Marinette: Take a look at the extraordinary career of this French footballer, played by Garand Marillier

What is it about? Marinette Pichon has had football in her heart since an early age. Raised by a brave mother with an abusive husband, she overcomes adversity and develops an unwavering determination. Despite doing odd jobs and a sports career, he is selected for the French national team and then noticed by a major American club. Marinette then comes to the United States with her mother, pursuing her dream of becoming the best player in the world.

French football legend

Marinette Pichon was the record holder for goals and caps for the French national team, men and women combined, until 2020. During his international career with the Tricolore, he participated in three European Championships in 1997, 2001 and 2005 and the first World Cup for Les Bleues in 2003.

At the same time, in 2001, she became the first French player, both female and male, to join a team in the United States. Since then, he has been named the MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the World Cup and twice as the best striker and top scorer, with 14 goals in his first season. After returning to France, Marinette Pichon became the French champion with the Juvisy club and won the UNFP Player of the Year title for the second time in her career. After leaving the field, he became a commentator and consultant for France TV.

On a personal level, she got married in 2013, three months after the promulgation of the marriage law for all, to her husband, a handball basketball champion, and was then able to adopt a child. She is also the second woman in France to take paternity leave.

The athlete scored 81 career goals in 112 games in blue (out of a total of 300 in his career), which until 2020 is the record holder for men and women combined. Olivier Giroud and Thierry Henry, first and second respectively. In the men’s ranking, he scored 53 and 51 goals in the French national team.

Genesis

After ten years of training in athletics and handball, Virginie Verrier wanted to make a second sports-related feature film. While researching athletes, he learned from a friend about the publication of a biography of Marinette Pichon, never let go.

After reading it, he decided to suit up for cinema: “I immediately felt a familiarity when I discovered his career. I understood where he was coming from. Stadiums and locker rooms are familiar places to me. This spirit of the times he describes and certain elements of his childhood resonated with me. Abuse. And domestic violence are important subjects for me. His history As we move forward, we also face the American dream, being kicked out of the French team, harassed.

adaptation

For the purposes of the film, Virginie Verrier met Marinette Pichon over lunch: “The connection was instant, we spoke the same language. Marinette trusted me and immediately let me bring her story to the screen. She gave me carte blanche to write.”

After reading the biography, the director saw the former athlete several times and talked to his mother and sister. “I had so much material, I had to prune it. I was also basing a lot on decisive encounters, which are like crossroads and lead to accelerations in the course and time.”

Shooting matches

For the match scenes, the director wanted to immerse herself and let the heroine feel her emotions. He was referring to both the animated series Olive and Tom, “which often puts us in the characters’ heads”That Oliver Stone’s Sunday in Hell and “These scenes at the heart of the scrum during matches”. For this sequence, he used an Agito robot provided by the company Novagrip, which is usually used to shoot fashion shows or TV shows. From a distance, one technician controlled its trajectory and speed, with another camera tracking it. In order to make these scenes believable and to pay tribute to sportswomen, real recruitment work was carried out by selecting more than 200 club-licensed players.

Salt the garan

Virginie Verrier followed Garance Marillier on Instagram because she appreciated his career and his choices. After the actor shared a video of himself playing soccer, the director took the cue and got in touch: “He read my script, which he loved and found very attractive”. To prepare, the actor built muscles and trained several times a week with a trainer. To get the attitude of Marinette Pichon, he exchanged with her on social networks before meeting her.