The French Kissers
Encyclopedia
The French Kissers is a 2009 French teen film
. Its original French title is Les beaux gosses, which means "the handsome boys". It was written and directed by Riad Sattouf
, marking his film debut. The film follows Hervé (Vincent Lacoste), an average teenage boy who has little luck with finding a girlfriend until the beautiful Aurore (Alice Trémolières) takes a liking to him.
Sattouf, a graphic novel
writer, was asked to write a script based on an idea from producer Anne-Dominique Toussaint, and he completed the screenplay with Marc Syrigas. Sattouf cast non-professional actors as the film's teenage characters, but he chose to use experienced actors such as Noémie Lvovsky
, Irène Jacob
, Emmanuelle Devos
and Valeria Golino
as the adult characters. Filming took place over eight weeks in Gagny
and Rennes
.
The film was released in France on 10 June 2009, and a soundtrack composed by Flairs was released on 8 June 2009. The film was well-received by critics, who particularly praised the humour, the acting and the cinematography.
It won the 2010
César Award for Best First Film
.
. He and his best friend Camel often fantastize about their female classmates and their mothers, but have less luck with girls in reality.
Hervé unsuccessfully pursues romances with various girls at his school, including with Laura, who accepts his offer of a date as a joke. After Aurore, a beautiful, popular girl at school, asks him on a date, they embark on an awkward relationship. Although Hervé and Camel are frequent masturbators, while both alone and together, Hervé and Aurore are slow to engage in sexual activity beyond kissing. Aurore eventually breaks up with Hervé when his friends try to grope her in a game of Dungeons & Dragons
and she discovers that he lied to them about having sex with her.
The film concludes with the characters in high school; Hervé is dating Sabrina, Camel is dating Jenifer, Aurore is dating Wulfran, and Hervé's mother is married to Anas's father.
The French astronaut Jean-Pierre Haigneré
makes a cameo appearance as the professor of Physics.
writer Riad Sattouf had studied animation
and had dreams of filmmaking, but he thought that it would be too exhausting to write and re-write a script, find producers, find funding and censor his ideas to please others. Sattouf had rejected several film offers before because they lacked creative freedom, but he agreed when he was contacted by Anne-Dominique Toussaint, a film producer and a fan of Sattouf's graphic novels who wanted to make a teen film. Sattouf wrote the first draft of the script and then asked screenwriter Marc Syrigas to help him to re-write it. Rather than make a film about "the codes of today's teens, the way they talk, [or] their arsenal of electronic devices", Sattouf wanted to focus on "the intensity of their emotions". He wanted to depict "the things that happen during teenage-hood that we don't show so often".
Casting all of the characters in The French Kissers took place over three months. Sattouf casted the teenage characters through casting agent Stéphane Batut – whose team he described as "experts in casting teenagers" – and chose from taped auditions of 500 Parisian high school students. He did not want to work with professional actors who he feared would be egotistical and may have thought that he was not legitimate as a first-time director. He wanted to cast unknown actors due to his "phobia of stars", but after considering that he might not make another film, he asked Emmanuelle Devos
, Irene Jacob
and Valeria Golino
to appear in the film and they all accepted. Sattouf sought actors who were "ugly ducklings with unusual features, and their own way of talking, of walking" and who could express emotions without "acting". He struggled to find teenage actors who were like their characters and were willing to be filmed in an unflattering way. He said that Vincent Lacoste and Anthony Sonigo were less concerned about their appearances when he showed them a picture of himself as a "very ugly" teenager. Three days before the beginning of principal photography
, Lacoste broke his knee at a music concert, and so his resulting limp was added to the character. According to Sattouf, Lacoste and Sonigo were completely at ease with filming scenes of masturbation, and all of the actors treated their French kiss
es "like a hug".
Filming of The French Kissers lasted for eight weeks. Some street scenes and interiors of Hervé's flat were filmed in Rennes
, Brittany
– where the film is set – but the budget was too small for substantial filming in Brittany, so Sattouf tried to find a college in the Paris suburbs that resembled his own in Rennes. Most of the film's interior scenes were shot in Gagny
in Paris's eastern suburbs at the Madame-de-Sévigné de Gagny and Eiffel de Gagny colleges. Sattouf used close-ups and unusual compositions when filming the teenagers to "feel their animal side". There was little camera movement to show "there is some heaviness in them; the world is turning around them, they are their own prisoners". He wanted the camera to be held "so close that you could feel their oily skin, every imperfection, and smell their [body odour]".
