Notre-Dame on Fire
Short description
This drama and thriller reconstructs the events of April 15, 2019, when a massive fire broke out at the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral during restoration work. The film tracks the disaster hour by hour, focusing on the failures that led to the devastation of the landmark's roof and spire. It highlights the efforts of firefighters and other emergency responders who risked their lives in a dangerous attempt to save the historic structure from total destruction.
Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, the film followed his previous work, Wolf Totem, in his directorial chronology. Annaud also co-wrote the screenplay with Thomas Bidegain. The cast includes Samuel Labarthe, Jean-Paul Bordes, Mickaël Chirinian, Jérémie Laheurte, Maximilien Seweryn, and Garlan Le Martelot, with a total of 75 credited cast members.
Produced by companies including Gaumont and Pathé, the film had a budget of 35 million USD but earned 6 million USD at the worldwide box office. Audience reception was moderate, with a rating of 6.4/10 on IMDb based on 3,300 votes and a rating of 6.6/10 on TMDB from 298 votes.
What's left behind the scenes
- Director and screenwriter Jean-Jacques Annaud imagined that 5% of the future film would be edited from footage of the fire itself taken on smartphones, television news footage, etc. Therefore, a year before the film's release, he placed an ad requesting recordings of traffic jams caused by the fire, people on the street praying for salvation from the fire, and footage from the scene taken by foreign correspondents. He even created a website where such materials could be sent.
- The most difficult part was filming the collapse of the spire inside the cathedral. A scaled-down belfry had to be built in a pavilion (maintaining all proportions during construction), and then set on fire there. The scene was filmed with a minimum of personnel on set. Everyone present was wearing protective suits. The scene was shot in one take, using 12 cameras equipped with protective casings.
- The flames in the film are real – either taken from footage sent to the filmmakers, or filmed during a fire reconstruction in a pavilion. The film still contains approximately 400 visual effects. Their presence is due to the need to remove cables and various pipes and tubes from the image, as well as add plumes of smoke and tongues of flame to scenes with actors (they were not filmed where it was dangerous).
- Restoration work was underway at Notre-Dame, so filming there was impossible. Filming took place in other cathedrals in France, in particular in Bourges (where they filmed mainly the surroundings of the Saint-Stephen Gothic Cathedral), in Amiens Cathedral (where they filmed some of its elements), and in the Catholic Cathedral in Sens in Burgundy (where they filmed the staircase leading to the top of the bell tower, the nave, and scenes in which fire spreads through the wooden structures of the 13th century).
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
