Alexandre Astier: "Kaamelott 2 will be faster than the first"<

Le roi est serein. Alexandre Astier, qui a fêté le 16 juin ses 47 ans, récuse toute angoisse, quel que soit le destin de Kaamelott – Premier volet. Son adaptation de la série Kaamelott s’empare des salles ce 21 juillet, après une attente de presque douze ans depuis la fin de la célèbre shortcom sur M6. Une décennie durant laquelle les fans acharnés de cette singulière vision du mythe des Chevaliers de la Table ronde ont trompé leur ennui comme ils pouvaient sur les réseaux sociaux, guettant fiévreusement le moindre tweet de leur idole, au fil de ses actualités, qui indiquerait une possible renaissance prochaine de la saga. Après des années perdues dans un conflit juridique autour des droits de Kaamelott opposant Astier à la société CALT, productrice du programme, l’épopée s’est enfin concrétisée avec un tournage en 2019. Une crise sanitaire et deux reports de sortie plus tard, voilà enfin ce satané film auquel certains fidèles ne croyaient plus.

Wonderful synchronism, certainly not innocent, between reality and fiction.In the intrigue of this first part - Alexandre Astier aims a trilogy -, Arthur Pendragon, a fallen sovereign of the Kingdom of Logres, is tracked down by mercenaries sent to the four corners of the globe by the tyrannical Lancelot (Thomas Cousseau), who put hispriced.After ten years of exile on the side of the Red Sea, the fugitive is found, captured, brought back to Brittany, released by the Duke of Aquitaine (Alain Chabat, formidable in his three scenes), re-capped, while oneGeneral uprising against Lancelot is preparing on the side of the Château des Carmélides.Arthur therefore returns, like his alter ego, who does not deprive himself, in the following interview, to emphasize himself the marker the legitimate concordance between his cult creature and him.

But what exactly is the film?

Did Kaamelott fans expect the film as much as Arthur's faithful his return to the throne?In view of the record number of preview entrances, beaten by this first part even before its release, the answer hardly makes a mystery.A mathematical dynamic is a priori on the move.Less than a sinister word of mouth or a massive discouragement of the public by the establishment of the health pass in places of culture from July 21 (real concern for the distributor SND, which does notNot following our interview requests), King Arthur should be crowned at the head of the box office this summer-at least in the tricolor department.The artistic result is halftone.Despite a splendid photo and a great idea of a final scenario involving music as a key to a military victory, the 120 minutes of Kaamelott - the first part struggle.In question: a staging too often static, lacking in magnitude or depth of field and especially breath for moments however key to the intrigue - the first appearance of Arthur, the withdrawal of Excalibur, the duel withLancelot (shipped in two minutes, it is the biggest disappointment of the plot) ...

The narration gives the impression of a curious false rhythm.Cups visible to assembly create uncomfortable ellipses and the whole, in the end credits, barely equal the sum of the parts.We sometimes laugh - especially during the scenes between the Duke of Aquitaine and his wife (Géraldine Nakache, simply brilliant) -, but much less than in the big hours of the series.In addition, obviously, Kaamelott - first part, despite all the efforts of its author, is aimed above all for his audience, but it is also his strength.As long as an emotional bond has been forged with this endearing universe, this Audiardian phrasing so funny by Astier, the orchestra man (actor/screenwriter/producer/editor/composer), and these characters all more or less stupid,Impossible not to have fun on an adventure.

Federative virtues

Karadoc (Jean-Christophe Hembert), Perceval (Frank Pitiot), Dame Seli (the brilliant Joëlle Sevilla), Leodagan (Lionnel Astier), Bohort (Nicolas Gabion), the lady of the lake (Audrey Fleurot)… They are almost all there andTheir aged features is also an asset for the film.Kaamelott - First part has the color and flavor of the series, but it is no longer quite the same potion.An unspeakable melancholy intrinsic to the passage of time can be read on certain more marked faces and we share it since we ourselves have aged with this Astier troupe-of which some of the children also play in the film.And, as imperfect as it is, this meeting with these familiar faces, which punctuated M6's foreruns for five years between 2005 and 2009, produces nostalgia, gratitude and indulgence for the few failures.Kaamelott's unifying essence, both in the symbolism of his story and in the diversified profile of his fans base, is also good, at his level, in an increasingly archipellized France.

