Les amitiés particulières (film)
Encyclopedia
Les amitiés particulières (These Special Friendships) is a 1964
1964 in film
The year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....

 film adaptation of the Roger Peyrefitte
Roger Peyrefitte
Roger Peyrefitte was a French diplomat, writer of bestseller novels and gossipy non-fiction, and a defender of gay rights.-Life and work:...

 novel Les amitiés particulières
Les amitiés particulières
Les amitiés particulières is a 1943 novel by French writer Roger Peyrefitte, probably his best known work today, which won the coveted prix Renaudot...

directed by Jean Delannoy
Jean Delannoy
Jean Delannoy was a French actor, film editor, screenwriter and film director.Although Delannoy was born in a Paris suburb, his family is from Haute-Normandie in the north of France...

. It starred Francis Lacombrade as Georges, Didier Haudepin as Alexandre and Michel Bouquet as Père de Trennes. It was released in English as This Special Friendship. The film was produced by Christine Gouze-Rénal, whose sister Danielle
Danielle Mitterrand
Danielle Mitterrand was the wife of French President François Mitterrand, and president of the foundation France Libertés Fondation Danielle Mitterrand.-Biography:...

 was the wife of future French president François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...

. The filming location for the movie was the 13th-century Royaumont Abbey
Royaumont Abbey
Royaumont Abbey was a Cistercian abbey, located near Asnières-sur-Oise in Val-d'Oise, approximately 30 km north of Paris, France.-History:It was built between 1228 and 1235 with the support of Louis IX...

, some 50 km north of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

.

The movie is mostly true to the novel, changing only relatively minor plot points such as Alexandre's suicide from poisoning to death by throwing himself from a train. Also, Alexandre in the movie is brown-haired, not blond, which also removes some of the inside jokes between Alexandre and Georges which are present in the book.

On the set of the film, Peyrefitte met the 12-year-old aristocrat Alain-Philippe Malagnac d'Argens de Villèle
Alain-Philippe Malagnac d'Argens de Villele
Alain-Philippe Malagnac d'Argens de Villèle was the adopted son of French writer Roger Peyrefitte, their amorous relationship being a subject of several of the latter's works...

 who had been cast as a choir boy and was a big fan of the book. Not only did Peyrefitte sign Alain-Philippe's copy of the book but the two also fell in love, pursuing a stormy relationship that Peyrefitte chronicled in some of his later novels such as Notre Amour (1967) and L'Enfant de cœur (1978).

Alain-Philippe Malagnac was later married to the French entertainer Amanda Lear
Amanda Lear
Amanda Lear is a French singer, lyricist, composer, painter, TV presenter, actress and novelist....

 and died in a house fire in 2000 at the age of forty-nine, shortly after Peyrefitte's death. It is unknown whether this was a suicide, even though Peyrefitte in his novels describes a "suicide pact" between the two, i.e. their intention to commit suicide if the other one dies.

Cast

  • Francis Lacombrade as Georges de Sarre
  • Didier Haudepin
    Didier Haudepin
    Didier Haudepin is a French actor, film producer, director and screenwriter. He has appeared in 44 films and television shows since 1960. His film Those Were the Days was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.-Selected filmography:* Seven Days.....

     as Alexandre Motier
  • François Leccia as Lucien Rouvère
  • Dominique Maurin as Marc de Blajean
  • Louis Seigner
    Louis Seigner
    -Selected filmography:- External links :...

     as Le père Lauzon/Father Lauzon
  • Michel Bouquet
    Michel Bouquet
    Michel Bouquet is a French film actor. He has appeared in over 90 films since 1947. He was born in Paris, France.-Selected filmography:* La petite chambre * Le Promeneur du Champ de Mars...

     as Le père de Trennes/Father Trennes
  • Lucien Nat as Le père supérieur/Father Superior

Soundtrack

  • Pange lingua (choir)
  • J.S. Bach: Invention No.13 in A minor, BWV 784 (piano)
  • Alouette, gentille Alouette
    Alouette (song)
    "Alouette" is a popular French Canadian children's song originating in France about plucking the feathers from a lark. Although it is in French, it is well-known among speakers of other languages; in this way it is similar to "Frère Jacques"...

    (train scene)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK