Picture of the movie La Belle Époque © Julien Panié
Nicolas Bedos and nostalgia for times gone by
In La Belle Époque, his second feature film in two years following on from Mr & Mme Adelman (Mr & Mrs Adelman), director and comedian Nicolas Bedos takes Daniel Auteuil on a journey back to the 1970s and the memory of a long-ago romance.
Victor is a disillusioned sixty-something struggling with the modern world, and a firm believer in the 'good old days'. When ambitious entrepreneur Antoine gives him the chance to delve back into a bygone era of his choosing thanks to a brand-new contraption, Victor opts to travel forty years into the past, to the fateful day he met the love of his life.
Two years after his first feature film, Mr & Mme Adelman (Mr & Mrs Adelman), Nicolas Bedos is back behind the camera with a story that examines the paradoxical nature of the nostalgia we have for the past, despite living in the golden age of technology.
This time, however, the actor decided not to feature in La Belle Époque, to avoid his image as a comedian hampering the film's road to success. La Belle Époque was filmed in a studio in the Paris region between September and November 2018.
The filmmaker drew on the same technical team as the crew used for Mr & Mme Adelman (Mr & Mrs Adelman), and explained that he chose to film scenes several times to ensure he found the right pace and rhythm.
This film also sheds light on Nicolas Bedos' approach to relationships and women, and brings together a handful of leading French film stars: Pierre Arditi, Bruno Podalydès, Fanny Ardant, and a moustachioed Daniel Auteuil, who plays the nostalgic older protagonist.
The entrepreneur, Antoine, and Victor's lost love, are played by Guillaume Canet and Doria Tillier, who starred alongside Nicolas Bedos in the irreverent Mr & Mme Adelman (Mr & Mrs Adelman).