In this sense, Astier therefore does not miss his return with Kaamelott - the first part, unlike George Lucas at the time of the ghost threat, who had so much firecracked the allies of the early - the shadow of Star Wars,With that of the Lord of the Rings, hovers everywhere in this reunion with Arthur.We just hope that, in the probable hypothesis of a sequel, Alexandre Astier and his lieutenants will have had time to screw the bolts and concretize the promises of two particularly exciting visions balanced to the spectator in the final minutes (do not go to the creditsthe end !).As he confirms to us in the following interview, like a driven warrior and ready for combat, Alexandre Astier swears being in any case in the starting blocks to prolong the saga, without waiting for as long as for this first opus.Like that of the resistant young people moves Arthur in the film, the loyalty of new fans converted to Kaamelott by their parents touches the author and nourishes his desire to tell more.He may be permanently shown on the screen, the knight also has a little heart!

The pop point: Kaamelott's previews are full, but the health pass is likely to discourage certain spectators.Not too anxious?

Alexandre Astier: Frankly, that doesn't concern me anymore, I can't do anything anymore, I don't have my hand anymore on the fate of the film.I do not feel any anxiety and I am quite ready to fail!

When was the idea for the first time to extend Kaamelott to the movies?

I be looks shit up like "How to make vegan pancakes with no flour, sugar, or Baking Powder"

— raye Thu May 20 22:39:50 +0000 2021

The very first idea I fell in love, it was towards the end of the shooting of Book VI.And it was rather a vision: how to dislocate musically by a ballet of war machines (reader friends, this answer will only make sense after seeing Kaamelott - first part! - Editor's note).I imagined gears, towers, very nested stuff and that the only way to untangle was through a musical rhythm.I told my children about it one evening in a pizzeria in Lyon, and I drew this thing on the tablecloth, to make them understand.Well, I made a careful tearing the end of a tablecloth when I left ... but I never dared to put too big stones on this project as long as I was not sure of its start.And I really started writing when an agreement was signed with the Sultanate of Oman to turn there.The fourth and latest version of the scenario dates from January 2019 and we have turned practically in stride.

The shooting of Kaamelott The film started ten years after the end of the series: we ended up wondering if you really wanted to ...

It was all these years that I made Kaamelott lacked more and more.And the fact that nothing has been told about Kaamelott since the end of the series on M6 coincides well with Arthur's situation in the film.The guy has been so forgotten for ten years that he died in the eyes of many people.And if he comes back, it's really constrained and forced, it is because we went to think about where he hid, because it costs him to come back, it looks the mine.Arthur does not come back from his own free will, I always knew that he would be extricated from his retirement by force, and these ten years have helped me a lot about the potential ways of waking up history.One day, I will also tell the period called Kaamelott Resistance and which will look at everything that happened in the absence of Arthur: how everyone chose their camp, collaborate, resist, or hide.Why did Lancelot end up deciding to lock up Guenièvre, how did he pact with the Saxons ...

Yes but therefore Arthur is well constrained and forced ... like you?

Noooon, but you know like me that we all have small boats in our marinas and that we never know exactly which will leave and when ... in my little boats to me, there was among others my project on the beast ofGévaudan, the Asterix, Kaamelott and many other things that I have not yet done ... For years, we had to settle on Kaamelott these stories of law chains, all the legal.I know that from the outside it gave the impression that I was afraid of going there or not want, but as soon as I was given the green light, I went there.

And the health crisis has further delayed the exit ...

Yes, we hit the covid wall in full post-production of the film.It is because of the recording of the soundtrack by the Lyon National Orchestra.All the other steps could be done at a distance, the editing I do it at home ... But the music was the only department where you could not avoid bringing together 100 people in an auditorium ... and without music, no film.So we had to stop everything and have labos in Switzerland and Austria do a whole series of tests to measure the distance from the projections of a trumpeter, a trombonist, how many square meters should they separate them, etc.Once all of that settled, we resumed at the end of August 2020 the recording, between two confinements, with musicians very far from each other, for a period of one week, under the direction of Frank Strobel.

In terms of writing, was it a challenge to find the right tone between the fan service and speak to the general public ignorant of Kaamelott, especially after so much time?

