Gregory Fromentin

Although the special effects and post-production are still being worked on, the first trailers and on-set stories have begun to appear on the Internet from Luc Besson’s adaptation of Christin and Merières cult comic. Thierry Arbogast, AFC, a member of Besson’s innermost circle (and of EuropaCorp, the production company he founded), is, of course, this film’s director of photography. He first worked as a director of photography on a Besson film 20 years ago on The Fifth Element, and is here to discuss with us the particularities of this new “space opera”.

Tandis que le film de Luc Besson, adapté de la bande dessinée culte de Christin et Mezières, continue son long travail d’effets spéciaux et de postproduction, les premières bandes annonces et reportage sur le tournage apparaissent sur le Net. Thierry Arbogast, AFC, fidèle parmi les fidèles de Luc Besson et d’Europa Corp, est bien sûr aux manettes de l’image sur le film. Déjà directeur de la photographie il y a 20 ans sur Le 5^e élément, il revient avec nous sur les particularités de ce nouveau "space opéra".

For his first project filmed inside the Cité du cinéma, Luc Besson decided to make an adaptation of Tonino Benacquista’s novel depicting a reformed New York ‘godfather’ forced to live under a false identity in the Normandy countryside. A mix of comedy and film noir that is largely carried by the presence of a cast that would make even the largest Hollywood studios jealous (Robert De Niro, Tommy Lee Jones, and Michelle Pfeiffer). Here, along with Thierry Arbogst, AFC, who regularly works alongside Besson, we take a look at this film’s approach to visuals and filming in studio. (FR)