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feature in focus
LE BOSSU
LE BOSSU
Set in France during
the Regency on the
eve of the 18th
Century, Le Bossu
(The Hunchback),
based on Paul
Feval’s 1857 classic,
is a colourful swashbuckler in
the great tradition of ripping
yarns like The Three
Musketeers. Filmed no less
than five times before, this
sixth version is directed by
the flamboyant Frenchman
Philippe De Broca (Cartouche, The Man From Rio) with a mighty $30 million budget, sumptuous sets and costumes, and a dream Gallic cast including Daniel Auteuil, Vincent Perez, Fabrice Luchini, Philippe Noiret and the lovely Marie Gillain.
As well as being a sword-wielding period adventure, Le Bossu is also, according to De Broca, “a great romance in the Beauty and The Beast tradition. It is only beneath the twisted dis-
guise of a
hunchback that our hero Lagardere (Auteuil), adoptive father and bashful lover, can dare speak of his feelings for the exquisite Aurore (Gillain). He’s a sort of cross between D’Artagnan and Quasimodo.”
De Broca’s is a very free adaptation of the
original novel yet firmly anchored, heinsists,inthehistoricalrealityof the period. “I love the freedom of costume pictures because I love to
fire the imagination; and for me peri- od recreation is a springboard to reverie.”Hislatestfilmisfirmlyinthe tradition of his other credits in the
sense he has always been strongly influenced by the sort of subject mate- rialhewouldliketohaveseenhimself
asachild.
To realise his latest “reverie”, De
Broca chose distinguished DP Jean- Francois Robin, award-winning French veteran of more than 40 films, including
Betty Blue, IP5 and Roselyne And The Lions for Jean Jacques Beneix. He also worked on Nelly And Monsieur Arnaud for Claude Sautet as well as John Duigan’s The Leading Man and Mike Figgis’ The Browning Version, both shot on location in the UK. ■
Photos featuring the cast, Daniel Auteuil, Vincent Perez, Fabrice Luchini, Philippe Noiret and below, Marie Gillain.