“His name is Juste Leblanc!”, exclaims Pierre Brochant to François Pignon about his former best friend played by Francis Huster. Hilarious scene from Dinner for idiots, cult film rebroadcast by TMC on November 26, this dialogue of the deaf is actually inspired by a French sportsmans, former scorer for the Blues. Indeed, Just Fontaine, who died in March 2023, is the originator of this replica. As he told La Dépêche du Midi in 2007, he reported to Pierre Mondy an anecdote from 1956which the director then used in his play The idiots’ dinner. The footballer had just arrived at the Stade de Reims, and was not yet the champion of the Blues that the public knew.
As a young athlete, he remembered meeting the nephew of Albert Batteux, another legend of French football. On returning home, the young man reported to his parents that the new arrival at Stade de Reims did not have a first name. “You know, there’s a new player at the club, a striker, who doesn’t have a first name. His name is… just Fontaine, that’s all!” A mistake which would become famous, since thanks to the success of the eponymous play, a film was made, which in 1999 won three Césars out of the six for which it was nominated: best actor for Jacques Villeretbest supporting actor for Daniel Prevost and best original screenplay or adaptation for Francis Veber.
A grueling shoot
Key actor in this comedy, Thierry Lhermitte said he had had a bad time filming of this feature film, having been deeply marked by the demands of its director. The latter left few freedoms to its actors, as the 71-year-old actor confided during his appearance on the show C à vous, in September 2021. “It was hard. Because Francis Veber wants to hear what he wrote. I wasn’t used to that”he then explained to presenter Anne-Élisabeth Lemoine.
Article written in collaboration with 6Medias.
Photo credits: Gaumont International