La Famille Bélier Explained

La Famille Bélier
Director:Éric Lartigau
Cinematography:Romain Winding
Editing:Jennifer Augé
Distributor:Mars Distribution
Runtime:105 minutes
Budget:$13 million[1]
Gross:$72.8 million[2]

French: La Famille Bélier (released as The Bélier Family in Australia) is a 2014 French-Belgian coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Éric Lartigau.[3] The film received six nominations at the 40th César Awards, winning Most Promising Actress for Louane Emera.[4] It won a Magritte Award in the category of Best Foreign Film.

An English-language remake of the film, CODA, premiered in January 2021 and won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Plot

In the Bélier family, sixteen-year-old Paula is an indispensable interpreter for her deaf parents and brother on a daily basis, especially in the running of the family farm. Despite the fact that her family is unable to hear, Paula’s special gift is for singing. Her choir is rehearsing songs by iconic French singer Michel Sardou. The music teacher encourages Paula to audition for the prestigious Maîtrise de Radio France music college in Paris, which will secure her a good career and a college degree. However, this decision would mean leaving her family and taking her first steps towards adulthood, a theme expressed in her audition song, Sardou’s ‘Je vole’ (‘I Fly’).[5]

Cast

Production

La Famille Bélier was shot in Domfront (Orne) and Le Housseau-Brétignolles (Mayenne).[6]

Box office

In cinemas, La Famille Bélier received 7,450,944 admissions, making it the second-most successful in the French box office for 2014, behind only Serial (Bad) Weddings.[7] Outside of France, it received 3,877,283 cinema spectators.[7]

The film was a commercial success, earning a reported $72,751,538 (US) worldwide against a budget of just under €11 million ($13 million US).[7]

Deaf response

Deaf French journalist Marylène Charrière, writing for Websourd, stated: "It's good to show the larger public what it means to be deaf to use French Sign Language. Most people are unaware, thinking that it is not a true language". Conversely, her colleague Julia Pelhate stated that "What is awkward is that French Sign Language is not respected. There are many mistakes. During the preview in Toulouse, on 31 October 2014, the deaf audience needed to read the subtitles, as it could not understand what was being signed on the screen".[8]

The British newspaper The Independent reported that "Some —but not all— activists for the deaf are angry that two well-known actors with perfect hearing were cast to play Paula's parents who are users of French Sign Language. They also complain that the deaf characters are the main source of comedy in the film."[9] Rebecca Atkinson, writing an opinion for The Guardian, criticized the premise, "A hearing child grows up in a totally deaf farming family, only to have a talent for singing that her family can't appreciate or access." Atkinson said, "Hearing people's fascination with the relationship between music and deafness just does not resonate with most deaf people." Atkinson also criticized the casting, "The film uses hearing actors to play the roles of deaf characters, the result of which is an embarrassing and crass interpretation of deaf culture and sign language."[10]

Accolades

Award / Film FestivalCategoryRecipients and nomineesResult
César AwardsBest Film
Best ActorFrançois Damiens
Best ActressKarin Viard
Best Supporting ActorÉric Elmosnino
Most Promising ActressLouane Emera
Best Original ScreenplayVictoria Bedos, Stanislas Carré de Malberg, Éric Lartigau and Thomas Bidegain
European Film AwardsBest Comedy
Globes de Cristal AwardBest Film
Best ActorFrançois Damiens
Lumières AwardsBest Film
Best ActressKarin Viard
Best Female RevelationLouane Emera
Best ScreenplayVictoria Bedos, Stanislas Carré de Malberg, Éric Lartigau and Thomas Bidegain
Magritte Awards[11] [12] Best ActorFrançois Damiens
Best Foreign Film in Coproduction
Sarlat Film Festival[13] Salamandre d'or (Audience Award)

Adaptations

English-language remake

See main article: CODA (2021 film).