s Brendan Kelly, who gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, wrote that "Sattouf captures that strange mix of bravado and shyness that is teenage guy-dom, and the result is both frequently hilarious and, finally, quite touching." He thought that Lacoste was "perfect" as Hervé and that the casting of non-professional actors made the film more authentic. Justin Show of Filmink magazine described the film as a "fresh and brutally sincere comedy that strays away from typical teen flicks". In particular, he praised the cinematography, Sattouf's dialogue and Lvovsky's performance. Mike Goodridge wrote for Screen International
that the film shows "a nice blend of humour and intelligence that places it somewhere between American Pie
and Wild Reeds". He enjoyed the well-known actors' brief appearances and thought that the film's "acute observations and ribald humour" would appeal to adult viewers. The Hollywood Reporter
s Duane Byrge summarised the fim as "a hilarious spin through contemporary French adolescence". Berge found the teenagers' depiction "farcical but realistic" and felt that, like John Hughes's films, a particularly funny aspect was the mockery of authority figures. In a review for Variety
magazine, Jordan Mintzer opined that the film comprised "plenty of heart-wrenching gags right in the smacker". Mintzer found some sequences "nauseating" but others "freshly and creatively slapstick", and praised the raw cinematography. David Stratton
of At the Movies awarded the film 3.5 stars out of 5, describing it as "a likeable insight into the problems of children who want to grow up very quickly". He called the non-professional teenage cast "terrific", and praised Lvovsky's performance as Hervé's mother. Herald Sun
critic Leigh Paatsch found the film "blatantly funny" but also "surprisingly moving". He called Sattouf "a knockout talent behind the camera" and praised the "great humour and honesty" of the story.
Teen film
Teen films is a film genre targeted at teenagers and young adults in which the plot is based upon the special interests of teenagers, such as coming of age, first love, rebellion, conflict with parents, teen angst, and alienation...
. Its original French title is Les beaux gosses, which means "the handsome boys". It was written and directed by Riad Sattouf
Riad Sattouf
Riad Sattouf is a French writer and cartoonist comics and film director of Syrian origin...
, marking his film debut. The film follows Hervé (Vincent Lacoste), an average teenage boy who has little luck with finding a girlfriend until the beautiful Aurore (Alice Trémolières) takes a liking to him.
Sattouf, a graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
writer, was asked to write a script based on an idea from producer Anne-Dominique Toussaint, and he completed the screenplay with Marc Syrigas. Sattouf cast non-professional actors as the film's teenage characters, but he chose to use experienced actors such as Noémie Lvovsky
Noémie Lvovsky
Noémie Lvovsky is a French film director, writer, and actress.She studied cinema at La Fémis in Paris, notably a contemporary of Arnaud Desplechin, with whom she often collaborates...
, Irène Jacob
Irène Jacob
Irène Marie Jacob is a French-born Swiss actress considered one of the preeminent French actresses of her generation. Jacob gained international recognition and acclaim through her work with Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski, who cast her in the lead role of The Double Life of Véronique...
, Emmanuelle Devos
Emmanuelle Devos
Emmanuelle Devos is a French actress. Devos was born to daughter of actress Marie Henriau in Paris. She appeared in 50 films between 1986 and 2009. She won the César Award for Best Actress in 2002 for her performance in Sur mes lèvres, directed by Jacques Audiard...
and Valeria Golino
Valeria Golino
Valeria Golino is an Italian-Greek film and television actress. She is best known to English language audiences for the 1988 film Rain Man, and the Hot Shots! films...
as the adult characters. Filming took place over eight weeks in Gagny
Gagny
Gagny is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-History:On 20 May 1869, a small part of the territory of Gagny was detached and merged with a part of the territory of Livry-Gargan and a part of the territory of Clichy-sous-Bois to create the...
and Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
.
The film was released in France on 10 June 2009, and a soundtrack composed by Flairs was released on 8 June 2009. The film was well-received by critics, who particularly praised the humour, the acting and the cinematography.
It won the 2010
César Awards 2010
The 35th Annual César Awards ceremony was held by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma to honor its selection of the best films of 2009 on February 27, 2010. Marion Cotillard was chosen as the Hononary President of the ceremony...
César Award for Best First Film
César Award for Best Debut
The César Award for Best Debut was an award given out at the annual César Awards between 1982 and 1999...
.
Plot
Hervé is a teenage boy in junior high school with ordinary looks and middling grades, living with his single mother in a housing estate in RennesRennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
. He and his best friend Camel often fantastize about their female classmates and their mothers, but have less luck with girls in reality.
Hervé unsuccessfully pursues romances with various girls at his school, including with Laura, who accepts his offer of a date as a joke. After Aurore, a beautiful, popular girl at school, asks him on a date, they embark on an awkward relationship. Although Hervé and Camel are frequent masturbators, while both alone and together, Hervé and Aurore are slow to engage in sexual activity beyond kissing. Aurore eventually breaks up with Hervé when his friends try to grope her in a game of Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
and she discovers that he lied to them about having sex with her.
