Tears of a clown
 

PostED ON 17.10.2024

A moving profile of a desperate comic actor.

 
© DR

THE SUBJECT: Jacques Villeret (1951-2005), ‘chubby Little Prince’ (the nickname the documentary-makers affectionately gave him), is the focus of this story of how a kid with a good face and watery-blue eyes revealed his comic genius on stage and screen, playing up his corpulence, his apparent naivety and a genial nature that hid deep secrets. Villeret also won two César awards, including the second for his forever-classic hilarious performance in Le Dîner de Cons.

THE METHOD: Try to answer the question: ‘Why does the funniest guy on earth drown his sorrows in alcohol to the point of self-destruction?’ A piece of the puzzle is provided by those who knew him well - family (his sister) or colleagues (fellow Conservatory members Jacques Weber, Nathalie Baye). And then there are extracts, including an extraordinary sketch in which Villeret uncannily imitates the soundtrack of a Bergman film.

PLUS: This anecdote, which is perhaps already common knowledge: Villeret was supposed to play Ugolin in Claude Berri's Jean de Florette, but Yves Montand objected, claiming that the comedic actor had already more or less stolen the spotlight from him in Waiter!  And then there was a pointless encounter with his biological father, whose existence Villeret had belatedly discovered. His short, tragic life still leaves us humming a refrain of his fictive alter-ego: ‘’He is mean, Monsieur Brochand / He is sweet, Monsieur Pignon!”

Aurélien Ferenczi

 Séances :

Jacques Villeret, funny and tragic by Christophe Duchiron
(Jacques Villeret, drôlement tragique, Documentary, 2024, 1h) 

Institut Lumière (Villa) Thu 17 11:45am | Institut Lumière (Villa) Thu 17 12am