Les Amandiers: drugs, alcohol, illness… the tragic fates of the members of Patrice Chéreau’s troupe


In theaters since Wednesday, “Les Amandiers” by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi traces the tumultuous journeys of young actors in the late 80s.

The Almond Trees by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi

With Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Sofiane Bennacer, Louis Garrel…

What is it about ? At the end of the 1980s, Stella, Etienne, Adèle and the whole troupe were twenty years old. They pass the entrance examination for the famous school created by Patrice Chéreau and Pierre Romans at the Amandiers theater in Nanterre. Launched at full speed in life, passion, play, love, together they will live the turning point of their lives but also their first great tragedies.

Autofiction

2022 – Ad Vitam Production – Agat Films et Cie – Bibi Film TV – Arte France Cinema

In Les Amandiers, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi drew on her experience at the École des Amandiers de Nanterre run by Pierre Romans and Patrice Chéreau, where she was trained in her youth and where she rubbed shoulders with Agnès Jaoui, Vincent Perez, Marianne Denicourt and Bernard Nissille.

She used her memories and those of former students that she reworked and fictionalized: “I contacted them one by one, we found each other. It was joyful, I had the strange impression that the time had not passed. They knew that the film would be fiction, that we were going to alter reality and their names would not appear. They were all very generous in their testimonies.”

Louis Garrel as Patrice Chéreau


2022 – Ad Vitam Production – Agat Films et Cie – Bibi Film TV – Arte France Cinema

There was talk, for a short time, of the director becoming a director and of Valeria Bruni Tedeschi playing Patrice Chéreau. Finally, the latter entrusted the role to her former companion, Louis Garrel, whom she had already directed in Actresses and A Castle in Italy.

“I would not like to speak in his place, but I think that Louis, without having met him much, had a very important intimate and secret relationship with Chéreau, and the proposal for this role immediately made him vibrate. He did his cooking, and I let him free.” The director and the actor had only one point of contention: the little cigars that Chéreau smoked! Garrel didn’t want to go back to smoking for the movie but eventually gave in.

Tragic disappearance


COADIC GUIREC / BESTIMAGE

The character of Étienne, played by Sofiane Bennacer (on the right in the photo above) is inspired by actor Thierry Ravel, who died in 1991 at the age of 28 following an overdose. He notably appeared in Hôtel de France by Patrice Chéreau, Descente aux enfers, alongside Sophie Marceau and Claude Brasseur, as well as the clip My man by Patricia Kass.

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, who was his companion, paid tribute to him in issue 51 (June 1991) of Studio Magazine : “Your talent as an actor and your natural charisma led us all to believe that one day you would taste the delights and the pitfalls of success. You rushed through life like a child who did not suspect the danger. Tending to rage and revolt, you disarmed. You confused. Succeeding has never served you as a pretext for hypocrisy.”

A little trip to hell


2022 – Ad Vitam Production – Agat Films et Cie – Bibi Film TV – Arte France Cinema

The character of Franck, interpreted by Noham Edje, refers to Franck Demules. His career, made up of addictions and alcoholism, was eventful. His wife, actress Isabelle Ho, seen in Martin et Léa by Alain Cavalier and Mortelle Randonnée by Claude Miller, died of complications from the AIDS virus in 1991.

In the early 2000s, Demules became the driver and then the assistant of Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s sister, Carla Bruni Sarkozy. In 2009, still serving the then First Lady of France, he published the book A little trip to hell, where he looks back on the hardships he has gone through. He recounts in particular how he was sexually abused from the age of 10 to 18 by his tutor, Christian Hennion, then a journalist at Release.

mise en abyme


RINDOFF-GARCIA / BESTIMAGE

In Les Amandiers, we can see Patrice Chéreau and his troupe putting on the play Platonov by Chekhov. Reality has surpassed fiction since the filmmaker and director adapted this play for cinema in 1987 with his actors in Hôtel de France. A behind-the-scenes documentary on this shoot, entitled Once Upon a Time Nineteen Actors, was directed by François Manceaux the same year.

Finally, a documentary entitled Des Amandiers aux Amandiers and broadcast on Arte goes behind the scenes of the filming of Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s film. It is signed Stéphane Milon and Karine Silla Perez, companion of Vincent Perez, former member of the troupe of Amandiers.



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