The actor, who had made his breakthrough with the Splendid troupe, lent his features to some of the most dramatic characters in French cinema of the 1990s and 2000s.
In front of and behind the camera, Michel Blanc, who died at the age of 72, had a prolific career in cinema, achieving public success with the extremely funny Tanned before expanding its register with Evening wear.
The Bronzed (1978, 1979, 2006)
The Splendid troupe is transposing its café-theatre success to the cinema (Love, shellfish and crustaceans) with The Bronzeddirected by Patrice Leconte. Big success then even bigger hit, a year later, with Tanned people go skiing. Two films that have become cult. Alongside Jugnot, Balasko, Clavier, Lhermitte and Chazel, the public discovers Michel Blanc as Jean-Claude Dusse, the bald weakling and failed flirt whose lines have passed down to posterity.
Generations have laughed at the lines “Forget that you have no chance, go ahead, go for it! You never know, a misunderstanding could work.” or even “Eventually, if you were at the end of your rope, we could consider concluding?”
The happy band meets again almost 30 years later in The Bronzed 3. The film certainly finds its audience again (more than 10 million admissions) but the magic is no longer there. Michel Blanc modestly admits that this is not what he has “do the best”.
Walk in the shade (1984)
The first of five films he directed. Homeless back in France, Denis (Michel Blanc), eternal hypochondriac complainer, wants to get back into music with his adventurer friend, the handsome guy François (Gérard Lanvin). Despite enormous critical and public success (six million admissions), this film marks for him “the end of a cycle”. “Until Walk in the shadows, I stayed where I was and then I told myself that it was the best way to never swim well…”
He will wait ten years to get back behind the camera with Severe Fatigue (1994), where he played his own role and which won the best screenplay prize at Cannes. Will come next Bad Pass (1999), le vaudeville Kiss whoever you want (2002) and its sequel See how we dance (2018).
Evening wear (1986)
A turning point in his career. Michel Blanc takes his audience on the wrong foot by completely changing register in front of Bertrand Blier’s camera. “Going from the little flirt with a French mustache to the guy who gets screwed by Depardieu, it’s risky!” He moves in the role of Antoine, who leaves his wife to enter into a relationship with Depardieu and ends up fooling around with him in drag. Bet won with the interpretation prize at Cannes.
Mr Hire (1989)
He transforms the essay by showing the extent of his talent and his ability to play dramatic films in this remake (signed Patrice Leconte) of Panic by Julien Duvivier, after Georges Simenon. In the title role, Michel Blanc is this disturbing and unhappy voyeur, unjustly accused of a crime. Big success, particularly internationally, which has definitely earned him the right to be considered a complete player.
I find you very beautiful (2005)
When Isabelle Mergault asked him to play a widowed farmer looking for a wife, he didn’t hesitate for a second. The public followed, the film was a very big success. He plays Aymé, a man with a dry heart who goes to Romania to find a partner. Without making an emotional commitment and above all to bring in labor for his farm. But he finds himself trapped in love. “In the metro, people told me about this character, we liked him”. At the Cabourg Festival, Michel Blanc is even crowned… “romantic actor of the year”.
The State Exercise (2011)
Michel Blanc is Bernard, an old veteran of ministerial cabinets who assists a minister (Olivier Gourmet) confronted with daily emergencies and an explosive file, in a State which devours those who serve it. New character against the job, that of an impassive and self-confident man in this political thriller. Already nominated four times for the César for best actor, he won his first compression, in a strong supporting role.