In fact my writing naturally goes to the fan service, unconsciously.I tell the story first to people who know what happened previously and I give them what they expect ... but in a generally unexpected form, I like to trap them.For the most public, yes it was the biggest difficulty, but I really wanted KV1 to be accessible for someone who has never seen the series.At the bend of the dialogues, I tried to accurate names, places and I counted a lot on the architecture of the beginning of the film to be more readable than a series taken in progress: an absent king, the followers who await his return, a tyrant, the traitors, the princess enclosed in the tower..KV1 is like half a reboot trying to drop anyone.

Before Kaamelott-First part, you had made only one feature film, David and Madame Hansen.Not really a fantasy blockbuster.Have you felt this lack of experience on the set?

No, I don't remember having doubted.I had a team of thunder, a gold master operator like Jean-Marie Dreujou ... And finally cinema, it's simpler than many other things in fact.The useful minute to turn a day is quite weak, we have time to licked the plans, even if we only had 45 days to complete everything.There were a few scenes that were not necessarily pleasant to shoot for me, like the final assault where only one out of four on the screen is real (the others are in summary), or the part of Robobrole, which turned out to be a real mess to the editing, I had brought a lot of rushes.But I especially remember a crazy film, an adventure that brought us everywhere, on firm land as in the open sea.We were really there.

Speaking of the cuts, some produce fairly embarrassing ellipses in the film.We regret in particular that the Duke of Aquitaine, so well played by Alain Chabat, disappears from the plot without warning after three scenes ...

There was a first version of 2:26 a.m., which was indigestible and lent confusing, then I went down to 2:14, then 2 h 7 and on arrival the film is two hours.But these cuts mainly consisted in tightening replicas, dialogue cuts to accelerate the heartbeat of the film.I totally rebuilt the rhythm of Kaamelott - first component in assembly.In these cuts, some suit me, others less, but I have not cut any block, it is really rather goldsmithery.Regarding the Duke of Aquitaine: the goal of this character, who is Arthur's ally, is to gently bring the latter to the resistant round table, in the gaunes forest, when he does not stopto say that he no longer wants to hear about this affair.They bivouac, dodo ... And upon waking, the Duke is no longer there because he no longer has to be: he led Arthur where he wanted to bring him, 50 meters from the round table, thenHe disappears, as if he had accomplished his mission.It is a fairy tale agreement.It’s not a cup story, it’s really my idea but I see that it has unfortunately had the leisure to take your membership, Mr. Guedj!It happens !Let's put this on the account of author's clumsiness.

If at adventure Kaamelott-first part was not walking-or not enough, what will happen for shutters 2 and 3?Could the continuation of the story still see the light elsewhere than in the cinema?

I wrote the main lines for these two components, but it is very precarious, not even in the treatment state.If this film does not work, it will just be the signal that people no longer want Kaamelott and I don't see why I would force myself to write them differently.It would be the end, that's all.It would also mean that people are happy with the existing Kaamelott heritage and that we have to stop there.I will only tell the rest if I am listened to me.From a purely financial point of view, there is no need for immense success in the dining room so that I receive the green light for the second part.I can't give you a starter threshold, it's not my game.It will be just especially interesting to interpret these figures: if the public is hungry to know the future of Kaamelott or if all that interests him is that we continue to exploit past history, a nostalgic kaamelott who does notcorresponds more too much to what I am today.

What if it works as expected?

If I am not mobilized by another big series adventure in which I want, KV2 will not have to wait as long as the first.

Arthur ... is you still?

He always looked more or less like me and he evolves at the same time as me, that's why I don't want to write it too long in advance, so as not to have to play a guy a guythat I am no longer.In KV1, we are really not far from the real: a guy who comes back, and who gets picked by the emotion to see that there are young people who follow him and wait for him.This is the thing that makes him come together at the table.Well that touches me in real life, to see that 15-25 year olds are the age group above all the others in people who intend to go see the film.These young people were barely born when Kaamelott started, it means that there was a transmission, a handover, by the parents or the redif 'on TV ... it makes me say that it is worth writing againOn Kaamelott.

Kaamelott - first part of Alexandre Astier (2 hours).Indoors on July 21.