Indes Galantes: behind the scenes of Clément Cogitore’s opera
Philippe Béziat’s documentary is visible on Arte, as well as in replay.
Brilliantly moved from documentary to fiction with Neither heaven nor earth (César for best first film in 2015), the gifted Clement Cogitorewho is also a visual artist and photographer, also tried his hand at directing an original opera in 2019.
A reinvention of Gallant Indies, a classic of the genre created in 1735 by Jean-Philippe Rameau, with a troupe of urban dancers from diverse backgrounds. A project carried out with the choreographer Bintou Dembélé who first produced a short film released in 2017 (which you can see here) before taking the stage of the Opéra Bastille.
It is the genesis of this improbable marriage, mixing lyrical singing and hip-hop, that is recounted in the documentary of the same name, directed by Philippe Béziat. From rehearsals to public performances, we follow behind the scenes of this extraordinary adventure, which had rather divided critics. Four years after its release in cinemas, this documentary will be visible in the second half of the evening on Channel 7, this Sunday. It is also available in replay on the Arte website. Its review, as well as its trailer, can be found below.
Clément Cogitore – Goutte d’or: “Karim Leklou is not a good actor, but an exceptional actor”
In Untouchablesthere was this sequence at the Opera where the manners of Driss (Omar Sy) ostensibly clash with those of the majority of the audience ” white “ and dressed in their Sunday best. Rather than subverting the cliché, the film’s makers wallowed in it. So, Driss, in accordance with his ” Status “ of “young person from the suburbs”, howls with laughter at the sight of the tenor disguised as a tree. The heaviness of the gag validated – unintentionally – class racism.
This racism, Gallant Indies by Philippe Béziat, twists its neck by celebrating the way in which seemingly separate worlds can come together to reach peaks of beauty. This documentary follows the preparations for the show The gallant Indies at the Opéra Bastille in 2019. Director Clément Cogitore entrusted dancers from urban culture with the interpretation of the ballet.
Like Jean-Philippe Rameau wondering about the way in which at the court of Louis “troops” from a cliché. The opera then tends to shake up this perception and “the dance of the savages », a sort of emotional and physical climax of the ballet, celebrates as much a possible crossbreeding as the brutality which gave birth to it. Philippe Béziat captures here with great sensitivity the energy and grace which emanate from the whole. At the end, the shots of the music lovers entering the Opera grounds show that this kind of ” evening “ is still only reserved for an elite. However, on stage, it is indeed a storming of the Bastille that is taking place.
