Pierre Niney at Michel Gondry: this is the program of the hilarious “The Book of Solutions”, comedy in the form of a self-portrait thanks to which the actor realizes one of his dreams.
WHAT DOES IT TALK ABOUT ?
Marc flees with his whole team to a small village in the Cévennes to finish his film with his aunt Denise. On site, his creativity manifests itself in a million ideas that plunge him into a bizarre chaos. Marc then embarks on writing the Book of Solutions, a practical advice guide that could well be the solution to all his problems…
“The Book of Solutions” is presented at the Quinzaine des Cinéastes de Cannes 2023
THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP
On January 16, 2012, Pierre Niney took part in the Révélations des César dinner (where he appeared thanks to I like watching girls) and chose Michel Gondry as his godfather, who had just come out of the chaotic experience of The Green Hornet and was about to return to the cinema with The We and the I. Eleven years later, the actor finally realizes his dream of shooting for the filmmaker, and it is in Cannes that their baby is presented.
Entitled The Book of Solutions, the feature film tells the story of Marc, a filmmaker who struggles to finish his new film and flees to a small village in the Cévennes, to his aunt’s house, to overcome it with his team. But the many ideas inspired by this change of scenery ultimately bring more complications than anything else.
For Michel Gondry, it is a personal story of which 75% of what we see on screen (and in particular certain totally improbable things) really happened, as he tells us shortly after the first screening of his new project, where the laughter in the theaters burst out as much as the hilarious replies in the film.
Because The Book of Solutions is funny. Very funny. And he owes it in large part to the slaughter of Pierre Niney, who gives everything as an undrinkable alter ego of the one with whom he dreamed of shooting one day. Although hilarious, the feature film nevertheless tackles serious subjects, such as mental illness via the burn-out of which Marc is a victim, like Michel at the time of the post-production of L’Écume des jours.
The Jokers
Pierre Niney at Michel Gondry: watering it down!
Ten years later, the main interested party drew this Book of Solutions from it, which turns out to be surprising compared to what one can expect from a film by Michel Gondry which talks about cinema. One would have thought that his love of the D system would be expressed in the same way as in Be nice, rewind!, for example, but no. There are a few tricks, but the whole is, ultimately, more sober.
Just as much as it presents itself as a panache of his work, where the love of the 7th Art and craftsmanship rub shoulders with more personal stories such as that of L’Épine dans le cœur, a documentary on his aunt Suzette. The one with whom Marc takes refuge in The Book of Solutions (which is dedicated to him), where she is embodied by Françoise Lebrun.
If the film knows, in rooms, the same success as during its presentation in Cannes, the dream finally realized by Pierre Niney will be all the more beautiful. And we are already hoping to see him collaborate with Michel Gondry again.