“It’s pretty good, that. »On this comment by François Demachy sniffing patchouli on the island of Celebes, Indonesia, begins Nose, Documentary film by Clément Beauvais and Arthur de Kersauson on the backstage of Dior perfumes. By following the exclusive nose of the house for two years, the directors sought to unravel the mysteries of creation, to show what we never see.
The result is not a chronological and didactic approach to the process of composition and manufacture of a juice but a table of the trade, faceted, as we say in perfume. “At the beginning, when they told me about the project, I wondered what we were going to talk about, if it would interest people, says François Demachy. There is a lot of abstraction in our work, the perfume only really comes to life when you wear it. “
“The film shows a romantic version of the job, (…) it was not so photogenic to focus on the creation in the lab, a very lonely part of the job. »François Demachy, perfumer for Dior
How not to want to follow the nose in its various journeys to the end of the world (Indonesia, India, Madagascar, Japan, China and Italy), in search of the most beautiful raw materials? Certainly, it is mentioned that the education of the perfumer is “Like a ballerina’s job to memorize all the smells and compositions” – François Demachy confides “Do your scales every day” -, but we do not really realize the more laborious aspect of everyday life.
“The camera has not been behind me for two years without stopping, fortunately! Clément Beauvais and Arthur de Kersauson mainly followed me when traveling. The film shows a romantic version of the job, but you have to dream and it was not so photogenic to focus on the creation in the lab, a very lonely part of the job. What would they have filmed? Someone in a white coat throwing tries? “
The perfumer would also have liked to address the issue of synthetic materials, very important for creation: “Without them, we make soup, but how do we show it? “ Even if it means focusing on flowers, necessarily more cinematographic, François Demachy, who attended the editing, insisted that people in the shadows be valued, “Not recognized enough, while perfume is a human adventure”.
This is how the two filmmakers gave a voice to the producers of perfume flowers in Grasse and Antibes (Carole Biancalana, Armelle Janody, Christelle Archer), with whom the Dior house has forged privileged partnerships.
“We feel that François is marked by this strong and independent femininity, that he wants to pay homage to them, to show his admiration for what they accomplish”, comment the directors. This documentary, in which we also meet Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud, the perfumer of Louis Vuitton, the model Eva Herzigová and the actress Virginie Ledoyen, can give rise to the desire to go sniff fragrances in stores, but also everything leave to resume studies as a perfumer or cultivate fields of flowers.
Nose (1 h 11), by Clément Beauvais and Arthur de Kersauson, on VOD on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play and Canal VOD.