An English-language remake, titled CODA, premiered on, 2021, at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where Apple acquired its distribution rights and co-production partnership for a festival-record $25 million. The film was released in theaters and through the Apple TV+ streaming service on August 13, 2021. CODA won three Oscars at the 94th Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Kotsur), and Best Adapted Screenplay. Among its various other accolades, the film won the Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and its cast won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.[14] [15]

Planned stage musical adaptation

On March 23, 2022, it was reported by The New York Times that in order to keep the film's English-language remake CODA relevance going after awards season, the film's producers will team up with Deaf West Theatre to develop a stage musical adaptation of the film, with a creative team and production calendar yet to be announced. DJ Kurs, Deaf West's artistic director, expressed excitement for the project by saying "As a Deaf person, I knew from the start that CODA would make a perfect musical: It addresses our relationship with music and how we move through the world of sound like immigrants in a foreign country, learning new, seemingly arbitrary rules on the fly." Like Deaf West's production of Spring Awakening, the musical will incorporate both signing in American Sign Language and live singing.[16]

The report also revealed that Rousselet was originally asked in 2014 about making a stage version of La Famille Bélier prior to this incarnation, but that he and the producers wanted to prioritize making CODA and forging a relationship with Deaf West first before pursuing a stage version. Rousselet further remarked "It’s going to be a new adventure for us. But I think it has everything — the characters, the music, the wonderful environment — to make a beautiful musical." Kotsur revealed that he hopes the musical will have its initial staging within two years, possibly hinting at his return to reprise his role as Frank in the production.[16] Kurs also revealed his desire to have Matlin and Durant also come back to reprise their roles as Jackie and Leo, respectively, along with Kotsur.[17]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Bélier Family . Box Office Mojo.
  2. Web site: The Bélier Family . Box Office Mojo.
  3. Web site: Jerico goes straight ahead with La famille Bélier . Fabien . Lemercier . 22 October 2013 . 15 November 2014 . Cineuropa.
  4. Web site: Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl to remake French film 'La Famille Bélier' in multiple Indian languages . February 13, 2016 . The Indian Express.
  5. Web site: La Famille Bélier, a Feel-good Movie à la française at Ciné Lumière! . Institut français du Royaume-Uni.
  6. Web site: 2017-04-12 . Événement. Le film La Famille Bélier, tourné à Domfront (Orne), et Lassay-les-Châteaux (Mayenne), bientôt sur France 2 . 2024-02-19 . actu.fr . fr.
  7. Web site: La Famille Bélier . JP's Box-Office . fr.
  8. Web site: "La famille Bélier" fait polémique chez les sourds . “The Bélier family” is controversial among the deaf . Alexandre . Guérin . 20 December 2014 . fr . La Dépêche du Midi.
  9. News: Lichfield . John . La Famille Bélier is being touted as this year's Amelie - so why are many in the deaf community outraged by it? . . 17 December 2014 . 24 January 2021.
  10. News: Atkinson . Rebecca . La Famille Bélier is yet another cinematic insult to the deaf community . . 19 December 2014 .
  11. News: Moury . Gaëlle . Bradfer . Fabienne . Jaco Van Dormael et la Flandre se distinguent aux Magritte du cinéma . February 7, 2016 . . February 7, 2016 . French . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160312152921/http://www.lesoir.be/1113141/article/culture/cinema/2016-02-05/jaco-van-dormael-et-flandre-se-distinguent-aux-magritte-du-cinema . March 12, 2016.
  12. Web site: Les " Magritte du Cinéma ", c'est le 6 février prochain à 20h00 . Cinergie.
  13. Web site: Festival du film de Sarlat : The Search et La Famille Bêlier au palmarès 2014 . Brigitte . Baronnet . 17 November 2014 . 19 November 2014 . . fr.
  14. News: Wiseman . Andreas . Pathé & Vendôme Sign Pact; First Pic 'Coda' Will Be Sold By Pathé, Philippe Rousselet & Patrick Wachsberger On Croisette — Cannes . . May 13, 2019 . January 24, 2021 .
  15. Web site: Apple Lands 'CODA' For $25M+ Record Setting WW Deal; First Major Virtual 2021 Sundance Film Festival Sale . Deadline Hollywood . Anthony . D'Alessandro . January 30, 2021 . January 30, 2021.
  16. Web site: 'CODA' Is Being Developed Into a Stage Musical by Deaf West . Paulson . Michael . March 23, 2022 . . March 24, 2022.
  17. Web site: What's next for 'CODA'? What we know about the stage musical in the works . Gelt . Jessica . March 27, 2022 . . March 29, 2022.
  18. Web site: CODA: A sophisticated version of Salman Khan's 'Khamoshi', comforting in its simplicity . The Business Standards. 22 March 2022 .