Crowned with critical as well as commercial success,
Suddenly Seul
s, released on December 6, nevertheless had a tumultuous history.
In the issue of
Technikart
published on January 23, we learn that three years before its release, a first version was already being filmed, where, instead of Gilles Lellouche and Mélanie Thierry, who we see in the film, Jake Gyllenhaal and Vanessa Kirby played the main characters.
But nothing went as planned, and the American version did not go beyond four unfortunate days of shooting.
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Genesis
For this film, Thomas Bidegain, usual screenwriter at Audiard (
De rouille et d'os
,
Deephan
...) and director of
Cowboys
, in 2015 saw things big: in 2020 he hired the American actor revealed in
Donnie Darko
and the British actress known in particular for her interpretation of Princess Margaret in
The Crown
.
Ecstatic, the first even became co-producer of the film and was impatient before starting filming: “One evening, I received a phone call from Jake.
He finds the scenario wonderful, touching, and assures that he wants to be part of the adventure.
I open the champagne, I’m in my manic phase,” the French director
tells
Technikart .
While the confinements follow one another because of Covid, a date is still found for the actors to do readings, three months before filming: “The script has been validated and revalidated, it is ready to film (... ).
Well, that’s what we thought…”.
The team will therefore meet again in July 2021 in Iceland.
A complete shipwreck
The screenplay of
Suddenly Alone
tells the story of a couple who, to save their marriage, decide to take to the sea and, after a storm, find themselves trapped on a desert island.
But, while the film crew finds itself in Iceland, the concept of shipwreck will take over the filming, to the point of overwhelming it.
Upon his arrival, Jake Gyllenhaal decides to drive six hours rather than take the plane, demands “a car that is neither red nor white” and asks to change elements of the scenario because, according to him, it is necessary to “get closer to the truth ".
But it is only on the second day that the discomfort will really set in.
From the morning, the actor is furious because of a misunderstanding regarding the schedules, seems disappointed by the setting - the Icelandic mountains - and decides to rewrite the script once again because the whole thing would be too comfortable, not dangerous enough.
“Jake talks a lot about the TRUTH, insists that his character be a former GI, used to survival… For example, for a scene on the boat, he sells us the idea that he slaps a fish,” recalls Bidegain.
The actor even leaves the scene unexpectedly... Only to send the Frenchman an ambiguous message a few hours later: “I adore you”.
Bipolarity
On the third day, Jake Gyllenhall goes for a walk in nature and comes face to face with a mare.
Back in the writing room, he says he felt a real communion with nature and suggests focusing the film around this subject.
“He soon put a speech by Greta Thunberg on his computer, with rock music in the background,” Thomas remembers.
It lasts a quarter of an hour
.”
The team then sees the American actor, once again in the most total emphasis, crying and shouting "I'm crying, I'm crying, it's real tears
" tears, Editor’s note
]
.
“It was the biggest laugh of my life.
Jake tells us that it's not a film about love, but a film about the love of nature," says a member of the film's team, before adding: "He declares that we must rewrite everything, all declarations of love must be declarations to nature.
I see Thomas saying to himself that he is losing his 26 million.
He then leans towards me and says: “How do you say “get fucked” in Icelandic?
Because that’s exactly what just happened…”.
The next day, Thomas Bidegain decides to give everyone a break and take the troop into the fresh air.
“When I see the sea, I swim in the sea,” says Jake Gyllenhaal, before jumping in his underwear into three-degree water.
Back at the hotel, the latter gets angry for the umpteenth time... One too many for the French director, who orders the American star to leave.
Which one executes.
Without Jake Gyllenhal and Vanessa Kirby (who is also leaving), the budget planned for the film disappears, and it is the end of this adventure lasting several months.
It was in another form, this one known, that the film would see the light of day two years later: in the language of Molière, and with two French actors.