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Never has the commissioner imagined by Simenon been so moving, imposing and human. The director of the “Bronzés” films a Depardieu in a state of grace.
The trailer for “Maigret” by Patrice Leconte.
Pathé/YouTube
Gérard Depardieu in the skin of Superintendent Maigret. Once the idea is stated, it seems obvious. In the imagination of Georges Simenon’s readers and those who have seen the many adaptations of his investigations, you have to be imposing, have a build to wear the hat and the coat of the cop on the Quai des Orfèvres. Bruno Cremer, Jean Gabin, Charles Laughton, Michel Simon and even Jean Richard had enough presence to be Maigret. So Depardieu!
There remained the condition that he didn’t overdo it, that the great Gerard didn’t supplant Jules, that he didn’t crush him. In this “Maigret” by Patrice Leconte, it’s just the opposite. It’s been years since we’ve seen a Depardieu so fair, so sober, so powerful. He literally carries the film on his shoulders, serving up a story where emotion and characters take precedence over investigation and suspense. A great human thriller that the director of “Bronzés”, “Ridicule”, but also “Monsieur Hire” tells us about, which was his first and so far only adaptation of a novel by Simenon.
Daniel Auteuil was originally supposed to play Simenon, but it’s harder to imagine him as Maigret, isn’t it?
Patrice Leconte It wouldn’t have done it, indeed. He was the one who approached me and talked about his desire to play Maigret. And then, for various reasons, he gave up. I will never say thank you enough to him. I adore Daniel, we made several films together, like “The Girl on the Bridge”, but by saying no he allowed my Maigret to be Depardieu. I couldn’t dream of better.
It’s the first time you’ve toured with Depardieu. How did the first scenes go?
We didn’t know each other, we had crossed paths, we had missed opportunities. He impressed me a lot. The first day of shooting, the first shot, when Gérard arrived with his hat and his coat, I knew, I saw: we had our Maigret. Between us, the osmosis worked. And I didn’t know it, but he really likes Simenon, even if he hadn’t read much of Maigret.
By adapting “Maigret and the Young Dead”, you are choosing one of the commissioner’s most personal investigations. Is that what attracted you?
Yes, because what is extraordinary in this novel is that Maigret investigates more on the victim than on the assassin. We find the body of a young woman and we know nothing about her. The commissioner will want to find out who she was and this will, for several reasons, be particularly close to his heart.
To the point that, as a spectator, finding out who the culprit is takes a bit of a back seat.
Yes, but it was Simenon who wrote like that. What mattered to him were the characters more than the enigma. And me, I like to film the characters, their feelings, their emotions.
Exceptionally, Maigret is forced at the beginning of the film to quit smoking, which gives rise to plenty of amazing scenes. Is it from the novel?
Not at all. But it was beyond my strength to have the complete panoply of Maigret, hat, pipe, coat. So I imagined her doctor telling her to quit. I film a tired, weary, almost depressive Maigret. He is in doubt, he gropes. He’s a bit lost. But this investigation will bring him back to life.
Gérard Depardieu embodies an imposing Maigret, but a little lost.
Pascal Chantier
What did Depardieu bring to the character?
Considerable volume and softness. Never, in the film, does he raise his voice. And then there is this heaviness, in the gait, in the rhythm, which imposes Maigret! He has an amazing way of working Depardieu, which I didn’t know. Already, he was on set all the time, even when he could have gone to his dressing room. He said “I stay, I’m fine”. And he observed everything, was aware of everything. He joked, made jokes, until the last moment. And when we said “motor” he was totally in the role in the blink of an eye. He’s not someone who works on his character. “If I work, I’m no longer sincere and for me to be focused, I have to distract myself,” he explained to me.
You find actors that you have already turned, like Jean-Paul Comart who plays Inspector Janvier or André Wilms, whose death we unfortunately learned on February 9th.
Yes, he had played in my other Simenon, “Monsieur Hire” and I wanted to have him with us for that one. He was very ill, but we have a beautiful scene between him and Depardieu, which could however be useless in the story, but which, emotionally, is even more important now.
André Wilms with Gérard Depardieu.
Pascal Chantier
For those who want to approach your film differently, there is this astonishing comic strip, “Leconte fait son cinéma” where the authors followed you over more than two years, when you first had to shoot Alain Delon’s last film to finally lead to this “Maigret”. We discover all the secrets, tricks and efforts that the creation of a film requires and how much you had to row to finance this one. In the end, did you manage to make the Maigret you wanted?
Nicoby and Joub and did an amazing job. I was dubious when they told me about their plan to follow me, but I trust people and said okay. It is very successful. Coming back to my film, yes, it’s the film I wanted. I don’t know if it’s a good film, it’s not for me to say, but it’s just as I imagined it. Sometimes movies get away from you, not this one. It’s our Maigret to the screenwriter Jérôme Tonnerre and to me, our vision of the character.
“Leconte makes his cinema”, by Nicoby and Joub, Ed. Dupuis.
You often work more than once with your actors. Will you make another film with Depardieu?
Yes Yes. I don’t want us to stop there. Neither did he, he told me. We really found ourselves with Gérard. But I don’t know yet what we will do, we have to wait for the right project. It won’t be a Maigret, that’s for sure, it’s not the start of a series, it’s the only one I’ll do.
In the comics, we learn that you had gone on an adaptation of… Tintin, “Les bijoux de la Castafiore”, does it still hold?
No, that won’t happen. All the film adaptation rights to Tintin have been purchased by Paramount. I knew that, but I was hoping I could squeeze “The Jewels…” out of the deal, because I was planning on making it a movie with actors, not like Spielberg’s “The Secret of the Unicorn.” I even went so far as to write to the latter to ask him for help, but he replied that he couldn’t do anything, only Paramount has the power. Never mind.
On February 15, TF1 rebroadcast “Les Bronzés font du ski” which, once again, was a hit with the audience. It’s amazing the longevity of this movie’s popularity, isn’t it?
What’s the 17th time it’s been? During one of the last broadcasts, my wife said to me: “Hey, could we watch it?”. I said no thank you, I’m going to the next room. After a while, I hear her laugh out loud, I come back and ask her if she changed the channel: “No, but it’s really too hilarious”. I don’t really like seeing my films again, but I sat down next to her, in front of the “Bronzés”. And I laughed! It’s true that it’s funny.
“Maigret”, by Patrice Leconte, with Gérard Depardieu
Theatrical release on February 23, from 12 years old, 90 minutes.