Helena Noguerra: BDE is "my most challenging shoot because we were in a Bioman suit"

Helena Noguerra: So, BDE, it's the students' office.

Lucien Jean-Baptiste: Yes, Bureau des élèves.

H.N.: Ah?

L. J-B .: There you go, yes, Student Office, what did you say?

H.N.: I said "students".

L. J-B.: Oh well yeah, maybe there's a nuance. So excuse us, it's the first one and we're a bit jetlagged. No, in fact, what is BDE? Well, it's the story of a group of four friends, former colleagues of business school, who are going to spend, as usual, a crazy weekend. This time, it will be snowing. They are people who get together every year to celebrate. That's it.

H.N.: And so they're going to meet four younger BDEs. And so it's an action movie, it's an action comedy. There are a lot of stunts, exceptional events, a lot of fun and it's a bit of a transgenerational relay.

L. J-B.: Absolutely. So you could say that certain strong themes emerge from this film, questions about Judaism. There's that, friendship, the passing of time, leadership. There's a lot in this film because you might think it's a big damp squib that goes like this. Here is something where there is a party, colors like on July 14, it explodes everywhere. It's not just that. That's it, and it's very funny. Did I say everything?

H.N.: Yes, quite.

And how did you end up on this film? Was it Michaël Youn who called you?

H.N.: By accident. Life is just an accident. So he dreamed about us, I think.

L. J-B.: Yes, he dreamed about us.

H.N.: We were the ideal people to interpret this friendship.

L. J-B.: There you go. If you want, I had already shot with Michaël, we got along very well. So, there, he was looking for people, really to be his friends in this film. So it was very simple. It was a classic process. That's it, we met, then we talked, and that was it.

H.N.: Yes, he was looking for the best people and so he didn't have much choice. He said he wanted to be a comic girl.

L. J-B.: Omar was taken. And so he took you! And I took your role. I did Helena Noguerra in the film in fact. You don't know it, but that's it.

When Michaël asked you to be his study friends, what appealed to you in the film he had written and in the roles he proposed to you ?

L. J-B.: Everything.

H.N.: But yes!

L. J-B.: I'll take your word for it, it's 2022, men can speak before women.

H.N.: Oh yes, because otherwise, we feel infantilized. Oh no, no, please, speak first.

L. J-B.: You're putting all this together, aren't you? You make your little salad, we give you that, and then you make your recipe, well your dish, it's only small ingredients. Anyway, what was the question?

What did you like about what Michaël proposed to you and the roles he proposed to you?

L. J-B.: So me the notion of letting go. You know, I always play roles where I'm a little bit like that, nice guy. Ah, well, from time to time, it feels good in a film to take drugs, to put on wigs, to dress up. We come back to this comedy thing, a little bit of a clown game. That's it, mainly. And then meeting Helena Noguerra.

H.N.: Same thing! Well, the same thing. I wanted to put on wigs, I wanted to do comedies, I wanted to try this adventure which is not necessarily my family, my family of departure. It was a different proposal.

Precisely, can you speak to us about the shooting, its progress, its atmosphere? Because when we look at the film, we have the impression that it is a vacation camp.

L. J-B.: An impression, an impression. Coppola said, when he talked about Apocalypse Now, he said, "This movie is not a movie about Vietnam, it's Vietnam." That's a definition one could ascribe to this film. It's not a movie about kids having a good time, it's a movie that's having a good time. It really is. It was crazy. It was crazy. But contrary to what a lot of people might think, when you see the party on screen, well, in the end, the payoff is lots and lots and lots of work. And it's shot in the mountains. You can tell us about your experience later. Shooting in the mountains is very, very, very difficult. The weather obviously, the conditions of transport of the actors on the sets, etc. All that. So there are some crazy, impressive logistics. And we, small actors that I am, because...

H.N.: I'm 1.79m tall.

L. J-B.: Right, so it's... That's it. Thank you. So talk about your experience on the set.

H.N.: So this was actually my most trying shoot because we were in a Bioman suit. You have to see that movie for that. I think that, the experience... So we are four middle-aged people, in little Bioman suits that mold us and that were made of neoprene. So you are almost naked in the snow at -17°C and all night. So to do stunts.

L. J-B.: With peaks at -18°C.

H.N.: With peaks at -18°C indeed. And all that to do stunts and so it's very trying, but it's very very very funny.

L. J-B.: Here is the result... In any case, we are very happy with the result.

And you were talking about the difficult conditions of shooting in the mountains. You, Lucien, you have already shot as a director in the mountains. Were you able to give advice, to bring your experience?

L. J-B.: Certainly not. No, no, no, no. It's like children. In Creole, we say: "Lè ou ka chèché manjé pa alé kay yo sav sé cho" Which means that to know if something is hot, you have to put your hand on it. No, no, I wouldn't have allowed myself, because Michael... You have to stop for two seconds, seriously. I mean, we've been serious for a while now, don't think so. But about Michaël, you know, he's a hard worker, he's someone, he's completely crazy, he's a workaholic, he's passionate, he's inhabited by the project, by his character, by everything that's going on around. It's a kind of electric thing like that, you could think that he's a completely light, futile boy, who only parties and then we'll see. No, no, no no no. So if you want, there's no room for... I let him live his thing, he masters it all very well. And no, there was no... I could have told him to watch out, the weather changes all the time, but it's not that. Plus, he was in the movie, you know, he was a director and an actor. The guy, he wore something. Uh, no, I think he's very professional, he was very well surrounded. No, no, me what no, it's just on a personal basis, I was lucky enough to have already shot the snow, so I had planned who down jackets, who warm gloves, warmers. That was it, mostly advice.

H.N.: Yeah, no, I hadn't shot in the snow and I don't ski and I don't like it.

