Public enemy number 1 in France in the 1980s looked nothing like the idea we have of a criminal. Bruno Sulak was described by the victims of his robberies as a charming and elegant man, who never used violence.
For years, Bruno Sulak played Arsène Lupine by robbing jewelry stores in full view of the police, whom he constantly taunted. Arrested several times, the robber regularly escaped from prison thanks to stratagems worthy of cinema scenarios.
But it is above all his passionate love with Thalie (played by the magnetic Léa Luce Busato) and the thirst for freedom of the bandit that Mélanie Laurent (Thieves) films with passion in Libre. Far from an academic biopic, the work, inspired by the book Watery by Philippe Jaeneda, delicately loses himself in the embraces between the two lovebirds on the run. “Mélanie knew that any man with a story like that would make a heist film out of it. However, for Bruno and Thalie, their love story came before everything”confides Lucas Bravo (Emily in Paris), who brilliantly embodies the gentleman burglar.
Read also: INTERVIEW. Philippe Jaenada, author of “Sulak”: “I don’t like writing fiction, it doesn’t amuse me”
A polished staging
While doing his research to prepare for his role, the actor discovered points in common with Bruno Sulak: “He was a lover of words, a poet. I grew up in Italy, at the age where people learn dictation. I struggled a lot in French with spelling after that. So I too settled into precise words. I also moved often because of my father's work and I had to constantly reinvent myself. I grew up a chameleon, like him”.
Above all, Lucas Bravo was able to meet the real Georges Moréas (played on screen by a phlegmatic Yvan Attal), the commissioner responsible for arresting Bruno Sulak, who had developed a closeness and a singular respect with him. “He spoke to me about Bruno with great delicacy, continue Lucas Bravo. He gave me phone recordings of him, so I could hear his voice. There is also a scene in the film which is the exact transcription of a conversation between the two. »
Read also: Bébert the Shabby, Tony the Eel… Where do the nicknames given to thugs come from?
For the rest, Mélanie Laurent allowed herself the freedom to embroider around this true story to give panache to her characters, right up to the bandit's tragic denouement. It is in this last part, when the director moves away from the love story to devote herself to the detective aspect, that the film loses its splendor. But just for its grainy aesthetic and its staging which smacks of the 1980s, we easily forgive this weakness to let ourselves be charmed by this Bruno Sulak. On Prime Video.
