “hybrid” children, in whom innocence and conscience, lightness and despondency coexist.he analyzes.
In this Corsican village, children are released into nature. They have their paths, their landmarks, their treasures, their caves and their trees. They live in and with nature. “But I was very careful not to have a speech that caught up with me”explains Pierre Salvadori.
“I have a personal opinion on all that of course, but I don’t like programmatic films where the characters are spokespersons, everything is disembodied.
The characters must take over with their contradictions, their humanity quite simply. Afterwards, things go on, their ideas are refined. The story of the film is this long deliberation”he concluded.
La Petite Bande has been in theaters since July 20.