The film concludes with the characters in high school; Hervé is dating Sabrina, Camel is dating Jenifer, Aurore is dating Wulfran, and Hervé's mother is married to Anas's father.
Cast
- Vincent Lacoste as Hervé
- Anthony Sonigo as Camel
- Alice Trémolières as Aurore
- Julie Scheibling as Laura
- Camille Andreys as Meryl
- Robin Nizan-Duverger as Benjamin
- Baptiste Huet as Loïc
- Simon Barbery as Mohamed
- Irwan Bordji as Anas
- Loreleï Chenet as Mégane
- Sihem Namani as Sadia
- Salomé Durchon as Nolwenn
- Noémie Billy as Océane
- Emma Gregory as Emma
- Thania Perez as Jenifer
- Lise Bordenave as Sabrina
- Louis Bankowsky as Goulven
- Nicolas Bouissy as Koulmen
- Pablo Eskenazi as Pablo
- Victorien Rolland as Wulfran
- Yanis Aït-Ali as Mahmoude
- Maya De Rio Campo as Leslie
- Florence Dottel as Françoise
- Noémie LvovskyNoémie LvovskyNoémie Lvovsky is a French film director, writer, and actress.She studied cinema at La Fémis in Paris, notably a contemporary of Arnaud Desplechin, with whom she often collaborates...
as Hervé's mother - Irène JacobIrène JacobIrène Marie Jacob is a French-born Swiss actress considered one of the preeminent French actresses of her generation. Jacob gained international recognition and acclaim through her work with Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski, who cast her in the lead role of The Double Life of Véronique...
as Aurore's mother - Yannig Samot as Anas's father
- François Hassan Guerrar as Camel's father
- Christophe Vandevelde as Hervé's father
- Emmanuelle DevosEmmanuelle DevosEmmanuelle Devos is a French actress. Devos was born to daughter of actress Marie Henriau in Paris. She appeared in 50 films between 1986 and 2009. She won the César Award for Best Actress in 2002 for her performance in Sur mes lèvres, directed by Jacques Audiard...
as the principal - Roch Amédet Banzouzi as the deputy principal
The French astronaut Jean-Pierre Haigneré
Jean-Pierre Haigneré
Jean-Pierre Haigneré is a French Air Force officer and a former CNES astronaut.Haigneré was born in Paris, France and joined the French Air Force, where he trained as a test pilot....
makes a cameo appearance as the professor of Physics.
Production
Graphic novelGraphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
writer Riad Sattouf had studied animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
and had dreams of filmmaking, but he thought that it would be too exhausting to write and re-write a script, find producers, find funding and censor his ideas to please others. Sattouf had rejected several film offers before because they lacked creative freedom, but he agreed when he was contacted by Anne-Dominique Toussaint, a film producer and a fan of Sattouf's graphic novels who wanted to make a teen film. Sattouf wrote the first draft of the script and then asked screenwriter Marc Syrigas to help him to re-write it. Rather than make a film about "the codes of today's teens, the way they talk, [or] their arsenal of electronic devices", Sattouf wanted to focus on "the intensity of their emotions". He wanted to depict "the things that happen during teenage-hood that we don't show so often".
Casting all of the characters in The French Kissers took place over three months. Sattouf casted the teenage characters through casting agent Stéphane Batut – whose team he described as "experts in casting teenagers" – and chose from taped auditions of 500 Parisian high school students. He did not want to work with professional actors who he feared would be egotistical and may have thought that he was not legitimate as a first-time director. He wanted to cast unknown actors due to his "phobia of stars", but after considering that he might not make another film, he asked Emmanuelle Devos
Emmanuelle Devos
Emmanuelle Devos is a French actress. Devos was born to daughter of actress Marie Henriau in Paris. She appeared in 50 films between 1986 and 2009. She won the César Award for Best Actress in 2002 for her performance in Sur mes lèvres, directed by Jacques Audiard...
