Standing Man: The director didn’t want Jacques Gamblin in the first place

What is it about? In order to get a CDI at the wallpaper company that just hired him, Clemens Alfaro has to push Henry Giffard, a sales representative at the end of the course, into early retirement. It is necessary to rejuvenate the image of the small box. But Giffard refuses. His work seems to be the only thing that still gives meaning to his life. Caught between the prospect of a professional future that will allow him to escape his family problems and the unexpected love he feels for a sales representative, Clemens must choose…

Jacques Gamblin was very young!

Florence Vignon met Jacques Gamblin at a festival a few years ago. The actor told him that he was one of the viewers who was captivated by Le Bleu des Villes (1998) (Stephen Brize’s first feature film in which the director played a leading role and which he co-wrote):

“But I didn’t immediately think of him for Henri Giffard. Despite being a huge actor, I found him too young for the role. First of all, I wanted the relationship between Clemens and Henri not to be based on ambiguity, because if you’re talking about Link, it’s clearly filial.”– says Florence Vignon.

“This old salesman, who misses his marriage and especially his presence as a father, gradually finds some sort of repair with Clemens as a daughter figure that he could… The film took a long time to come together… The timing worked for us! Jacques finally obliged.

First feature film for Florence Vignon

Mainly known for his work as a screenwriter (especially for Stéphane Briese), Florence Vignon directed a short film in 1999 (Le Premier pas). With Standing Man, he made his first feature film:

“After a fairly short career as an actor, I spent many years writing for Stephen Brize, then other directors, both in film and television, e.g. Kirill Menegun a little while ago”he recalls.

“The desire to go behind the camera has been tormenting me for a long time, maybe I waited until I was really ready… This feeling of necessity allows us to break down all the walls, impose our gaze, find our freedom.

Adaptation of the novel

With Standing Man, Florence Vignon adapts the novel They desert By Thierry Beinstingel. The book he was offered to adapt greatly moved the filmmaker, even though he was stepping back from his writing career at the time:

“I agreed on the condition that it would be my first feature film. I came out! Thierry Beinstingel’s novel had everything I like, lonely and lost characters, sadness, absurdity, pathos and morality.”

“Material for cinema and the opportunity to work on topics dear to me. Free will in the face of social and familial determinism, the meaning we give to our lives, and the nagging question that tells us: Is it too late to change lanes?”

The topic of social pressure

Standing Man deals with power relations and dominance in the world of work. Florence Vignon explains: “Each in order to save his own skin is driven to destroy the other in a kind of food chain, cruel and merciless. But the pressure in the film comes not only from the company, but also from the family sphere, especially for Clemens.”

Henri resists becoming his own executioner, refusing to see her stick to her job for fear of emptiness and loneliness. For Clemens and Henri, under pressure, there is a struggle between their social being and their intimate truth. This is recognition. That these two parts come together, that Clemens and Henri find the strength to question everything.

Bets for Zita Hanrot

Zita Hanrot plays a young team leader tasked with bringing Jacques Gamblin out of early retirement. The challenge for the actor was to capture the notion of subtext and make the audience feel his character’s internal issues without stressing them out.

“It’s this masterful piece that makes the situations with the sales rep first comical, then overwhelming and gradually dramatic. We have the feeling of being in his head all the time, he moves us as we follow him step by step, never judging., explains Florence Vignon. He adds:

His character has multiple narrative lines, a dysfunctional family sphere, and a social entity that Clemens isn’t really in phase with. These different areas conflict with each other until the character finally finds the courage to face his fears and his fears. story.”