Director Jean-Jacques Annou in Bourges, central France, launched his film about the fire of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on April 15, 2019. He explained to Agence France-Presse that he aspires to motivate the audience to "return to the big halls" to attend Story "Amazing" is scheduled to release its shows in April 2022.
Q: How did you prepare for this movie?
A: “I have met everyone, all the firefighters, old and young, from the general to the corporal. It is a film that includes amazing cinematic elements ... I would not have dared to introduce these dramatic events if it were not closely related to the truth. Happiness, so quickly (...) This scenario reflects 98 percent of the reality. "
Q: Will your film thus have a documentary dimension?
A: “Approximately 5 percent of the film will be archive footage, taken with mobile phones or television footage. We do not tell stories, it is enough to follow the strange and sometimes comic reality. (...) How dare some people say that there are four elements. Firefighters were present in the first mechanism that went to save this cathedral, including two who had never dealt with a fire and two girls? The percentage of females among the firefighters does not exceed one percent, and two of them were present in the mechanism.
Q: Will the firefighters be the main characters?
A: This is what we call a chorus movie, the main character, or star, is Notre Dame. It is as if I am telling the story of a dying victim, and the doctors do not arrive ... (...) Alhamdulillah, it is + a happy ending + (...) The characters who intervene are those who helped save the cathedral: they are a handful. There is this group of four young people. They remained alone for twenty minutes and succeeded in cooling the pillars that had not been cooled, they would have collapsed under the weight of 500 tons.
Q: Why did you choose Bourges Cathedral to shoot some of the scenes?
A: “After visiting practically all the cathedrals in France, we asked about the place that looked not only the best, but also where the lyrical and poetic aspect, which evokes the spirituality of Notre Dame, is present. Everyone voted for Bourges. Every time one enters this cathedral, one feels the desire to photograph. Frankly, that´s cool. "
Q: What prompted you to make this movie?
A: “I am an old friend of the + Pate + group (...) and Jerome Seydoux was the one who asked me if I was interested in a documentary film. ) I am very grateful that I was able to make a luxury movie with great means in a very dangerous situation. ”
Q: What is your ambition?
A: “Cinema has existed for more than a hundred years, punctuated by many masterpieces. What is the point if we do not think a little to do something more daring? (...) As the fire is well photographed, we know in our hearts that it is dangerous. There is also a roar, The terrifying roar, a bit like a cathedral, from which the sounds could be heard several kilometers away.
Q: You seem interested in this scenic dimension.
A: "People should be made to want to go back to a large hall to see a real movie show (...) The splendor of Burg Cathedral is to see it on the big screen, because watching it on a mobile phone does not give the same impression."
