That Most Important Thing: Love (1975) L'important c'est d'aimer (original title)

Director:

Andrzej Zulawski

Writers:

Christopher Frank (novel)
Christopher Frank (adaptation) ...
(more)

Release Date:

April 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Servais Mont, a photographer, meets Nadine Chevalier who earns her money starring in cheap soft-core movies...

Plot Keywords:

Photographer | Love | Loan | Madness | Film Making

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Romy Schneider	...	Nadine Chevalier
Fabio Testi	...	Servais Mont
Jacques Dutronc	...	Jacques Chevalier
Claude Dauphin	...	Mazelli
Roger Blin	...	Le père de Servais / Servais's father
Gabrielle Doulcet	...	Madame Mazelli
Michel Robin	...	Raymond Lapade
Guy Mairesse	...	Laurent Messala
Katia Tchenko	...	Myriam, la putain
Nicoletta Machiavelli	...	Luce, la femme de Lapade
Klaus Kinski	...	Karl-Heinz Zimmer
Paul Bisciglia	...	L'assistant-metteur en scène
Henri Coutet	...	Le père de Jacques (scenes deleted)
Sylvain Levignac	...	Le premier homme dans la brasserie (as Sylvain)
Andrée Tainsy	...	La mère de Jacques (scenes deleted)
Olga Valéry	...	La femme au godemiché
Jacques Boudet	...	Robert Beninge
Robert Dadiès	...	Le médecin à l'hôpital / Un acteur au théâtre
Georges-Fréderic Dehlen	...	Un acteur au théâtre (as Georges F. Dehlen)
Jack Jourdan	...	Victor (as Jacques Jourdan)
Claude Legros	...	Manuel Rosenthal
Maritin	...	Le frère de Jacques (scenes deleted)
Kira Potonie	...	La femme de Messala
Michel Such	...	L'électricien
Jacques Van Dooren	...	Verdurin
Nadia Vasil	...	La réalisatrice
Sin May Zao	...	La vietnamienne
Gérard Zimmermann	...	Léonard
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Philippe Clévenot	...	(scenes deleted)
Sybil Danning	...	(scenes deleted)
Marc Dudicourt	...	(scenes deleted)
Zouzou	...	(scenes deleted)
Frédérique Barral	...	Une fille dans la brasserie (uncredited)
Claudine Beccarie	...	La fille dans la partouze (uncredited)
Michel Berreur	...	Le second homme dans la brasserie (uncredited)
Guy Delorme	...	Un homme de main de Mazelli (uncredited)
Jerry Di Giacomo	...	L'anglais en travesti (uncredited)
Michel Duchaussoy	...	Karl-Heinz Zimmer (voice) (uncredited)
Josep Maria Flotats	...	Servais Mont (voice) (uncredited)
Serge Godenaire	...	L'éphèbe dans la partouze (uncredited)
Gérard Moisan	...	Un autre homme de main de Mazelli (uncredited)
Manu Pluton	...	L'homme au gymnase (uncredited)
Martine Sarcey	...	Luce (voice) (uncredited)
Eric Vasberg	...	Le troisième homme dans la brasserie (uncredited)
Howard Vernon	...	(voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Andrzej Zulawski

Writing credits
Christopher Frank		(novel "La nuit americaine")
Christopher Frank		(adaptation) &
Andrzej Zulawski		(adaptation)
Christopher Frank		(dialogue)

Produced by
Albina du Boisrouvray	....	producer
Léo L. Fuchs	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Georges Delerue

Cinematography by
Ricardo Aronovich

Film Editing by
Christiane Lack

Production Design by
Jean-Pierre Kohut-Svelko

Costume Design by
Catherine Leterrier

Makeup Department
Massimo De Rossi	....	assistant makeup artist
Jean-Pierre Guérin	....	hair stylist
Didier Lavergne	....	makeup artist (as Daniel Lavergne)

Production Management
Alain Artur	....	assistant unit manager
Georges Casati	....	production manager
Daniel Deschamps	....	unit manager
Roland Godard	....	assistant unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Laurent Ferrier	....	assistant director
Philippe Lopez	....	third assistant director
Franco Sormani	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Pierre Roudeix	....	props
Jean-Claude Sévenet	....	property master

Sound Department
Daniel Couteau	....	sound effects editor
Jacques Gérardot	....	sound recordist
Maurice Laumain	....	sound editor
Jean Nény	....	sound mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Walter Bal	....	second assistant camera
Jean-Pierre Fizet	....	still photographer
Andrzej Jaroszewicz	....	assistant camera
Jacques Labesse	....	camera operator
Flore Thulliez	....	second assistant camera

Editorial Department
Genevieve Sebestik	....	assistant editor
Marie-Claude von Dorpp	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Claude Carliez	....	fighting coordinator
Georges Martin-Cocher	....	administrator
Élisabeth Rappeneau	....	script girl

Production Companies

• Albina Productions S.a.r.l.
• Rizzoli Film
• TIT Filmproduktion GmbH

Distributors

• S.N. Prodis (1975) (France) (theatrical)
• Seaberg Film Distribution (1977) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Maia Film (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• Poletel (Brazil) (VHS)
• Studio Canal (2003) (France) (DVD)
• Videocast (198?) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Les Films Michel François  titles
• Studios de Boulogne  sound re-recording

Also Known As:

"L'important c'est d'aimer" - France (original title)

Runtime:

109 min | Germany:105 min (cut)

Country:

France | Italy | West Germany

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | France:-16 | USA:R | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Albina Productions S.a.r.l.

Trivia:

'Romy Schneider' considered this movie her best work.

Quotes:

Nadine Chevalier:I'm dubbing Jane Fonda.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in All About My Mother (1999)

Watch this underrated masterpiece of the 70s

Romy Schneider was absolutely right to consider this film as her major professional achievement. Thanks to Christopher Franck's remarkable adaptation from his own awarded novel LA NUIT AMERICAINE (not to be mistaken with Truffaut's well-known DAY FOR NIGHT) and to Georges Delerue's haunting soundtrack, Zulawski is here at his paramount, because his usual romantic excesses perfectly fit this time the subject. As for the cast, all the actors have never been so right in the part they've been chosen for : from Fabio Testi to Jacques Dutronc, from Klaus Kinsky to Claude Dauphin, not to mention Michel Robin. The scene in the bar, just after the theatrical premiere of Shakespeare's RICHARD III, when the whole crew reads the articles dedicated to their play, almost looks like a mirror of Zulawski himself, as most of his works have been misunderstood, if not definitely "killed" by the critics. if you happen to belong to the happy few who sincerely praise L'IMPORTANT C'EST D'AIMER, try to see some day the films that writer Christopher Franck personally directed from other novels of his about the same bohemian milieu, specially JOSEPHA, featuring Miou Miou & Claude Brasseur.