lost bullet passes the second and breaks the hut. The sequel to the action movie, surprise hit on Netflix in June 2020, with more than 37 million views in 28 days, lands on the platform this Thursday. Muscular chases, brutal martial arts fights… the thriller offers fans of the genre a generous and enjoyable show, which should be even more successful than the first part.
The story begins several months after the events of the first film. Mechanic Lino (Alban Lenoir), turned police officer, hunts drug dealers and wants to avenge the deaths of his brother Quentin (Rod Paradot) and his mentor Charas (Ramzy Bedia). His colleague Julia (Stéfi Celma) wants to prevent him from giving in to revenge. But Lino, aboard his old Renault 21 turbo, armed with an electric Taser, is unstoppable.
Guillaume Pierret, director of the franchise, still finds it hard to believe today the success of what began as a modest series B. With viewers from all over the world. After the release of the film in France, there was a wave of Americans who gradually discovered it and recommended it! The movie still exists. There are many people who enjoy watching it.”
It has reappeared since June 2020 four times among the 10 most viewed non-English language films on Netflix. lost bullet it has become a franchise, the first made in France on the platform. “We had already considered that the ending would be open so that we could bounce back into a sequel if necessary, because it is an action movie. It is a type of cinema that asks for sequels. Since everyone was hot and hardly anyone had been killed in the first film, it was possible!” laughs Guillaume Pierret.
Writing this sequel was “a lot easier” and “a lot more fun” than the first film. “For the first one, I had to train as a screenwriter,” recalls the director. “The scenario changed a lot in the French industry. It was shaped a bit by producers and distributors who thought only of the French market. They wanted more valves.” The encounter with Netflix changes everything: “We could assume the film for what it was.”
For the rest, Guillaume Pierret has carte blanche. In line with Mad Max, lost ball 2 It is a film of pure action, ultra fast-paced, with dialogues reduced to the minimum part. Alban Lenoir’s weathered face and the screeching of his Renault 21 say more than a thousand replicas. The scenario, which fully exploits the clues released at the end of the first, pushes the characters to the limit and places them in dramatic and difficult situations.
“The idea is to see the worst that can happen to the characters and make it happen,” says Guillaume Pierret. “And when the movie ends, you have to shoot yourself in the foot as a writer, wrap up arcs or open new ones without knowing what you’re going to do with them in the sequel.”
The action takes place almost in real time, in less than two hours (the film lasts 1h30), with an action scene every 10-15 minutes. A generosity to which French action cinema had not accustomed us. “It’s thanks to the budget, which is more important than the first,” slides Guillaume Pierret. “It allowed me to do what I could have done in the first one, but that was impossible due to lack of budget.”
“Because an action movie is told through action, it’s quite natural to put in so many action scenes,” says the filmmaker, offering with lost ball 2 a dry film, far from the usual overcoming in sequels. “What interests me is the general rhythm of a film. The rhythm of Fast and Furious it is sawtooth. They are too long!” For him, it should never exceed 1h30: “I love this format. For an action movie, I think it’s ideal. We can keep the radical and fast side.”
On the set, about thirty cars were destroyed during filming. The waterfalls, more inspired by Jason Bourne Y jack reacher what of Fast and Furiouswere orchestrated by David Julienne, grandson of the great stuntman juliana remy. and shot under the Occitanie sun. One of the main scenes sees Lino’s R21 being chased by the police in Verdanson, a canalized stream that crosses Montpellier. Other scenes were filmed on the A75 motorway that crosses Larzac.
“There are scenarios that I’ve wanted to exploit for a long time. I absolutely wanted to do a 100% urban chase. I wanted to do a more desert chase, more off-road, more rally-like. I wanted to conclude with a 100% annoying climax with explosions and flying cars. I wanted to see sparks, explosions, things that were a little bit missing in 1”.
Coming soon “Lost Ball 3”
The same requirement applies to action scenes, which take full advantage of the width of the screen, as in the Hong Kong cinema. “It was the motto when we were filming: I had to live. We couldn’t just follow a car with the camera. We had to feel like it was alive around it. The same thing happened in mob fights. It’s not just about people.” arriving one by one to face Lino. They all had to arrive at the same time. It’s the chaos that interests me.”
The chaos will continue: the third installment of lost bullet is already in preparation. Guillaume Pierret will get down to work in the coming days, for a premiere scheduled for two years. “Netflix wanted me to write while filming the two!” He still doesn’t know what this play will be about: “There are many pitfalls in writing a third play in a trilogy. It’s often the worst.” He also thinks about expanding his universe. While waiting for a DVD / Blu-ray edition of the trilogy: “I dream of it”.
Source: BFM TV
