OWe see it again every year (often on Valentine’s Day), we can recite the dialogues by heart (in French and English), we love whistling its song (especially when we go shopping) and it’s been going on for… thirty- five years! The most profitable romantic comedy in the history of cinema – more than 460 million dollars in revenue worldwide for a budget of 14 million – Pretty Woman arrived in France on November 28, 1990, where it recorded 4 million admissions, after being released the same year, in March, in the United States.
Arte, which continues its collection of documentaries on the pivotal films of the pop culture – of Matrix see you soon Jaws –, could not miss Garry Marshall’s feature film as the love story between Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts), a prostitute, and Edward Lewis (Richard Gere), a businessman, continues to capsize hearts. The chain therefore draws Pretty Woman, a Hollywood fairy tale by Clélia Cohen, on the air on January 3 and available on the arte.tv platform until January 1is FEBRUARY. A documentary with a cleverly chosen title, because if Pretty Woman is a Cinderella modern, it is also a film whose destiny is magical.
It all starts with a true story…
Flashback. In 1984, JF Lawton is a young screenwriter who lives near Hollywood Boulevard. Drugs, prostitution and police raids are daily life in this neighborhood. By day, this geek does IT support. At night, he settles down diner local, where he writes scripts, and sympathizes with sex workers. For his job, he is required to repair a computer for Gary Goldstein, an authors’ agent who aspires to be a producer. JF Lawton took the opportunity to submit his scenarios to him. Gary Goldstein read them and, enthusiastic about their quality, placed an order. JF Lawton has carte blanche, but he must deliver a love story.
« JF Lawton then wanted to talk about the two sides of America at the time, that of the shark traders who dismantled companies to resell them in pieces, and that which suffered the consequences, this America hit by deindustrialization. tell the Point Pop director Clélia Cohen. When he gets down to his order, he confronts a prostitute – because the prostitutes with whom he interacted generally came from deindustrialized regions – with a man from finance. And it is based on a story that a prostitute he knew had experienced. She had been “hired for a week by a very rich man”.
JF Lawton hands in his script. But this is not the Pretty Woman that we know: if Vivian and Edward already exist, their relationship is told with a realistic and dark approach, without happy end. 3 000 – this is the title of the script, in reference to 3,000 dollars, the sum Edward pays Vivian for her to spend the week with him – is the archetype of the “indie film”. The Vestron Pictures studio, behind Dirty Dancingjoins the project… before going bankrupt. Gary Goldstein, disappointed, sent the script to Disney. He knows that the big-eared firm will not support 3 000but hopes that the talent of his foal will be obvious to them. Against all expectations, Disney buys the rights.
A perfect snail throw and a legendary laugh
The group sees the possibility of making 3 000 a mainstream film provided it is rewritten with lightness and a happy conclusion. JF Lawton and Gary Goldstein get to work. Then, the project suffered ups and downs, until Garry Marshall, who died in 2016 at the age of 81, intervened. Coming from the sitcom, he had the idea of integrating the codes of the fairy tale into 3 000. Filming is approaching. There remains one detail to be resolved.
“Julia Roberts was attached to 3 000 from the start. For Gary Goldstein, who discovered it in Mystic Pizza by Donald Petrie (1988), she was the ideal Vivian. However, Disney felt that Julia Roberts was not famous enough. The role was offered to Hollywood’s most prominent actresses, but none wanted to play a prostitute. Julia Roberts, faced with so much hesitation, had accepted another feature film whose shooting was imminent. Disney got it back in the extremes », develops Clélia Cohen. Julia Roberts, aged 21, herself asked Richard Gere, reluctant to play Edward, whom he considered unsympathetic, to join the cast.
The first clap was given in the summer of 1989. Joy reigned, even if Garry Marshall’s method, which gave a large place to improvisation, was disconcerting. “He wanted every scene to take off. For example, the sequence in the fancy restaurant where Edward is at a business dinner with Vivian was originally supposed to be serious. Garry Marshall brought another dimension to it, by focusing the sequence on Vivian who struggles with the conventions of a large restaurant. There is in particular this memorable moment where she lets a snail escape. A whole afternoon was spent to get the best “throw”,” smiles Clélia Cohen.
Garry Marshall also cultivates a tradition: at the end of each shoot, he presents a blooper reel to the team with whom he collaborates. To fuel it, he makes jokes on set. As part of Pretty Womanone of them results in an iconic sequence. “When Vivian and Edward were preparing to leave for the opera, and Edward showed Vivian the necklace she would wear, Garry Marshall had Richard Gere close the necklace case. Objective: to surprise Julia Roberts. The actress’ reaction was this legendary laugh. The take ended up in the film,” comments Clélia Cohen.
“Anora”, a disenchanted “Pretty Woman”
Before release, the title is changed. Exit 3 000Disney wants to use the title of a song – a way for viewers to remember the feature film. “Oh, Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison (1964) was chosen by Garry Marshall. The rest, we know it. Pretty Woman leaves an indelible mark and becomes a classic. We can no longer count the films that have quoted, taken up, parodied it. In 2024, Anoraby Sean Baker, Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, even reinterpreted it. « Anorathis is undoubtedly what would have become 3 000 in its first version. From the start, we feel that this will not lead to a fairy tale. What this work says is that enchantment has become suspect and that no one believes in it anymore, unlike the golden age of romcoms », pointe Clélia Cohen.
To Discover
Kangaroo of the day
Answer
Other feature films, however, have perpetuated this enchantment. In 2019, the excellent and little-known Seduce me if you can! by Jonathan Levine, with Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen, loudly claimed the legacy of Pretty Woman. Don’t wait until Valentine’s Day to find out…
“Pretty Woman, a Hollywood fairy tale” by Clélia Cohen (52 minutes). Broadcast on Arte on Friday January 3, 2025 at 10:25 p.m. Free access on arte.tv until January 1is February 2025. Pretty Woman is available on video and digital media.
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