Kad Merad and the 24 Hours of Le Mans brought together by Claude Lelouch in an “optimistic film”

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“Finally”, the 51st film of Claude Lelouchcomes out at movie theater this Wednesday, November 13, 2024. The director came to the Mans with the main actor, Kad Merad, presented his work in preview, last October 11…

And it’s no coincidence: in his “road trip”, Linoplayed by Kad Merad, goes through the circuit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Shots of “Finally” filmed during the race

The sports arena, recently elected “favorite monument of the French”, appears briefly in this feature film, for a few shots.

During the centenary edition, Claude Lelouch took advantage of the race to shoot a scene with Kad Merad (and his trumpet).

“Finally” is thus added to the list of films evoking the famous Sarthe circuit.

Kad Merad, actor chosen “by chance”

Lino is “a hero which doesn't seem like it,” as Claude Lelouch mentioned to the audience during the preview. “Heroes only exist in American films. In life, we all have the qualities of our faults. »

To play the leading role, after unsuccessful searches, his choice fell on Kad Merad. The actor, featured in numerous comedies, including “Welcome to the Ch’tis”plays a more serious and moving character here… Thanks to “chance”!

“My wife took a train where there was Kad Merad,” explained Claude Lelouch before the screening. “This is exactly what I was looking for. »

Lelouch had called “all of Paris, except me”

Despite a rich filmography, which has seen him directr Belmondo, Trintignant, Ventura, Brel… “Kad still managed to amaze me again,” admits Claude Lelouch.

He had called “all of Paris, except me”, confirmed the person concerned. “I had pretty much the same problem with Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis… It should be a great success! »

“They even tell me I’m handsome!” »

Kad Merad also confided that he had a lot of fun filming in “Finally”: “you don’t have the impression of making cinema. You are in life, you are filmed as you have never been filmed. Sometimes people even tell me I'm beautiful! »

“We film better the things we love”

The Mont-Saint-Michelthe Festival from Avignonthe Normandie… Claude Lelouch also has fun immortalizing France, including Le Mans and its circuit.

“My character actually arrives at a given moment in 24 Hours of Le Mans and once again, it is chance that brings him there,” indicates the author. “You film the things you like better than the things you don't like, and that's what I tried to do. »

“An optimistic film”

With “Finally”, one of the greatest representatives of French cinema tried to make “an optimistic film”: “the positive is stronger than the negative, even if the negative is very successful with the media and the ratings. »

During all these years, I observed the world in which we lived, I was a bit of a witness to all these years. I have the feeling that life is a race of hassles in wonderland, and that wonders make us forget the hassles.

“Finally”: when Lelouch self-references

In the casting, we also find Barbara Pravi, Sandrine Bonnaire, Françoise Fabian, Elsa Zylberstein, Michel Boujenah, Julie Ferrier, Clémentine Celarié…

A distribution with an eclectic appearance but which fits perfectly with Lelouch's desire to play with codes cinema, sentiments and the reality.

This fable deliberately blurs the lines, taking the viewer into a travel across the country but also in the own filmography from the director… A plot which fortunately arrives, just like Lino, by landing on his feet… finally!

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