A little after his release in France, Olivier Babinet presents his film Normal at NIFFF where he also holds the role of jury. The opportunity to return to this touching ten-movie...
Triple reference
NOrmal. A film under the aegis of Zombi 2 (Hell of zombies) by Lucio Fulci and a posterEdward in silver hands, Can a Poelvoorde rock-roll smoking weed really be normal? Probably not. No more normal than Lucie (the brilliant Justine Lacroix), 15 years old, who would like to be. Mother absent, facing the decripitude of her father (Benoît Poelvoorde) affected by multiple sclerosis, more accustomed to leather jackets than to teenage skirts, nothing draws her towards this normality.
However, when the social worker's visit is necessary (and with her the imminent risk of being placed in foster care while her father's ability to look after her diminishes), the father-daughter duo will have no choice but to appear normal to avoid separation. Assisted by Étienne (Joseph Rozé, whose character is also in search of a form of "normality" in the film), this improvised trio will try to make screen. Hide the clouds of the firecrackers with a good deodoriser, store a house where tens of years of memories (and a lot of brothels) are found, hide a basement where the father locks up hours to live virtual romances with players (or players, whatever) from an old zombie video game...
Progressive regression
Hide the step from the side, escape exuberance... All this so that a regressing father is not separated from a girl who had to grow up too early. One Benjamin Button to the French, much more touching and very personal for Olivier Babinet since from the base material – the part The Monster of the closet David Greig – he injected a life path related to a character from his own family (his former brother-in-law). But in addition to this anecdote, the French city of Chelles also plays a leading role in the Normal.
And if all the characters in the film go in search of this normality, the city is all that is normal. A little village that nothing, or almost anything, distinguishes from another patelin... If this is perhaps the pronounced zebra of high-voltage lines that would be the sky of the small village. One of the reasons, moreover, that pushed Babinet to choose this city more than any other.
From cone to tower
A shot of the film also represents one of the characters of the film placed at the top of one of these towers. Idea more metaphorical than screenplay, although a tension is created about the character's will to find it (especially on potential suicidal desires). And a plan that did not escape the sharp eye of the jury chief 2023 of the NIFFF Josiane Balasko, present in the room during the screening and who questions the director about his filming. And this one to concede that it's all about special effects, which probably make it « the most expensive plan of the film », but which is not insignificant as it offers a rupture within Normal.
But if we focus on this more spectacular segment, don't fool ourselves, Normal is not an effect film. On the contrary... It is a sober feature film, often funny, remaining on this stiff rope where it risks at any time falling into the pathos without ever giving in to the fall. A very nice performance by Poelvoorde, all in restraint (it was not easy for Babinet, he concedes), and by Justine Lacroix with whom they form a natural and touching duo.
« [Benoît Poelvoorde] For a long time I was thinking, he's really the last guy I want to shoot with [even though] I loved him. »
And the story of their meeting is just as much – and does not leave room for ego – since at the time Babinet approaches Poelvoorde, he thinks it's his first film (while he's at his fourth, Swagger and Fishsex having had a certain resonance)... And similarly, Justine Lacroix hardly knew Poelvoorde before their first day of shooting. Perhaps the secret for having been able to achieve this perfect dosage of emotion lies in having known from the moment they meet them leaving their ego in the closet?
If Normal did not have the career hall he deserved – Babinet said he was disappointed by the vast majority of grey heads at his sessions, even though this was definitely not the case at the NIFFF – he was to bet that he would find a second breath when it was soon broadcast on other media. He certainly represents a revival of French comedy, amusing the mix of genres and succeeding in upsetting his spectator without squeaking over his comic projections. A real happiness!
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