It’s one of the best romantic comedies of all time: its director finds it problematic today

Hitting theaters on December 3, 2003, Richard Curtis’ Love Actually celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The Christmas romantic comedy opens exclusively in our cinemas this Tuesday 5th December. The film is also available in UHD, Blu-ray & DVD and digital editions.

With a budget of 40 million dollars, this ensemble film, which tells the stories of love and disappointment of 8 couples, earned almost 245 million dollars at the international box office and has acquired the status of a cult film today.

It is the first work of New Zealand-British filmmaker Richard Curtis, previously known for the films Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love at First Sight in Notting Hill and Bridget Jones’s Diary.

Starring Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Andrew Lincoln, Martin McCutcheon, the late Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy, Laura Linney, Martin Freeman, Thomas Brody-Sangster, Rodrigo Santoro, a must-see for the holiday season It is worth seeing.

Its soundtrack consists of hits by Justin Timberlake, Joni Mitchell, Dido, Maroon 5, Sugababes, Otis Redding and Norah Jones, not forgetting a cover of Mariah Carey’s Christmas hit. All I want for Christmas is you by the young Olivia Olson and several of her series have now become an integral part of popular culture.

Impossible as we speak I really love itLet’s not immediately think of the scene of Mark’s (Andrew Lincoln) declaration to Juliet (Keira Knightley), his best friend’s (Chiwetel Ejiofor) wife. However, this scene almost never saw the light of day, and even its director finds it problematic today.

Andrew Lincoln opposed the poster scene

For this very famous sequence, Richard Curtis Inspired by a declaration of love he made himself years ago and a Bob Dylan music video Underground house blues (1965), in which the singer parades to the beat of the lyrics.

The scene was the subject of much discussion during the filming of Love Actually. Andrew Lincoln He thought this sequence made him look like an unhealthy boy. The actor explained on the microphone Entertainment Weekly In 2017:

“The scene was easy to do, I just had to put up signs that I wrote myself and show that I was in love with Keira Knightley, which is not that difficult. But I kept telling Richard that I felt terrible.”

However, the director manages to convince the young actor and the result is one of the most striking declarations of love in cinema.

Years later, the director admitted that Andrew Lincoln was right: “Today, I know Mark’s role is seen as a bully. But thankfully, thanks to his honest and sincere acting, we feel for him as more than evil..”

English site independent It is revealed that last September, one of the Love Actually scripts was auctioned off at a charity sale in aid of the Good Chance Theater in East London, which supports refugee artists. The document featured annotations by Richard Curtis, which already indicated doubts about the scene of the sign.

We can read there: “I came up with four things Mark could do for his big moment. The office workers chose their favorite promotion and I chose this one. I wonder if we will regret this choice”. Therefore, the filmmaker already had doubts before shooting it.

Ricky’s interpreter, on the other hand, in The Walking Dead today takes a funny look at his character and elaborates EW : “In one of the most romantic movies out there, I play the only guy who can’t seduce the girl he loves.

The film shows different ways of love, for me it is unrequited love and as a result I end up as an old street thug.“

A grossophobic movie?

But this sequence is not the only one that is causing problems today. Last October, while at the Cheltenham Literary Festival, Richard Curtis spoke about grossophobic jokes about love.

Natalie’s character in the feature film (Martin McCutcheon), played David’s secretary to the Prime Minister Hugh Grant, they often make fun of her weight. until the father calls him “fatAnd one of his colleagues notes that he is “DYour huge thighsDavid tells him:Oh my god, you’re weighing one of those scales“When she jumps into his arms.

site today He reports the words of the film director as follows:5 years ago my daughter Scarlett said to me, “You can never use the word ‘fat’ again.” And it shocked me at first, but he was right. These jokes aren’t funny anymore. I was not evil. At the time, but I guess I wasn’t as careful and smart as I should have been.“

Then asked about the lack of diversity in his films, the director also made his mea culpa: “I come from a very diverse school and university friend group. In Notting Hill, I think the reason I didn’t tackle diversity was because I thought I didn’t know how to write about it.

I think I was stupid, I was wrong. Me and my producers, my casting director and I just didn’t think about it. We were not open enough.”

On the more specific topic of Love Actually, Curtis says, “There are some things that we will change, but, thank God, society evolves and therefore my film will become obsolete at some point.“

I really love it Despite everything, it remains a cult comedy thanks to its British humor, soundtrack and its characters, each as attractive as the other. The restored version of the film can be seen in theaters this Tuesday, December 5th.