“
He's a great stuntman who has done a lot ... a lot for the cinema.
This praise has its price and it was delivered by Jean-Paul Belmondo in person with whom he will have worked no less than fourteen times.
The former motocross champion Rémy Julienne, trimmer and designer of stunts since
Fantômas
in 1964 when he dressed his first weapons of Daredevil from the film, died this Thursday at the age of 90.
His partner, Justine, has just informed
Le Figaro
.
Read also: Belmondo inaugurates the place of the stuntman Rémy Julienne
With nearly 1400 spectacular scenes produced in more than half a century of career, this Stakhanovist of “
calculated
”
risk
as he liked to recall, has distilled his science of special effects with the greatest directors and the greatest actors.
The list is as long as it is impressive: Georges Lautner, of course, who always managed to place an aerobatic car in his scenarios in order to give an action film color to his comedies.
But also the gratin of the French and international cinema like Dino Risi, Alberto Lattuada, Sydney Pollack (
Bobby Deerfield
with Al Pacino!), Jean-Jacques Annaud, Jacques Deray, Gérard Oury, Henri Verneuil, Jean Girault, François Truffaut (
The American Night
), Costa-Gavras, Roman Polanski ...
From Gil Delamare to James Bond
Born on April 17, 1930 in Cepoy, near Montargis in the Loiret, Rémy Julienne felt from his early years an attraction and an irresistible taste for what he called "
his antics
".
Motorcycles became his first passion: “
I started doing my first laps at 12 years old, stealing the 100 cc Peugeot that my father had hidden in the attic, under the Occupation.
The virus of speed and risk is taken.
In 1957, he became French motocross champion.
A few years later, he made a decisive encounter.
Gil Delamare, a trompe-la-mort filmmaker, mentor of the intrepid Bébel in
L'Homme de Rio
, who hires him for a few action scenes in
Fantômas
.
The current passes between these two risk-everything.
And in 1966, Delamare entrusted Julienne with responsibility for the mechanical stunts in
La Grande Vadrouille
.
But a cruel fate will separate them.
Gil Delamare dies during the filming of the film
The Saint takes the lookout
.
Producers and directors ask Julienne if he feels capable of taking over from her master and friend.
Despite the sadness, his response, a little crazy, will be positive.
"
Without Rémy Julienne, James Bond would not have existed
"
Roger Moore, English actor, seven times 007 at the movies
Rémy Julienne's international career took off when he was asked by British filmmaker Peter Collinson in 1969 to shoot the action scenes for
L'Or se barre
(The Italian Job).
The film will be a real springboard for the stuntman.
The feats with the Mini Cooper will remain memorable.
Many international collaborations will follow (Dino Risi, Alberto Lattuada, Terence Young, Sydney Pollack, Sergio Leone, Ron Howard) and obviously the six
James Bonds
(
Just for your eyes
- which won him an award in 1981 - Octopussy, Dangerously yours , Killing Is Not Playing, License To Kill and GoldenEye).
His ingenuity at the service of the legendary 007 earned him his greatest reward.
In 1981, Hollywood honors his talent.
He received the Motion Picture Hall of Fame Best Stunt Designer Award for his work on the set of
Just For Your Eyes
.
And Roger Moore, who held him in great esteem, will dub this deserved recognition with the most laudatory of compliments: “
Without Rémy Julienne, James Bond would not have existed.
"
Rémy Julienne tells about his Bondian stunts.
Rémy Julienne has worked no less than fourteen times with Jean-Paul Belmondo.
Le Figaro
presents two of these most unforgettable waterfalls: in
Le Casse
in 1971 and in
Le Guignolo
in 1980.
Le Guignolo
by Georges Lautner: the famous scene from the helicopter in which Belmondo flies over Venice using only the strength of his arms ...
Le Casse
d'Henri Verneuil: an anthological chase led by Belmondo in the streets of Athens