Guest on the set of C to you, Wednesday October 2, screenwriter Pat Perna came to talk about the graphic novel he has just created with designer Christophe Gaultier. In Gregorythe author traces the affair of little Grégory, a young boy whose body was found lifeless in Vologne on October 16, 1984. A highly publicized affair at the time and still today, the investigation is still in progress. course, since 40 years after the tragedy, the mystery surrounding this murder remains unsolved. To tell this story, Grégory’s father, Jean-Marie Villemin, agreed to collaborate with Pat Perna. Facing Anne-Élisabeth Lemoine, the author tells how he worked with the child’s father.
“The only thing that seemed appropriate to me at the time was to get closer to humans and try to embody them,” he explains, speaking of young Grégory’s parents. “What makes this story not a story that dwells on horror. It’s a story of love despite tragedy,” adds the presenter of C to you before quoting the few lines written by Jean-Marie Villemin on the preface to the graphic novel. “This comic book honors the memory of Grégory, I am happy about it. I think of Christine, I thank her for having survived all our misfortunes, I thank her for her presence in my life and I think very hard every day of our little man, Grégory, who gives us the strength to live, without him, to live outside of hatred, to live happily and to live for his memory.declares Anne-Élisabeth Lemoine.
Grégory affair: 40 years after the tragedy, why does his father break the silence?
The release of this graphic novel marks Jean-Marie Villemin’s first speaking out since 1994. Refusing to grant an interview, Grégory’s father explains what pushed him to break his silence in the preface to the work. “Media exposure can be a plague, especially in a legal case. The antidote is discretion”writes Jean-Marie Villemin, according to Release. As the 40th anniversary of his son’s assassination approached, he wanted to anticipate the news “avalanche of editorial and television projects” about the case. “I told myself that we had to act rather than suffer”he still declares. For her part, Christine Villemin, the child’s mother, agreed to this project, but prefers to stay at a distance, no longer wishing to deal with the press.
Photo credits: AGENCE / BESTIMAGE
