Since Johnny's disappearance five years ago, there has been no shortage of documentaries about him.
If "Johnny by Laeticia" stands out, it is because, for the occasion, the rocker's wife entrusted 700 hours of personal images to director William Karel.
Scenes from ordinary life that retrace their twenty-two years of living together, from 1995 to 2017. Over the course of the documentary, Laeticia recounts her great love story with her man.
We thus discover the singer on a daily basis, a caring father to his daughters Jade and Joy.
A dad who has fun taking over
Blue Suede Shoes
on guitar for children in Jade's kindergarten class in Los Angeles.
We also see the courage of the artist in the last months of his life.
In the space of an hour and forty, a funny, sensitive, complex, anxious, passionate but also combatant Johnny emerges.
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A dating story
The story of this film is first of all that of “
two encounters unlike any other
”, assures Laeticia Hallyday.
One with Victor Robert, who produces this documentary via 10.7 Prod.
The other with William Karel.
"
Working with someone who has this delicacy, this intelligence and this extra soul, it's true that it opens up the field of possibilities
", she comments.
It also happens that the director, who had seen Johnny on stage at the age of 21, had already signed the making-of of
Conseil de famille
, a film in which Costa-Gavras had directed the singer.
William Karel had also produced, for France 3 in 2001, the documentary "Parfum de fans", which followed the rocker's fans.
"
I gave him complete freedom.
I knew he was not going to betray my trust
, ”says Laeticia.
Read alsoJohnny by Laeticia: we watched the documentary on the Hallyday couple soon to be broadcast on M6
Total freedom
Through this project, Laeticia says she wants to "
put the church back in the middle of the village
".
“
After everything that has happened since Johnny's departure, I wanted his fans and others to be able to discover or rediscover the man, the father, the fighter and the immense musician that he was.
Perhaps this is also an opportunity for her to speak her truth?
"
Over the past five years, I have heard many things about us and our family life, which are stories told by people I have seen twice in my life and whom I do not know!
People who go on TV sets and talk about things they haven't experienced with us, which are not the truth.
I let it slide, I mourn as best I can, it's not easy.
You don't rebuild your life, you learn to live with it, you go on with your life without him… But the hardest thing for me is hearing things said when Johnny can no longer defend himself
.
»
Laeticia's emotion
When she sees the images of her existence alongside the singer, Laeticia says she has the feeling of having lived a thousand lives in one.
"
Johnny is an unusual man, so it was intense
," she sums up.
We were two battered souls when we met.
We both saved ourselves.
I wouldn't be here today if I hadn't met him.
We both moved forward in life with our weaknesses, our demons.
It is both an extraordinary destiny and a life like everyone else's.
That's what we were looking for by going to live in the United States, where he was not known.
»
After watching the documentary in full, Laeticia recognizes that the sequence that touched her the most is that of their trip to Vietnam, the country in which their daughters were adopted.
We thus discover the first meeting between the couple and Jade, a few years before Joy joins them.
"
Reviewing this path taken to our daughters, it really moved me a lot
," she says.
Eventually, by adopting Jade and Joy, Johnny fixed his own abandonment
.
»
Read also "It was a form of silent suicide": Laeticia Hallyday discusses her relationship with Johnny in "Daily"
Addictions and infidelities
If Laeticia obviously evokes the good times, she also addresses the darker sides of her husband.
It is about addictions or infidelities.
Subjects she didn't want to dodge.
“
It also makes it possible to understand that love is not a long calm river.
Through the hardships, we manage to come out stronger.
He showed me some, but I learned a lot too.
Especially the being he was, with his weaknesses, his demons.
Because I knew them too, I managed to understand them and not judge them.
I never judged my husband.
I have always forgiven him for his weaknesses.
Then I had it and he forgave me too.
These are love stories.
»
Not a day without thinking of him
For this interview, interspersed with testimonies from Jean-Claude Camus (manager of the singer) and Daniel Rondeau (writer and friend of Johnny), the current companion of Jalil Lespert returned for the first time to Johnny's office, which remained intact since his death, in their house in Marnes-la-Coquette.
“
It's William Karel's choice.
It was very painful… It took me a long time…
” Finally, retracing her story with Johnny, doesn't it help her to move forward in her mourning?
"
Yes. In any case, it feeds me.
With my daughters, there isn't a day when we don't think of him, when we don't talk about him.
I continue to work on the memory, the posthumous career of Johnny.
It helps me.
Sometimes it's painful to dive back into the memories, but what he passed on to me was courage.
Even after he leaves, he continues to guide me.
He will never stop being there.
He's forever, Johnny!
".
Johnny exhibits in Brussels
For two years, Laeticia Hallyday has been working with a team on a traveling exhibition dedicated to Johnny.
The latter will be inaugurated on December 20 in Brussels, then will move to Paris in January 2024. "
It's a magnificent project, a great adventure
," summarizes the one who also co-produces it.
I wanted a museum that could move like him through its tours, that goes to people.
It's a nice journey in Johnny's life, it's 2,800 m2 of exhibition for this unusual life, from his birth to his departure, through all the facets of his life
.
»
