Farewell Mr. Huffman, an intense behind-closed-doors film by Gilles Lelouch and Daniel Ott, takes viewers to Paris in the 1940s under German occupation.
In connection with this, excellent historical restoration works were carried out in the Montmartre region. A decor that took on another dimension in 2020 when the pandemic came…
With two weeks of shooting left (out of the planned ten), the filming of Farewell Monsieur Haffmann, which I’m telling you is very good, was abruptly halted due to prison terms.
A Blessing in Disguise According to director Fred Kawai: “I was thinking of filming the raid with the kids and all the brutality we’ve already seen. But how do we do that?”he declares. “Then the idea came to show what happens next: an empty area, a few things scattered on the street… I think it’s more powerful that way in the end.”
Scenes from “Goodbye Mr. Huffman”.
The stoppage of filming led to the abandonment of the streets of Montmartre, which had been remodeled for the needs of the film, giving the impression of a trip to the past. Collaborative ads, curfew notices, old-fashioned shop windows: it’s as if the iconic Paris district is experiencing a second occupation…
“We were locked in, Paris was deserted and its streets seemed frozen in 1942…”Fred Kavae recalls. “But as strange as the situation may seem, I was particularly concerned about the media hype that was made about it, because to make it juicier, the media included the posters in their reports, which we took down.
We exactly removed all the anti-Semitic signs and there it was shown on TV and on the Internet! That media drift is another topic, but hey… it hurt.”
A collaborationist poster on the set of Adieu Monsieur Haffmann
The filming of Un sac de billes, also set during occupied France, was also the scene of a period reconstruction. There is no pandemic here, but some residents were upset when a Nazi banner was installed on the prefectural palace in the city of Nice, the site chosen to represent the Hotel Excelsior, which the SS had claimed for its anti-section headquarters. Jewish.
François-Xavier Lauche, director of the prefect’s office at the time, explained beautiful morning. “We took the initiative and took all measures before this shooting”he said.
“The city of Nice was informed, we warned the residents through a post published on our Facebook page. We called the Jewish community of Nice to explain the situation clearly.
“Goodbye Mr. Huffman”: The Making
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
