My Unknown: François Civil still at the top (Review)
A pinnacle of inventive romantic comedy carried by a trio of irresistible actors, François Civil, Joséphine Japy and Benjamin Lavernhe.
My Unknown will return this evening on C8, and when it was released in the spring of 2019, it was a favorite for the editorial staff of First. Here is our review, along with a link to our video interview with its main actors, François Civil and Joséphine Japy. And another interview with its creator, Hugo Gélin, who later filmed episodes of Lupinethe hit series from Netflix.
Mon Inconnue – François Civil: “On the film, I wear Christian Clavier’s wig for Jacquouille”
In 2019, French cinema liked to venture into areas where it has often forbidden itself to go. These famous films that supposedly “we don’t know how to do” here: the submarine film with The song of the wolf and the romantic comedy with My unknowndomain a priori reserved for the Anglo-Saxons.
Hugo Gélin is a mad lover of the genre. This passion could have locked him in overwhelming references and prevented him from developing an original narrative. We quickly know that it will not be. Because the first success of My unknown lies in the setting up of its narrative and its characters. The meeting, the love at first sight, the first exhilarating moments, then the harbingers of estrangement, those looks that lose their ardor and lead you to an inevitable separation. We’re not spoiling anything for you. All this is here in a quarter of an hour to break everything. Time to describe this impromptu meeting in high school between Raphaël and Olivia and their characters, at the antipodes. Raphaël likes to do the four hundred blows with his best friend Félix and dreams of becoming a fantastic comic book author. Olivia learns the piano with the requirement and the rigor that this requires. But these two opposites will soon become one and grow together. Raphaël becomes a known and recognized author. Olivia triumphs in increasingly demanding competitions. Until Raphaël forgets that they have come to this together. And even worse: he kills the character inspired by Olivia in his comic book series. This imbalance becomes unbearable for the latter, who wishes to put an end to their relationship. Raphaël falls asleep on this crisis. And wakes up the next day in a parallel world, where he brutally saw the existence he would have had to lead if he had never met Olivia. And, to return to his world, he will have to seduce her again.
BETWEEN LAUGHTER AND TEARS
Then begins a (romantic) comedy of the reconquest, where Hugo Gélin evolves with finesse on a thin line, between laughter and tears. From Like brothers, we knew his talent to arouse emotion. But the presence in the writing of Igor Gotesman (Five) allows him to beef up his script on the comedy side and to lead two stories that very quickly become one: the impossible love story between Olivia and Raphaël – he knows everything about her and must try not to not come across as just an overly obsessive fan of the world-renowned pianist she has become without him; and the tale of life-and-death friendship between Raphaël and Félix – the only person around him who is crazy enough to believe him – giving rise to a firework of hilarious scenes playing on the absurd. of the situation.
FIRST LOOK
These three characters are played by actors whose complicity works wonders on screen: François Civil – who confirms his royal start to the year after The song of the wolf And The one you believe –, as at ease in the joke as in the most tragic scenes; Benjamin Lavernhe, breathtaking rhythm and dazzling in the most delirious moments, in Rhys Ifans style sidekick in Love at first sight in Notting Hill ; and Joséphine Japy, who wears the main female role high (including sometimes with her body and her defending heart). A central character, whom we must, like Raphaël, fall in love with at first sight for this story to take on its full power. At the same time discreet and with a stunning cinematography, the actress fulfills this mission marvelously, the perfect incarnation of a film mastered without being corseted. Who respects all the codes of the genre while making his little personal music heard. A real thunderbolt.
How Hugo Gélin went from My unknown to Lupine thanks to Tomorrow everything begins (excluded)
