To see at the cinema: who died at the age of 62, this French historical figure is allowed to make his own biopic with a transformed Raphael persona.

After the 2021 comedy The Presidents, Anne Fontaine is back behind the camera with Bolero, a biopic about Maurice Ravel, a great figure in French music. The story takes us to 1928. While Paris lives in the Roaring Twenties, dancer Ida Rubinstein commissions Maurice Ravel to compose the music for her next ballet.

Paralyzed and without inspiration, the composer looks over the pages of his life, the failure of his beginnings, the fracture of the Great War, the impossible love he feels for his muse Mission Certi… Then Ravel dives into the deep. He himself created his universal work, Bolero.

An ambitious project!

To construct the story of the bolero, Anne Fontaine first began with memory. When she was a young dancer, she was marked by a bolero choreographed by Maurice Bejart, danced by Jorge Donne. He finds it both modern and erotic.

“Then there is the desire: the desire, for a long time, to make a film about music and dance. My father, as a composer and organist, I have been immersed in a musical atmosphere all my life. Finally, “Enigma” is presented. By the creator of this timeless work that travels through eras and countries, inspiring pop groups as well as repetitive music”The filmmaker emphasizes.

“How did Ravel come up with this? I knew little about his personality. I decided to meet him with the cyclical and attractive construction of Bolero”, adds Anne Fontaine. Although the composer has given rise to countless analyzes by specialists, Marcel Marnat’s biographical and critical summation (which Anne Fontaine had the opportunity to meet) remains the bible on the subject.

His interview with Manuel Rosenthal, who was Ravel’s student, and an interview with Marguerite Long (the legendary and authoritarian pianist who plays Emmanuel DeVos in the film), mainly refers to the construction of works. Marguerite Long especially claims their accuracy, precision and quasi-mathematical structure.“, – indicates the director. This research work allowed the director to create a work that is as close as possible to the events related to the development of the legendary bolero.

A transformed actor

Anne Fontaine chose the Raphael character to interpret Maurice Ravel. The musician was very thin and very dry. Thus, the actor lost 10 kilograms to get into the skin of the likeness, but also the character.

“Pianist Alexander Taro He told me that when he was playing Ravel, he felt his hands falling. I really liked the picture. I tried to put it on my body”explains the 42-year-old actor.

Ravel always stands straight. There are 23 short silent films about him: as soon as he feels that attention is drawn to him, that he notices a camera or that someone is approaching, he becomes stronger. Even when he’s at the piano, he’s very straight.”

“How could he live like this forever? It’s a mystery. He only rested when he composed music. So I worked on this form of dryness and at the same time this kindness that everyone attributes to Ravel”clarifies the Raphael character.

Piano in the spotlight

In addition, if the actor has a solid foundation in the piano, he should improve the needs of the film with the famous pianist Alexander Tharo.

“When Anna Alexander introduced me, I saw what it was like to play Ravel. Alexander put me in the hands of a teacher, Frédéric Weisse-Knitter, with whom I learned to play “La Pavane” and several others. Which means. 80% of the film is my hands.”

For Rafael Personas, it was important for the film that he was able to secure that 80%. “Alexander Tharo takes up the remaining 20%, it would take me at least 10 years of practice to reach his level and a miracle to reach his genius.”

The result on the screen is very authentic and breathtakingly realistic. The actor really gave his all to copy the complex personality of Maurice Ravel as faithfully as possible; Moreover, the confrontation with the story’s female characters, played by Doria Tillier, Emmanuelle Devos and Jean Balibar, is absolutely delicious.

Bolero was released in theaters on March 6.