Jean Le Cam and Jean-Paul Rouve together on screen for a race for redemption. In The Valley of Fools, the actor plays a father in disarray who embarks on a virtual Vendée Globe to try to save his life. A film inspired by a passion for sailing, shot in Finistère with the presence of “King Jean”.
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This Wednesday, November 13, La Vallée des fous, the new film by Xavier Beauvois, arrives in theaters. In the title role, Jean-Paul Rouve is a broken man, at the end of himself. Between Brittany, raw emotion, and virtual ocean racing, Xavier Beauvois delivers a film that has everything to make Vendée Globe lovers dream.
Jean-Paul Rouve plays an alcoholic father, overwhelmed by debt, who decides to start the Vendée Globe… from his garden. His boat? A sailboat planted there, under the trees, from where it immerses itself in Virtual Regatta, the online offshore racing simulation game.
His madness goes far: like real skippers and lovers of the game, he sets his alarm every three hours to stay on course and monitor his virtual tides. But this Vendée Globe is above all an opportunity to compete against oneself.
Shot in Brittany, the film immerses us in the maritime world of Port-la-Forêt, nicknamed “the Mecca of sailing”. It is here, in this small port in Finistère, that so many ocean racing champions meet.
Xavier Beauvois, a sailing enthusiast and himself a fan of Virtual Regatta, wanted to pay tribute to this unique Breton energy. He even convinced two racing icons, Michel Desjoyeaux and Jean Le Cam, to play their own roles in the film.
The character of Jean-Paul Rouve registers for Virtual Regatta, the virtual Vendée Globe race.
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© The Valley of Fools – Guy Ferrandis
Jean Le Cam appears alongside Jean-Paul Rouve. “King Jean”, hero of the Vendée Globe, brings his experience but also a touch of respect for the garden sailor. In one scene, Jean-Paul Rouve takes a stuffed monkey with him, a nod to Jean Le Cam's real monkey mascot. A symbol of their friendship, the skipper took this plush with him for his real world tour, which started this Sunday.
The director, Xavier Beauvois (right), Jean-Paul Rouve and Jean Le Cam (center) and the actress Madeleine Beauvois (daughter of the director)
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© GUILLAUME SALIGOT / MAXPPP
With La Vallée des fous, Xavier Beauvois creates a powerful story about redemption and the quest for oneself. Jean-Paul Rouve confides that he was overwhelmed by the scenario: “It was beautiful, poetic”he said this Wednesday on France Inter. He was seduced by this character, a man who claims to be running for money (the promised sum of 150,000 euros for the virtual winner) who gradually reveals his true quest: that of a lost dignity.
“The Valley of Fools” a film by Xavier Beauvois, released in theaters on November 13, 2024
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© The Valley of Fools – Guy Ferrandis
Loneliness, alcoholism, a father in ruins who still hopes to find his family. This Vendée Globe from the bottom of the garden becomes a metaphor for internal struggles.
The timing is perfect. While the real Vendée Globe has just started from Les Sables d'Olonne, La Vallée des fous will speak to sailing fans as well as those who, like Jean-Paul Rouve, are facing personal storms. Xavier Beauvois takes us on an intense emotional journey, where the sea, even virtual, allows us to find a direction.
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