The Tiger and the President: How did Andre Dussolier become Georges Clemenceau?

Historical context

The tiger and the president Recalls the election of Paul Deschanel in 1920, who won the presidential election against the favorite Georges Clemenceau. A victim of anxiety-depressive conditions and Elpenor’s syndrome, he fell off a night train in May 1920. After many rumors about him and his health failing, Deschanel left Elysium.

Historical fiction

The film states at the outset that it is inspired by real events, and the director admits that he imagined certain elements of the film: “We are part of the great tradition of the ‘historical novel’, which, he explains, is ‘necessary. A (sometimes major) episode of a story in which it generally combines real and fictional events and characters.”

According to Jean-Marc Peirfitt, Miloš Forman’s Amadeus is the best example of historical fiction in cinema. “The theme of reality and its more or less voluntary diversion is also part of this story. It happens that in the three existing biographies of Paul Deschanel, there are as many versions of the same event. The fictional elements were especially added to enhance the rivalry between Deschanel and Clemenceau. For example, the Council of Ministers scene where Deschanel fires a member of his government is fictitious, as is the one where Clemenceau advises Veronal against Germaine Deschanel.

Shooting on the Elysee

For the interior of the Elysée, the team had access to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and for the exterior, the Elysée itself. Parliament scenes were filmed at the Congress of Versailles. The brothel was filmed at the Quai d’Orsay, in the Art Deco bathrooms specially reserved for the King and Queen of England when they visited Paris. “It was already impressive to be able to shoot in the Elysée Gardens. So when we shot the scene early in the morning with Deschanel running through the leaves of her flying speech, my legs were shaking so surreally,” the director recalls.

In the skin of Clemenceau

The team miraculously found 45 seconds of film taken by the American team interviewing Georges Clemenceau at his home in Saint-Vincent-sur-Jar in the Vendée. This is the only known archive where we hear his voice. Andre Dusolier was able to draw inspiration from these images for his interpretation: “He seems very impatient, talks without caution to his interlocutors. I was inspired by them for his walk, his postures and I used them as a blotter to recreate Clemenceau. When you understand the psychology of the character and the way of being , you can develop him in every situation he faces.

As for the physical transformation, the actress spent three hours every morning in the hands of the make-up team with Pierre-Olivier Persin, known as Pop, who created prosthetics, accompanied by Magali Allman and Vanessa Riccolo.