, Irene Jacob
Irène Jacob
Irène Marie Jacob is a French-born Swiss actress considered one of the preeminent French actresses of her generation. Jacob gained international recognition and acclaim through her work with Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski, who cast her in the lead role of The Double Life of Véronique...
and Valeria Golino
Valeria Golino
Valeria Golino is an Italian-Greek film and television actress. She is best known to English language audiences for the 1988 film Rain Man, and the Hot Shots! films...
to appear in the film and they all accepted. Sattouf sought actors who were "ugly ducklings with unusual features, and their own way of talking, of walking" and who could express emotions without "acting". He struggled to find teenage actors who were like their characters and were willing to be filmed in an unflattering way. He said that Vincent Lacoste and Anthony Sonigo were less concerned about their appearances when he showed them a picture of himself as a "very ugly" teenager. Three days before the beginning of principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
, Lacoste broke his knee at a music concert, and so his resulting limp was added to the character. According to Sattouf, Lacoste and Sonigo were completely at ease with filming scenes of masturbation, and all of the actors treated their French kiss
French kiss
A French kiss is a kiss in which one participant's tongue touches the partner's lips or tongue and usually enters his or her mouth. A French kiss is a slow passionate kiss which is usually considered intimate, romantic, erotic or sexual...
es "like a hug".
Filming of The French Kissers lasted for eight weeks. Some street scenes and interiors of Hervé's flat were filmed in Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
, Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
– where the film is set – but the budget was too small for substantial filming in Brittany, so Sattouf tried to find a college in the Paris suburbs that resembled his own in Rennes. Most of the film's interior scenes were shot in Gagny
Gagny
Gagny is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-History:On 20 May 1869, a small part of the territory of Gagny was detached and merged with a part of the territory of Livry-Gargan and a part of the territory of Clichy-sous-Bois to create the...
in Paris's eastern suburbs at the Madame-de-Sévigné de Gagny and Eiffel de Gagny colleges. Sattouf used close-ups and unusual compositions when filming the teenagers to "feel their animal side". There was little camera movement to show "there is some heaviness in them; the world is turning around them, they are their own prisoners". He wanted the camera to be held "so close that you could feel their oily skin, every imperfection, and smell their [body odour]".
Soundtrack
The film's original music was written by French electropop musician Lionel Flairs, who performs under the moniker Flairs. It was his first composition for film. When he was approached by Sattouf to compose the soundtrack, Flairs was reluctant because he preferred total freedom when writing music, but after he agreed he enjoyed collaborating with Sattouf. The soundtrack is less like Flairs's usual "happy pop" because Sattouf wanted a sad feel to reflect the sadness in the characters' lives.Reception
Critical reviews of The French Kissers were positive. The GazetteThe Gazette (Montreal)
The Gazette, often called the Montreal Gazette to avoid ambiguity, is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with three other daily English newspapers all having shut down at different times during the second half of the 20th century.-History:In 1778,...
s Brendan Kelly, who gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, wrote that "Sattouf captures that strange mix of bravado and shyness that is teenage guy-dom, and the result is both frequently hilarious and, finally, quite touching." He thought that Lacoste was "perfect" as Hervé and that the casting of non-professional actors made the film more authentic. Justin Show of Filmink magazine described the film as a "fresh and brutally sincere comedy that strays away from typical teen flicks". In particular, he praised the cinematography, Sattouf's dialogue and Lvovsky's performance. Mike Goodridge wrote for Screen International
Screen International
Screen International is a multimedia film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by EMAP, a British b2b media company.The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global movie business...
that the film shows "a nice blend of humour and intelligence that places it somewhere between American Pie
American Pie (film)
American Pie is a 1999 teen comedy film written by Adam Herz. American Pie was the directorial film debut of brothers Paul and Chris Weitz, and the first film in the American Pie film series...
and Wild Reeds". He enjoyed the well-known actors' brief appearances and thought that the film's "acute observations and ribald humour" would appeal to adult viewers. The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
s Duane Byrge summarised the fim as "a hilarious spin through contemporary French adolescence". Berge found the teenagers' depiction "farcical but realistic" and felt that, like John Hughes's films, a particularly funny aspect was the mockery of authority figures. In a review for Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
magazine, Jordan Mintzer opined that the film comprised "plenty of heart-wrenching gags right in the smacker". Mintzer found some sequences "nauseating" but others "freshly and creatively slapstick", and praised the raw cinematography. David Stratton
David Stratton
David James Stratton is an English- Australian film critic and television personality.-Life and career:Born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England in 1939, Stratton was sent to Hampshire to see out the war years with his grandmother, an avid filmgoer, where he was taken to the local cinemas regularly...
of At the Movies awarded the film 3.5 stars out of 5, describing it as "a likeable insight into the problems of children who want to grow up very quickly". He called the non-professional teenage cast "terrific", and praised Lvovsky's performance as Hervé's mother. Herald Sun
Herald Sun
The Herald Sun is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia. It is published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Limited, itself a subsidiary of News Corporation. It is available for purchase throughout Melbourne, Regional Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital...
critic Leigh Paatsch found the film "blatantly funny" but also "surprisingly moving". He called Sattouf "a knockout talent behind the camera" and praised the "great humour and honesty" of the story.