On Monday July 1, 2024 at 9:15 p.m., France 3 broadcasts An almost perfect village, nice comedy about a town threatened with abandonment. Where was the film shot?
“My village, with its bell tower and well-behaved houses where children my age shared my happiness” said Charles Trenet in his famous song Sweet France. This clearly shows the attachment of French people to their countryside, their traditions, their heritage. So much so that every year, our dear Stéphane Bern travels the country roads with The favorite village of the French to choose the most beautiful. Thus, Ploumanac’h, Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, Eguisheim and Cordes-sur-Ciel have all received the label awarded by the program. But what about Saint-Loin-la-Mauderne? It is in this charming village in the Pyrenees that takes place An almost perfect village, comedy that France 3 is broadcasting this Monday, July 1, 2024 at 9:15 p.m. and which, too, could really use a little boost to attract people…
How the director ofAn almost perfect village chose the setting of the film
The inhabitants of a village try to seduce a doctor, whom they need to save the town, which has been hit by desertification. A pleasant comedy by Stéphane MeunierAn almost perfect village has a good cast: Didier Bourdon, Lorànt Deutsch, Carmen Maura, Denis Podalydès, Lionnel Astier, Elie Semoun… But also a beautiful setting. Indeed, if Saint-Loin-la-Mauderne is a completely fictional place, the village that served as the filming location is a real pearl of Occitania. Aulon, located in the Hautes-Pyrénées, welcomed the film crew and some of its hundred or so inhabitants even appear on screen! The director explains how he chose the location: “After hesitating with the Alps, we chose the Pyrenees because we still find landlocked villages there, but inhabited. Besides, what was important to me was that the villagers were people who looked like us because deep down, we all have rural origins…”
An almost perfect village is inspired by a Quebec film and inspired an Italian film!
Because the countryside, its fields and its valleys, this would make any city dweller tired of urban life nostalgic. And not only in France are we making this observation: in 2016 the film had an Italian version, called An almost perfect country. Please note thatAn almost perfect village is also a remake of the Quebec film The Great Seduction, which set its plot in the small, also fictional, commune of Sainte-Marie-la-Mauderne. The most attentive French viewers will have noticed that Saint-Loin-la-Mauderne is twinned with the Canadian village! A nice nod.
