Between the bucolic charm of the Indre and the rugged aesthetics of mountain landscapes, Georges Wilson has chosen. It is in the Creuse valley and on the banks of the Brenne ponds that the actor and theater director, who died in 2010, produced his only feature film The Vouivrereleased in 1989. “Georges had to shoot his film in the Jura. He arrived in Indre for some shots. But faced with the beauty of our places, he ultimately stayed there…” explained to The New Republic Jean Chatelut, former mayor of Saint-Benoît-du-Sault, died in 2020.
A host of famous actors
If this feature film, adaptation of a fantastic short story by Marcel Aymé, has not marked the history of cinema, far from it, it brings together a host of famous actors: Jean Carmet, Macha Méril or Suzanne Flon who will get the César for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the film. Georges Wilson's own son, Lambert, plays the title role, and also celebrates his 30th birthday during filming, offering champagne to the whole team!
It is the summer of 1988, the time of the summer holidays, including for the inhabitants, who sometimes become extras. “At Saint-Benoît, there was a crowd of spectators, remembers Anne Chatelut, Jean's daughter, who, then aged almost 25, had photographed these cinema moments. The municipal team with my father listened to the needs of Georges Wilson and the production, they provided storage premises, looked for filming locations, put the team in touch with companies, etc. »
All the assets of the territory are exploited. Everyone puts their part into it. “For a scene in the countryside, you have to find the last team of trained oxen in the region, says Jean Chatelut in his book Chronicle of a living village (paYse éditions, 2008). The construction of the large sets is entrusted to a carpenter from a neighboring village. To teach Lambert Wilson the gesture of the harvester with a large scythe equipped with its rake, you need the best initiator among those who still remember it. » It is on the farm of his wife Jacqueline, a sheep breeder, that these famous moments will be embedded on the film.
The gift of a play
Georges Wilson – inducted, during his stay, into the Taste lamb brotherhood in Saint-Benoît-du-Sault! – will not forget the town and its inhabitants. He will return there, some time later, to perform the play by the American author Herb Gardner which he directed, and for which he was nominated for a Molières award. For I am not Rappaporthe arrives with sets, actors and stagehands to set up a gymnasium where nearly 500 to 600 spectators will be able to discover the Parisian play. Totally free.
The Vouivre
Sortie : 1988.
Duration : 102 minutes.
Realization : Georges Wilson.
The pitch: In 1919, Arsène Muselier, believed to have died in the war, returned to his village in the Jura. Seriously injured during the fighting, he was subject to dizziness, the fault of a small piece of shell flying around in his head. In this marshy country the Vouivre reappears, a woman living naked in the water. This sort of supernatural creature, surrounded by vipers, will obsess Arsène.
Georges Wilson, seated, left, during the filming of La Vouivre, a film released in 1989 and in which the main role was played by Lambert, his son.
© (Photo archives )
Word of extra
“It’s the only filming I’ve participated in!” “, says Annick Descoux, 69, retired with her husband from their angora rabbit farm. Alas, the scene shot thirty-six years ago by this volunteer from the Baraize festival committee was ultimately not preserved on screen… Unlike those of her husband and her two children, 10 years old era, which appear well in The Vouivre. “My daughter filmed a scene in the rain, and it was the firefighters throwing water! she said, laughing. We had to repeat the scenes several times, it was interesting, funny, and everyone was nice. Many places in Indre and Brenne were shown on the screen, it's an advertisement for Indre! »
Two before the filming of La Vouivre, Georges Wilson (in the center of the photo) in Saint-Benoît-du-Sault.
© (Photo archives NR)
Filming geography
Many places in Indre served as settings for the film The Vouivre. It was in the village of Ceaulmont, 700 inhabitants, overlooking the Creuse, that filming began on July 19, 1988; the decorators built a fake cemetery there, of which Jean Carmet (died in 1994) was the picturesque gravedigger. “The action takes place in 1919, so we needed a period cemetery, bringing together both civilian and military graves. The panorama being magnificent, we wanted to take advantage of it: the tombs of the poilus overlook the Creuse valley, explained Jacques Dugied, the production designer, to Gérard Coulon, the author of the book Indre at the cinema, locations and filming stories, ed. Sutton, 2006.
Other towns welcomed Georges Wilson's cameras, such as those of Mouhet, Neuillay-les-Bois, Parnac, Vendoeuvres and especially Saint-Benoît-du-Sault! The rue du Fort where the market is held in the film – and the Impasse Rosette of this medieval hilltop village, classified among the most beautiful in France, were filmed at length. The statue which adorns the commune's war memorial had even been dismantled for the purposes of filming against the advice of some, who had expressed their dissatisfaction!
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