Moderate success when it premiered eight years ago, before breaking audience records on TF1 and Netflix, the buddy comedy grill inspired its director Eric Lavaine to create a sequel, Iron, which opens this Wednesday, October 16 at the cinema. Lambert Wilson, Franck Dubosc, Guillaume de Tonquédec and Jérôme Commandeur return to this dramatic comedy about the horrors of this gang of fifty-somethings.
After a first part located in the Cévennes, the sequel takes place in Brittany, where the group meets for an impromptu vacation in the manor house of one of them. In the act, the coexistence promises to be complicated and lifelong friends fight when important revelations are made. According to Eric Lavaine, Iron he seduced his first spectators during the previews.
The public seems very happy to find these characters. “People are attached to the atmosphere of movies like grill. They see it as more than just a comedy,” insists the director, whose film has been the subject of parodies online. “There was an amazing phenomenon with grill. It was a hit on Netflix, which made the target a little younger. There were quite a few young people at the previews of Iron.”
Iron was born by chance. “I wasn’t going to do a sequel. When I started thinking about the small plots that we see in the movie, I wasn’t sure about doing it with the characters in grill“says Eric Lavaine. Then, with the belated success of the film, the filmmaker was convinced to bring them back to life. “It’s still an extraordinary consolation, since they exist,” he acknowledges.
“Ils nous ont fait gagner beaucoup de temps, ajoute-t-il. D’un point de vue marketing, c’était plus intéressant pour tout le monde. Vous montez un plus gros film. Vous avez plus de moyens. Ça facilite beaucoup stuff.” And in a context of cinema crisis, finding funding was easier like this: “You announce that you are going to do the sequel to grillthe film mounts instantly.”
The cast had agreed to the idea of a sequel, but on the condition that the script be up to scratch: “I rewrote several times, especially for Lambert, because he found his character lacking in depth… I added a personal story, about my father’s death, which is very close to what he experienced with his. It suddenly brought a slightly more interesting dimension.”
Iron It is, therefore, a more dramatic film than grill. A way to be more honest with the public, he insists: “When you do a sequel, what you need is that it is not free. I will be very honest. The sequel toa visit to my daughter [sortie l’année dernière, NDLR] it was not essential. It was nice. there with Ironthere’s a more interesting dimension.”
The result is also “darker”, warns Eric Lavaine: “I think Iron is sadder than grill. grill I was talking about the erosion of friendship. Y Iron time goes by. As Lambert says in the movie, we’re not heading for good weather. We don’t have dozens of healthy Christmases left,” says the director, who removed some gags from the film, “among the tastiest, because we were losing truthfulness.”
Would a griddle cause more sadness than a barbecue? Eric Lavaine is convinced of this: “When you have a griddle, you can cook for yourself, while the barbecue is very nice,” explains the director. “You can have a griddle inside while you’re grilling, if you’re not outside in the sun, it’s useless.”
The choice of plate, like Brittany, is not insignificant and reflects the melancholic bile of its characters: “Cinematically speaking, Brittany is very beautiful. But I also find that the Breton climate corresponds a bit to the general mood of the film. “, analyzes the filmmaker. “In groups of friends, we go through storms and moments of happiness.”
When will “Raclette” and “Pierrade” arrive?
With the cinema crisis, Eric Lavaine is aware that “we must offer better films”. What he “feels” he has accomplished with Iron. “Each time we try to make the best film. I take time away from the public. I’m going to take you 1h30, so I don’t want you to get bored! It is an important value to respect. make a good movie or not, that’s another debate”.
After grill Y IronWhen raclette Y table grill? “The ball is totally in the public’s court,” replies Eric Lavaine, who “doesn’t expect monster goals” indoors with Iron. However, he dreams of wok in thailand. “I’m interested in the double meaning. I have ideas about the unstructured man and what’s going on right now.” But nothing concrete at the moment: “I’m not looking to make a saga.”
Source: BFM TV
