Dany Boon and Line Renaud in the running against Barbie and Martin Scorsese at the Japanese Oscars
The secret ? A Parisian city tour invoked by the memories of a nonagenarian who the Japanese public loves.
Who would have thought that the terminus ofA great race would impose itself in Japan? The film of Christian Carion finds itself in the running in the Best Foreign Film category at the Japanese Oscars, facing major cinematic stars of the year 2023: barbie, Killers of the Flower Moon, Tar And Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1as announced by Japan Academy Price. Driving Madeleine (English title), seems to have won over the public, particularly for its city tour Parisian, invoked through the story of Madeleine Keller, a melancholic retiree.
The plot? The nostalgic journey of a nonagenarian (Line Renaud), on the way to the retirement home. It is the taxi driver who initiates this improvised road trip, marked by the places that marked the old lady’s life.
Absent from the Césars, the film did not go unnoticed by the Japanese. The French director spoke to The voice of the North regarding the surprise appointment of The Last Race : “The film was therefore on their radar.” Christian Carion emphasizes thatA great race experienced a “very nice success” over there : “It became the little surprise French film.”
“I fell off my chair. It’s very strange, but we are all very happy. I am particularly so for Line Renaud”, confided the filmmaker.
Christian Carionis delighted with the borderless success of his road trip, paying homage to the great Line Renaud, but not only ! Ultimately what won over the public there was the homage to Paris, to France…
Emily in Paris is chased by Line in Paris, a Parisian, who recounts her life, her sufferings, her struggles, during a journey with a complete stranger, Charles (Dany Boon).
“Let’s not forget that one of the main players is Paris“, confides the filmmaker.
The Opéra Garnier, the Eiffel Tower, but also a much more authentic Paris than what the Netflix series offers through Emily’s (mis)adventures. One last race does not ignore reality, it also addresses the difficult traffic, its circulation obstructed by a large population often poorly polished, but with humor.
The feature film brought together nearly 500,000 spectators in France when it was released in September 2022. Outside of French cinemas, the project is attractive since it brought together 710,000 curious people abroad. “It was even dubbed into German, we laughed when we saw the trailer!“, comments its creator. A hit in Denmark: “185,000 entries is huge“. Driving Madeleine was also summoned to the United States: “We had a rave press, we will soon have 120 copies”, he finally states.
The idea of a remake in New York or London would be under discussion, even if nothing has been done yet…
A great race is available on our streaming platform FirstMax.
A great race: too academic a melodrama despite the Dany Boon-Line Renaud duo (critic)
