The kings of the track : A feel-good comedy
Directed by Thierry Klifa, The kings of the track offers its entire cast some of the funniest roles. Losers, liars, swindlers, broken arms… These are the large groups of thieves that we find in this delightful comedy about a dysfunctional family brought together by a robbery case that has never been completely solved. Here’s how Rachel (Fanny Ardant), his son Sam (Mathieu Kassovitz) and his nephew Nathan (Ben Attal) who set off in search of the last of the gang, Jérémie (Nicolas Duvauchelle), who left from their last attempt with a painting by Tamara de
The kings of the track it’s truly a feel-good comedy. I think this comes from the writing, obviously, but also and above all from this casting in which we feel involved on all levels.
First of all, everything comes from the script. If it doesn’t scare you, if it doesn’t make you laugh, if it doesn’t make you cry, you won’t get anything out of it. You can do all the special effects you want, it won’t work. So the script, when you read it, you feel exactly what it could be. If you read a comedy and laugh, you obviously want to. And in these cases, is a real favorite for actorsbecause it is rare.
It’s rare because we don’t actually choose our role. Finally, very few actors choose. At best, we can choose a scenario that someone is willing to send us. I’m happy when I have a scenario that comes, because no one has to hire me. So it’s really someone else’s choice. If you are lucky enough that the screenplay is well written, that your character is well written, that the other characters are also well written, and that behind it there is a good cast with a good director… That’s all Whata good movie is so hard to get. It takes a lot of talent to come together at any given moment.
The quality of the writing you speak of also manifests itself in this balance between comedy and tragedy. The film could also move towards this other register.
Certain. But human comedies are always based on the tragedy of the character who suffers them. There is the example of Chaplin. Laugh, even if he eats his shoes and it’s tragic. You can really make people laugh and cry at the same time, like with The child. You laugh, but damn it, why are you crying too! And there is also this emotion, because the characters are anchored to a certain realism of a bygone era.
For me, the pinnacle of comedy is Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers. They have a clown rhythm which is entirely due to the play itself and the talent of the actor and director. Comedy is a real talent. And Thierry Klifa has this approach. He wasn’t trying to be clever. You do comedies, you have to be in the service of the comedy. Not for artistic achievement or vision.
In any case, you’re good at this comic register, but in the end we’ve seen little of you. And big names have asked you, but in more dramatic registers.
I don’t think it was a coincidence that Costa-Gavras came looking for me Amenor Spielberg for Monk. I think I’m lucky to be known as a director and they know my commitment. So they know that my character will shine with that personality. And in fact, Thierry Klifa really trusted me as an actor by telling me that I’m capable of being an idiot, simple enough. Before then people could send me comedies, but they didn’t make me laugh, because they were characters that were a sort of caricature of myself. With The kings of the track, is the kind of human comedy, based on losers and broken arms, that I like. This is what makes me laugh like an idiot. A bit like Pigeon OR Arsenic and old lace.
In your opinion, why did Thierry Klifa choose you?
Maybe because I have this big mouth and I can play on the depressive side. It makes it more unexpected than if I were a comedian. It’s easier for a comedian like me, who has done serious films, to move into comedy, than for someone who makes comedies to move into a serious film. For example, I can’t help but when I see Jean Dujardin on the screenthink of A boy, a girlto see her camel head and everything around her again.
But that’s also why we love these actors. Because they have the ability to show us their true personality. AND Dujardin’s true personality is in disarray, not seriously. Me, my personality, in cinema, is a serious thing. That’s why directors who make serious cinema took me on. And because the viewer connects not only with the character, but also with the actor who plays him, that’s probably why I’ve never done really funny things.
Is it a regret that we couldn’t have been more in this book?
No, no, I don’t care. As long as the project is interesting in general. I was an extra in films I wanted to appear in. Even when I knew directors, I’d say, “Just give me one day, I want to be there to see you work. I want to be part of the thing.” If I’m lucky enough to have a slightly bigger role, so much the better. But the important thing is above all that the final result is interesting. Otherwise it’s difficult for me to go and defend a film I don’t like in promotion. That’s why I don’t choose the character, but the film. And in this specific case The kings of the track, Thierry Klifa makes cinema that is not mine. But I know I’ll laugh when I see it.
Isn’t this your cinema, as a director?
Yes in relation to the films I direct. But furthermore, I’m not even the audience for the films I make. I like comedies, action films, but when they’re intelligent. That there is ingenuity, creativity. I don’t like films like the ones I make.
So why do them?
Because this is my political nature. Because I can’t imagine spending so much time on something only to get stuck trying to make people laugh. You spend two, three years making a film. It’s super complicated on a human level and it’s very intimate. At that time, it must be useful for something. So making people laugh is great. Make them laugh like Chaplin can The dictator, The child OR Modern times, it’s very rare. And my job is to provoke emotions, to disturb people. So to do the opposite of comedy.
But it’s complicated because denouncing a social problem, through the comfort of cinema, That’s almost part of the problem.. So my political approach to cinema is extreme. It’s really about provoking unpleasant reactions among viewers to create discussions which, in my opinion, are essential. Which you can’t really achieve in comedy.
So obviously we can point out the problems in the play. We can talk about old age in Retirement home 2, and things like that, which are really topics that need to be talked about. But you can’t really get to the bottom of the social problem. Unless you have the absolute genius of Chaplin. I’m clearly not at that level, so I can’t comment on that. In my opinion, It’s too difficult to make a comedy. I’m not good enough as a director to make a good comedy. But I wrote one and I dream of making one. But it’s simply not my cinema.
Beyond the comedy genre, it’s been more than ten years since you last made a film. Is there a reason?
The reason is that the last film took me ten years to make and no one went to see it. It was 2011. And since then, everything that is social networks and the total change in the audiovisual panorama has meant that the cinema I like to make, political cinema, it no longer really has any reason to exist. I mean, if you really want to understand what’s happening in Gaza, you can see it on your Instagram. If you want to understand what is happening in Congo, you can see it on Instagram. You want to understand what’s happening on your street, it’s on your Instagram. So my political side today no longer has any reason to be in cinema. On the other hand, make people laugh today intelligently is essential. That’s why I’m happy to participate in a film that is lighter than the films I’m used to making.
The kings of the trackin theaters March 13, 2024.
Source: Cine Serie
Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.
