Making a film about Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, what a great idea! On paper, the feature film had everything to be a success: a popular character, renowned actors (Louis Garrel, Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger, etc.), a substantial budget (14.7 million euros)… The trailer was also promising. On the program, beautiful images, breathtaking landscapes and a promise for spectators: “ Embark on the dream. »
Even the synopsis was rather appealing: “ In 1930, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was an Aéropostale pilot in Argentina. When Henri Guillaumet, his best friend and the best pilot of Aéropostale, disappears in the Andes mountain range, Saint-Ex decides to go looking for him. This impossible quest forces him to surpass himself, making his ability to dream his greatest strength… »
A great promise then…
Until then, the feature film looks like a well-made adventure film. End of story… On December 11, Saint-Ex released in theaters. The criticisms are raining down. For Southwest« The strange “Saint-Ex” does not take off, and never takes us on board ” When Marianne sees it as “ a grotesque evocation of Saint-Exupéry performed by Louis Garrel ». Le Figaro makes reference to Little Prince : « Draw me a disaster. But what did Pablo Aguero do in this mess? »
On the public side, it’s not better. “ The hub », « massacre » et « grotesque » are some of the adjectives given to the feature film by Pablo Agüero. Many also criticize the work’s lack of realism. What about the bottom?
As the director says in the film’s press kit, Saint-Ex tell ” a week in his life which was decisive for both the adventurer and the writer “. A week during which he “ looking for his friend Guillaumet, lost in the Cordillera “. Who knows why, this week has been politicized by Pablo Agüero.
…free fall
Logically, when a normally constituted human being loses a friend and goes looking for him, he does not think about the ballot he is going to slip into the box or about a cause that is close to his heart. He only has his comrade in mind and the hope of finding him occupies all his thoughts. For the Franco-Argentinian director, it is different. For him, this research “ forges the great pilot, the one who will end up giving his life in the fight against fascism “. The film also ends with the following sentence: “ We have conquered the cordillera, we have even conquered the night […] but we have not seen the rise of fascism. » Where is the connection with schmilblick? Mystery ! Let us remember, moreover, that the scene of the film takes place in 1930, three years before the birth of the Third Reich and nine years before the Second World War started.
Small clarification, and not the least: the well-known and woke Yseult plays a cabaret singer in the film. She performs, in particular, the title The Time of Loversby Christophe Julien. Everyone will appreciate the quality of the text: “ This black bird, this scavenger, this bastard, we should destroy all our dreams, our delusions. His face is the image of his cage, moralist, realistic and big fascist. Our whims, our delights and our lives alone announce the time of insolent people and lovers… »
Result: after a week of operation, Saint-Ex stay on the tarmac. The film, rich in historical and technical approximations, only attracted 75,000 people. At the box office, it is very far behind Never without my therapista comedy without much ambition carried by Christian Clavier (205,000 admissions). Antoine de Saint-Exupéry undoubtedly deserved better. Movie buffs too!
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