November with Jean Dujardin: Are the movie characters real?

The birth of the project

A year and a half after the night of November 13, Olivier Demangel tried to write a script that focused on the attacks, and without reconstructing them, or ensuring that the real victims and real terrorists appeared on the screen. It was the book that clicked for him. The screenwriter recalls:

“On this night, during which society and Paris almost fell into chaos, and how the firefighters, the hospital staff, the SAMU, the police, or even the magistrates managed to take over to maintain the unity and coherence of the city, the country.”

“I wanted to tell what public service is today. This service, which is subject to so much criticism and which is still the foundation of society. Who protects us during such an event? Who works when we are afraid? More than shock, I wanted to work on the shock wave.”

“While thinking about these questions, I discovered what was happening at SDAT during those five days.”

Cedric Jimenez is sure!

After writing the first script, Olivier Demangel and co-producer Mathias Rubin asked Cédric Jimenez to direct. The filmmaker, who was initially reluctant to make a film on the subject, was however intrigued by the script’s angle, which focused not on the attacks but on the five days that followed. He specifies:

“Beyond the shock, the police investigation was a titanic undertaking and the strain on responsibility was unimaginable for the service. The script tells about it. I put myself in the shoes of the investigators and wondered how I would fare on this matter. Committing to results and fearing disaster if the same results are not met on the date.

Attacks behind the camera

Cedric Jimenez filmed the attacks off-screen (they are almost never in the film). The question of their representation never arose for the director: “It seemed to me to be excessive, truly obscene… If I had read the slightest effect, I would never have made the film.”

“What I liked was that it was the opposite point of view. We didn’t set up the attacks or the victims. The only time the movie does that is in the hospital, but that’s “It’s just from an investigation perspective. And this is part of the framework, I try to be as modest as possible.”

Authenticity

For authenticity, Cedric Jimenez met with some of the police officers involved in the investigation of the November 13th attacks. The director recalls: “Because it is a top-secret service, there is no documentation. But I could not invent everything that characterizes it. It would be absurd.”

“Olivier Demangel already asked for their help. He is the one who introduced them to me. I transcribed their gestures, how these units work… As for the operation, the organizational chart and their functioning is true.”

Inspired by real investigators

All of November’s characters, except for the terrorists whose names we know, are fictional. Cédric Jimenez says: “In real life they are protected and live under a different identity. Because when we work for counter-terrorism, we face particularly serious threats. So in the film we protect them, even what we can recognize from them. But they are all inspired by real people. “.

“Same as a witness. His name is not his. With elements of the film, often true, we were careful to create enough of them to protect them. It was obviously necessary not to disclose anything that could be detrimental to this service and the judicial investigation.”