Mylène Farmer lends her voice to a new version of “Bambi”

Mylène Farmer lends her voice to a new version of “Bambi”, in theaters Wednesday. Its filming, in a French forest, reopens the debate on the place of animals in cinema.

This “Bambi” has little to do with the Disney cartoon, except its main character, the young fawn who loses his mother, the victim of horrible hunters.

The film which comes out on Wednesday is based on the same story, written in the 1920s by Felix Salten, and which inspired Walt Disney. But with the idea of ​​returning to the sources, a very stripped-down production, on the edge of an animal documentary.

Figure d’outsider

Faced with “Transformers: The Beginning” and “The Wild Robot”, the big American machines which will compete for young audiences during the school holidays, this “Bambi”, which advances at the slow pace of the seasons, appears as an outsider.

“I present it as a tale, I let my emotion plunge into this life in the woods,” told AFP its director Michel Fessler, one of the men behind the cardboard of “The March of the Emperor », 20 years ago.

“I tried to rediscover in “Bambi” my wonder as a 12-year-old child discovering the forest,” whose colors and noises are highlighted throughout the film. It is lulled by the voice of Mylène Farmer, star of French song with millions of aficionados, “very moved by Bambi and who said yes straight away”, specifies Mr. Fessler.

Contemplative, this “Bambi” of 01:17 required no less than 16 weeks of filming in a specialized forest animal park.

“I chose to be close to the animals, to be with them,” explains Michel Fessler, who spent nearly three months on a storyboard drawn to imagine the film, before adapting everything “according to what the ‘we can do with the animal’.

“We worked with animal specialists” and filmed a total of three fawns “in the forest which is their playground”. “This film was made with grace and happiness,” he assures.

Filming conditions which are not enough to convince the animal association Projet Animaux Zoopolis (PAZ). PAZ is opposed in principle to “the use of captive and trained wild animals” in cinema, and took the opportunity of the release of the film to make its voice heard on this subject, which is only just beginning to arise in the world of the 7th art.

“We are not here to negotiate the size of the enclosures or cages,” Amandine Sansivens explains to AFP. She considers unacceptable that “real wild animals are placed in captivity all their lives” with trainers, and were used for “Bambi”, an ode to wild nature.

“Nothing justifies the captivity of animals”

“The trainers tell a great story, but we consider that nothing justifies the captivity of animals” which have very important needs in terms of social relationships and territory, adds the head of this small association which has already fought against the presence of animals in circuses or shows.

From advertising to cinema, many animals are used on film sets, with several specialist trainers offering their services to directors in France. To date, no specific legislation governs the use of animals on film sets, which PAZ intends to change.

In June a study by the ARA, a French union of directors, called for “working differently” with animals in cinema, recounting testimonies on animals locked in unsuitable cages, the use of tranquilizers, etc.

Part of the industry is turning to special effects and digital images to avoid using real animals, like the highly anticipated new opus of “The Lion King”, “Mufasa”, a Disney blockbuster in theaters for Christmas.

AFP

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