With this book, released in bookstores on Thursday, November 21, the members of Splendid share not only their incredible rise, but also the intensity of their human bonds, in intimate texts filled with tenderness and regret. Was Michel Blanc able to read the final version?
Event book published Thursday November 21 by Le Cherche Midi, The Splendid by the Splendid: we had so much fun celebrates fifty years of friendship and success. Between these 256 pages embellished with unpublished photographs, Thierry Lhermitte, Gérard Jugnot, Christian Clavier, Josiane Balasko, Marie-Anne Chazel, Michel Blanc and Bruno Moynot deliver their memories with humor and emotion. “As we didn’t know what the others were writing, it was like letters of love and friendship that we sent to each other.“, explained the first on France Inter. Designed as a tribute to their common career and their collective adventure, this work retraces their journey, from their beginnings on the benches of the Pasteur high school in Neuilly-sur-Seine to the summit of cinema French, passing by the legendary Parisian café-theater on rue des Lombards.
This first book written by the gang of Tanned people go skiing et Santa Claus is trash takes on a particular dimension after the disappearance of Michel Blanc, a few weeks before its publication. The unforgettable interpreter of Jean-Claude Dusse, who died in early October, received a PDF version of the text at the end of September, to make his corrections. “We had signed the proof (ready to print) three days before his death, so we talked a lot with Michel, whereas usually it was two or three times a year.“, specified Thierry Lhermitte to the Parisian.
“What I said to Michel in it was recorded a month before his death”
Still with the same newspaper, the actor from Le Dîner de cons admitted to being tormented by a question to which he will never have an answer: “I found the texts so warm. At first I only read what I had written to check for bullshit. The day Michel died, I didn’t sleep, I read everything he had written, it shocked me (…) What I said to Michel in it was recorded a month before his death, I was happy at the idea of him discovering it, but he must not have had time to read it. The confirmation was three days before his disappearance. Did he read everything? I don’t know anything about it.”
An entire page is dedicated to the deceased. “And thank you President Blanc for all these years of laughter and talent. A few weeks ago, we said to ourselves that we should all see each other together regularly, otherwise the next time, it would be at the cemetery… We were counting on this forthcoming book to do so. Too late…and tears won’t change anything“, we can read in particular in the preface. The profits from the book will be donated to the Foundation for Medical Research, a cause that was particularly close to the hearts of the members of the troupe.
Books
