And the party continues: is Robert Guediguian’s new film based on a true story?

What is it about?

In Marseille, 60-year-old Rosa devoted her life to family and politics with the same sense of self-sacrifice. Everyone thinks that he is unshakable, especially since Rosa is the only one who can seal the unity of the left on the brink of a crucial election period. She eventually gets along well with it all, until the day she falls in love with Henri. For the first time, Rosa is afraid to commit. Between pressure from his political family and his desire to let go, the dilemma is dire.

After escaping to Bamako in 2022, Robert Guediguian returns to his beloved territory, Marseille! And the party goes on, the filmmaker is inspired by the Marseille figure who was the starting point for this project. The main character, played by Ariane Ascaride, is actually based on a Marseilles politician: Michel Rubirola.

For information, he was elected to the post of mayor against all expectations. But, as Robert Guediguian recalls, he had “cracked“And resigned.”There was a denial of power in him, despite campaigning all his life to gain access to it, or at least to capture its ideas.“

and added: “His attitude intrigued me and gave me the idea to question the relationship we have with political action today through several characters from different generations. Michel Rubirola inspired, without his knowledge, the central motif of the film.”

Ariane Askaridis’ character brings this film to life. A certain sequence finds strong resonance with recent political news, such as this tirade: “You are only talking about the past. We all have pasts and not so great pasts. 40 years of failure. Insomes do not want to hear about socialists, even though they are from them. Communists want resurrection even though they don’t believe in resurrection. Environmentalists want to change society without actually changing it. Even fellow citizens do not want to get their hands dirty in politics. You can’t win when you’re doing everything you can to lose.“

Neither historical nor journalistic, but metaphorical, even poetic

Around this political figure, who gives the film its architecture, we find Robert Guediguian’s big film family: Jean-Pierre Daroussin, Gérard Meylan, Lola Naimarck, Grégoire Leprince-Ringe and Robinson Stevenin. Alicia and Luz Gomez have also already filmed with the director at Twist in Bamako.

And the Party Goes On, though not intended to be a political film. The filmmaker clarifies that it is “Which will be neither historical nor journalistic, but metaphorical, even poetic“.

This 18th feature by Robert Guediguian combines multiple themes and opens with a dramatic event in Marseille, another real-life event that informs the film: the rue d’Aubain tragedy. And the celebration continues also dedicated to the residents of this neighborhood and their associations, who named this place Place du Novembre, so that they never forget the victims.

We are talking about everything we experience at the same time, the transition from rooster to donkey

For this choral film, of different ages and social backgrounds, Robert Guediguian indicates that he invented what we call “agitprop”. He specifies: “I really like this very popular and inventive form that artists took at the beginning of the Russian Revolution to participate in the dynamics of change, at its speed. (…) In a word, it involves talking about everything we experience at the same time, moving from the rooster to the donkey, using all possible means to better interrogate and emphasize the usefulness of understanding the spirit of the times. The man’s hesitations, convictions and doubts in such a way that the play is funny. I have always loved this exciting formal freedom that stirs our senses and minds.“

And the party continues in theaters this Wednesday.