The moment entered the history of cinema.
In 1987, at Cannes, for
Under the Sun of Satan
, Maurice Pialat received the Palme d'Or, under the whistles of part of the public.
His reply is immediate:
“I am especially happy this evening for all the cries you are sending me.
And if you don't love me, I can tell you that I don't love you either."
He thus remains faithful to his reputation: he hates the small world of the seventh art, but also that of television.
When it comes to the small screen, that hasn't always been the case.
At the beginning of his career, he signed a mini-series,
La Maison des bois
, of which he said, "
it's the most beautiful thing I've done
".
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the director's death, Madelen invites you to discover, or rediscover, the seven 52-minute episodes of a soap opera, broadcast on the second channel, from September 11, 1971. The director defines it then as
"a realistic and poetic chronicle of everyday life in the countryside during the First World War"
.
Discover here the seven episodes of
La maison des bois
, Maurice Pialat's series
The story ?
A forest ranger takes in children who, due to the conflict, are no longer safe in Paris.
They will share the life of a host family and, in a small school, follow the lessons of a teacher played by Pialat himself!
The project was born three years earlier, just after the release of his first film,
L'Enfance Nue
, the story of a child in the Assistance Publique.
A program director of the second channel, seduced by the subject and the treatment of the story, calls him to propose to him to produce a soap opera written by René Wheller, author, among others, of the screenplay for
La cage aux rossignols
by Jean Dréville, who became , much later
The Choristers
.
Read alsoThe house in the woods: Arte honors the childhood hymn of Maurice Pialat
The choice of Pierre Doris
Pialat accepts without the slightest hesitation.
In fact, he is more interested in the money it will bring him than in the project.
Once the contract is signed, he begins by demanding the rewriting of dialogues that he considers old-fashioned and uninteresting.
He believes that we can do much better, and he speaks knowingly.
He spent the Second World War in the heart of Auvergne and retains memories likely to be added to certain scenes.
After a standoff with his new employer, where he threatens to slam the door, he gets satisfaction.
The discussion is also particularly lively at the time of the choice of the actor.
For the role of forest ranger, the name of Pierre Doris is put forward.
Pialat formally opposes it.
He can't imagine directing a comedian who tells salacious stories in cabarets.
He nevertheless accepts a trial session, from which he emerges convinced that, in the end, Doris is the man for the job.
He then gives the green light to the engagement of Fernand Gravey, to interpret an old marquis.
This headliner from the 30s to 50s symbolizes, in his eyes, an old-fashioned cinema, that is to say the opposite of a new wave that he deeply hates.
He finally brings together children who have never set foot on a set, as well as Henri Saulquin, a retiree with whom he befriended in a café.
Originally, six episodes were planned.
In order to complete the story, a seventh is added just before the start of a shoot that will last 14 weeks.
Some days turn out to be idyllic, but others are much more complex to manage.
One morning, he arrives and announces that, during the previous night, he has transformed two lines of the script into a five-minute scene, which is to be shot the same day.
It's up to the assistants to manage the set-up!
Another time, dissatisfied with the decor and the accessories which do not correspond to what he had demanded, he leaves, specifying that he will return the next day.
Perhaps… It's up to the assistants, again, to manage!
Finally, it is common for him to film his performers before and after the end clap, with the intention of
These hazards will not prevent
La Maison des bois
from seducing critics, but also the public.
At the end of the broadcast, Pialat will begin the preparation of
We will not grow old together
and swear that he will never work for the small screen again.
Scalded by the mood swings of the director, the leaders use the same language.
All kept their word.
An excerpt from
La Maison des bois
by Maurice Pialat in 1971, with Pierre Doris, Agathe Natanson, Fernand Gravey, Maurice Pialat...