On the occasion of the release of “Petit Piaf”, here are five things to know about this feel good musical movie directed by Gérard Jugnot.
Little Piaf by Gérard Jugnot
With Marc Lavoine, Soan Arhimann, Gerard Jugnot…
What is it about ? In a village in Reunion, 10-year-old Nelson dreams of becoming a great singer and thus making his mother proud, who is raising him alone. After applying for the TV show Star Kids with the help of his friends Mia and Zizou, they decide to find a coach to prepare for his competition. Luckily, Pierre Leroy, a famous singer with a career at half mast, is on tour on the island.
But the current passes with difficulty between Pierre, solitary and disenchanted, and Nelson proud and obstinate. Their only common point, the love of singing. Will he be strong enough to bring them closer? Strong enough for Nelson to reconnect with his mother and for Pierre to rediscover the desire for his beginnings?
Soan Arhimann, a star in Reunion
Jean-Marie Leroy – 2022 MY PRODUCTIONS – GAUMONT – FRANCE 3 CINEMA – MALEC PRODUCTIONS
Soan Arhimann, the interpreter of Nelson, lives in Reunion and is very attached to his island and his family. Passionate about singing since childhood, he won season 6 of The Voice Kids in 2019, where he was in the Soprano team then in that of Amel Bent. Back in Reunion, he was welcomed as a hero.
Gérard Jugnot says about him: “What is interesting is that Le Petit Piaf speaks precisely of the importance of roots. Soan is an intelligent and talented kid who certainly lives in his time, but who is not obsessed with the number of his followers. He is interested in many other things…”
“But he is above all passionate about music, accompanied by his father with a very nice complicity. I would add that I found this freshness in Ornela and Zakarie, children who are aware of the world around them, but who same time are somewhat spared thanks to the remoteness of the metropolis.”
Birth of the project
Jean-Marie Leroy – 2022 MY PRODUCTIONS – GAUMONT – FRANCE 3 CINEMA – MALEC PRODUCTIONS
Le Petit Piaf is the twelfth film directed by Gérard Jugnot. It was producer Marc-Étienne Schwartz who offered him to direct this feature film. The filmmaker remembers: “I was delighted but the story was supposed to take place in Africa and my ignorance of this continent did not allow me to feel completely legitimate.”
“The decision was made to adapt the plot to Reunion, which I knew a little from having played there. I proposed to rewrite everything so that the story takes place on the island… With, Serge Lamadie , one of the screenwriters, so we imagined this film, where all colors, sensibilities and cultures mingle, also injecting more comedy into it.”
Reunion as a character
Jean-Marie Leroy – 2022 MY PRODUCTIONS – GAUMONT – FRANCE 3 CINEMA – MALEC PRODUCTIONS
Gérard Jugnot wanted to film La Réunion as a character. The director knew a little about this island but it was while settling there for the film that he really discovered it. He remembers: “Over there, Africa, Asia, and Europe mix and live together. It struck me when I did the casting.”
“I met wonderful actors whose ancestors came from Madagascar, Gabon and Normandy! An island that bears its name well: Reunion! It’s a magnificent place, wherever you place your camera, but it It’s easy to fall into the tourist film trap.”
“Even if from the start we wanted to integrate the landscapes into the heart of the story, we also wanted to give a social dimension to the story: Nelson is fighting so that his girlfriend Mia, who is an orphan, can find a family and no longer live abandoned, left to fend for itself.”
“I found it important not to hide this without falling into darkness or militancy. We had to keep enough roughness and harshness to avoid angelism and the postcard.”
In the middle of COVID!
Jean-Marie Leroy – 2022 MY PRODUCTIONS – GAUMONT – FRANCE 3 CINEMA – MALEC PRODUCTIONS
The scouting of Petit Piaf began during the first confinement in 2020. The assistant director and the manager had left to start working, then Gérard Jugnot joined them. The director recalls: “I flew to Saint-Denis de La Réunion on a Saturday and during the flight, the flight attendant informed the passengers that President Macron had just announced the confinement. general of the country for the following Tuesday!”
“After 12 hours of flight, I arrive on Sunday and instead of resting while waiting for the next day, I left immediately with my team to see the scenery already spotted and validate what could be. After 36 hours , I flew back the other way to avoid getting stuck there! In July we were able to come back to shoot and there it didn’t go too badly because at that time, the island was pretty unspoiled. It was after that things got complicated.”
Marc Lavoine on his character
Jean-Marie Leroy – 2022 MY PRODUCTIONS – GAUMONT – FRANCE 3 CINEMA – MALEC PRODUCTIONS
Marc Lavoine plays Pierre Leroy, a singer who enjoyed success for a single hit a few years ago and who is invited to Reunion in exchange for concerts. The actor explains: “You know, there are a lot of singers and many have only had one or two hits, or sing at balls…”
“These are often people who carry suffering but who also have a real kindness in them. Pierre has forgotten this aspect of his personality. He has dropped out and finds himself stranded on this island, an artist who has become a little mean, a little grumpy, a little cynical and contemptuous.”
“He no longer looks at life as it is but sees it from the bad side. I believe that one spends his whole life trying to realize his childhood dreams: he let them go… resents something, probably missing the relationship with his daughter.”
“In contact with these kids who jostle him, Pierre will find things that he had lost along the way and which will catch up with him by the sleeve giving him a new chance to be a man. I did not try to analyze this character: I tried to put it in the present.”