Beau Pere
Short description
Bertrand Blier wrote and directed Beau Pere, a French comedy-drama released in September 1981. Rémi, a musician with little drive and a marriage that has run its course, loses his wife in a car accident shortly after she has decided to leave him. He is left to look after Marion, her fourteen-year-old daughter from an earlier relationship and not his own child, who prefers to remain with him rather than move in with her biological father, an alcoholic. Before long, Marion's feelings toward her stepfather turn into something other than filial, and she pursues him; his resistance gradually gives way, and the two begin a relationship.
The film stars Patrick Dewaere as Rémi and Ariel Besse as Marion, with Maurice Ronet, Geneviève Mnich, Maurice Risch and Nathalie Baye. It was produced by Alain Sarde, with Sara Films and Antenne 2. Its subject matter, in particular the age of Marion's character, made it a subject of controversy.
Beau Pere came fifth among Blier's features, following Going Places, Femmes Fatales, Get Out Your Handkerchiefs and Buffet Froid. Both Dewaere and Baye had worked with Blier on several of those earlier films. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.9 from around 4,300 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.4 from 155 votes; the audience response is therefore modest but broadly favourable, and the small number of votes on the second site points to a limited international profile. A critics' rating of 6 out of 10 from five reviews places it close to the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Ariel Bess was approved for the role of Marion after Sophie Marceau turned it down.
- Ariel Bess's parents sued the film's distributors and producers over a poster depicting the young Bess sitting on Patrick Dever's lap with her chest exposed. The actress's mother argued that placing such a poster could be considered "sexual exploitation" of her daughter's image. The lawsuit was lost. The judge ruled in favor of the producers, stating that Ariel Bess's image was “clearly more exploited in the film than on the poster.” Her mother’s words that the same image in the film and on the poster could have a completely different context were not taken into consideration.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
