Les Visiteurs: “I was outraged when John Hughes removed this scene from the American remake”
Jean-Marie Poiré deciphered in Première one of the cult scenes from his comedy with Christian Clavier and Jean Reno. Flashback, while waiting to see the film again on television.
“Sir, a Saracen!” » is undoubtedly one of the most cult lines in French cinema. Jean-Marie Poiré detailed in Première the famous scene of the destruction of the Post Office car in Visitors. We are sharing his words again during its rebroadcast this evening on TMC.
Black Out
“The principle of Visitors, it is to confront people from the Middle Ages with modernity. Put them in the presence of a car and a black man (a “Buckwheat” for them, the enemy of their time) was unstoppable. So I was outraged when John Hughes removed this scene from the American remake. “It’s too racist, he told me. You, in France, don’t care, but we are very particular about it.” As if we hadn’t thought of that! You have to be an idiot not to understand that history justifies it. »
The Captain Fantastic director was reminded of his role in Visitors to America
Space-time cheating
“The reverse shot of the scene in the forest was filmed in another corner of the Oise and at another time. In reality, this part is 200 meters from the crypt setting. As a producer of my films, I try to think in terms of economics. I always tell my assistants to think about locations based on the possibility of shooting indoors or outdoors. If the weather is changeable, I go from one set to another. »
Accelerated race
“When we shot Visitors, a new camera had just been released. It made it possible, via an incorporated electronic system and a remote control, to modify the speed of the camera directly. It was extremely practical. Before, you set that speed to a stop, turn, then repeat the process to change. It was not smooth in the image. There, I was able to speed up Jacquouille’s running in the forest (to produce a cartoon effect) and slow it down naturally when he approaches Godfrey to talk to him. »
The Visitors: Why Valérie Lemercier and Muriel Robin had a bad experience during the filming
Crazy horse
“The horse came from Mario Luraschi’s stable. With this type of trained animal, you should never shout “motor!” out of turn, otherwise it will get excited. Usually, until he’s ready, I whisper “camera” or “let’s go”. There, I don’t know what came over me, I shouted “engine!”. Disoriented, he started running in all directions. It was magical. It adds weirdness to the background. »
Auto bumpers
“I liked the idea of the car having an emblem that evokes a heroic badge. The Post Office accepted and lent us a car – the one that runs, at first. There are two others, donated by Renault, that we rigged for demolition. We had actually tried tapping on it in preparation to see what it did: it actually hurts our hands a lot for any result! Before shooting, we “broke” the cars by hiding the marks caused by a thin layer of yellow paint. »
Real scare
“Théophile Sowié, who plays the postman, was charming and a very good actor. When he runs away furiously, however, it’s not a joke. The real mass of weapons sent by Jean Reno towards the car bounced off the windshield instead of shattering it and almost hit Théophile who was scared for his life. This is obviously the take that I kept even if we corrected things for the connections. »
Hand plans
“I generally shoot with two cameras: this allows for different sizes and very good connections with the actors. For this scene, however, I had an obsession: to finish it during the day because the good weather was not going to last. So I did what I often do in such cases, that is to say take a camera in hand and multiply the close-ups. This type of camera is not stable but I knew that the shots would be brief and energetic and would not disturb the spectators. »
Valérie Lemercier looks back on the “complicated” filming of Visitors