L. J-B.: Oh it's true that you don't ski.

H.N.: Oh no, I don't go to the snow! I'm a southern girl.

L. J-B.: But yes, well, I do, yes.

H.N.: We don't ski in our cultures

L. J-B.: Yes, yes, yes, we could make a movie about that. A tall brunette who doesn't ski, an original idea, no? So, there you go, I left it... No, no, no, no, I was just an actor. And you know, when you are a director and you act in a film, I think you have to cut. When I am only an actor, I put myself in actor mode, I don't become a technical advisor of a film, it would be catastrophic. I can't do that. Here, finally.

Was any scene particularly more difficult to shoot than another, whether it was in relation to laughter or stunts, or the technical or weather constraints you mentioned?

H.N.: So, difficult scenes to shoot, well all of them? I don't know. No, it's in hindsight, it's a very pleasant film to make and there is really a group. We were all very united, very very happy. As you were saying earlier, there is indeed an idea a bit like that of summer camp. So we have fun, we are aware of our chance to do mischief, to play at mischief. So everything is a bit funny and difficult at the same time.

L. J-B.: People often say that films are like summer camps, so when you're in the mountains like that, it's true. So I did a few camps in the mountains. It is true that we are in this side. After for the scenes, me, there is one and you will say"me too", me, it is the bear when he turned with the bear. No, no, I was afraid for everything. I was afraid because today the animals... So he was very well treated the bear. Hugo Clément..., there you go, well, I know that today there is a lot of controversy about all that, even if, what does it mean that a bear is well treated in a film? Well, anyway, we try to treat it well, it is to leave it in the wild and that a hunter who passes, PAM, that's it eh. They say leave them in the wild, but in a circus, there's little chance that a guy will... Also. It's not easy to answer all these questions. So no, no, the bear because there, once again, when you see the film and Michael approaches the bear, we can... The film can stop. We can lose a lot, a lot of money, I was going to say, but it's not the only thing in life.

H.N.: That's it. And life, and an arm.

L. J-B.: And that, frankly, I was... It was a moment when I really... Because there's a wild animal and your director - and not your director - the director is there.

H.N.: Well, he was ours, at that moment.

L. J-B.: And this boy who is going to face this danger, what. I mean, I was flabbergasted. Well, there's a better word for it. We were afraid, we.

H.N.: We were afraid. Otherwise, what can I say in the anecdotes? Yes, I had something else, yes, I thought of something else. But it is not necessarily a scene, but it is that as the character of Rayane is called the Chibre, there is a giant sex which was made. So obviously, put that in the hands of kids of all ages and so it makes for some pretty funny days with a silly thing that you carry around in your hands like that. It's worth watching... You can watch the whole film because there is, you can discover an object...

L. J-B.: Here we are in the transgressive, in the regressive too.

Was there a moment when your characters were being abused or was it Vincent Desagnat who took everything?

H.N.: Were we mistreated? I wouldn't say that my character was mistreated. She's a modern girl, that's also nice in this band, she's a modern girl and at one point she takes things in hand and it's a bit... She gets us out of trouble at some point.

L. J-B.: Yes, then a beautiful, well, we can't reveal, but there is a beautiful scene where she... You see, it's a story of friendship and we've been meeting every year for 20 years. And it's true that Helena's character, has a moment where it's not just stunts and cream pies, there are real moments where she's trying to recreate the group, to keep her distended bonds.

At several points there is music and you sing I Will Survive, sometimes all together, sometimes you Helena alone. It was an idea of Michaël Youn. Did you bring that as a musician?

H.N.: No, no, there is no idea of mine. All the ideas are Michaël Youn's. My idea is maybe the shirt.

L. J-B.: There is a jersey at some point?

H.N.: I brought my jersey, my black jersey, it's mine.

L. J-B.: No, she is very humble, but what is great is that as we had Helena and that it sang a lot in the film, she gave us the right note. And it's true that there is a little side "musical" also somewhere with all these songs, all that. And it's a good thing that Helena was there because I was afraid that you would ask us to sing because the listeners would have been able to enjoy... But no, Michaël, I swear, look at Michaël's career, you ask me questions, but Michaël, what is great: he made albums, he did everything this boy and it's true that he has a wide spectrum on the artistic level. So, indeed, he brought the songs, the costumes, everything, everything, everything, all these elements that make this film beautiful.

To finish with the opening of the film, these are your characters, but in 2001, a little over 20 years ago, it's you who are playing them, it's not other actors who could have played you. It's just an HMC (Dress, Makeup, Hair) job, you know, if there was a little bit of post-production.

H.N.: A lot of post-prod, yes

L. J-B.: Well yes, at the beginning, we are 20 years old and we are all new. Uh, unless you're very strong.

H.N.: There is some post-prod. In fact, we are a little bit... We have little rubber bands that hold us together like this. That's it. And then.

L. J-B.: Hardly you, hardly.

H.N.: No, they were taken away from me because they were useless. Yes, that's true.

L. J-B.: She did it like this.

H.N.: I said, "Oh, my God, take it away from us because it's useless.

L. J-B.: In 20 years, it hasn't changed.

H.N.: And then, so we have to play a little straight, we'll say, we have to play fairly straight with our little elastics. And then there's a good layer of post-prod.

L. J-B.: But it's true that it was quite funny to see ourselves young. No, but it's magnificent what the technical possibilities offer today and once again, Michaël Youn had the good idea to say to himself"yes, ok, 20 years old, we're not going to make up, we're going to use today's technical means". No, no, the guy is very very strong, very very very strong. That's it. Because earlier, you were talking about the fact that I made a lot of films in the mountains, but not to that extent. And he had a lot of money to make this film, so that's good. He did well.

He did very well. I thank you in any case.

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