The Girl from Paris (2001) Une hirondelle a fait le printemps (original title)

Director:

Christian Carion

Writers:

Christian Carion and
Eric Assous

Release Date:

5 September 2001 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

The sleeper hit that has already charmed more than 2 million French moviegoers.

Plot:

Sandrine, a woman in her thirties gets tired of life in Paris and decides to leave her work in computers and become a farmer...

Plot Keywords:

Farm | Computer | Internet | Agricultural College | Farmhouse

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Michel Serrault	...	Adrien
Mathilde Seigner	...	Sandrine Dumez
Jean-Paul Roussillon	...	Jean
Frédéric Pierrot	...	Gérard
Marc Berman	...	Stéphane
Françoise Bette	...	La mère de Sandrine
Christophe Rossignon	...	L'exploitant
Roland Chalosse	...	Le barman
Achiles Francisco Varas dell'Aquila	...	Barfly
Henri Pasquale	...	Card player
Paul Courat	...	Card player
Bernard Gerland	...	Card player
Ramon Bertrand	...	Card player
Grazziela Horens	...	Dark-haired girl
Vincent Borei	...	Dark-haired boy
Nathalie Villard	...	Fair-haired girl
Joel Paparella	...	Fair-haired boy
Stephanie Ittel	...	School teacher
Noël Martin	...	Priest
Christian Carion	...	Man with portable
Mickey Dedaj	...	Man with walkman
Yves Rochas	...	Pig breeder
Eric Rochas	...	Pig breeder
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joëlle Ruzin

Directed by
Christian Carion

Writing credits
Christian Carion		and
Eric Assous

Produced by
Christophe Rossignon	....	producer

Original Music by
Philippe Rombi

Cinematography by
Antoine Héberlé

Film Editing by
Andrea Sedlácková

Casting by
Richard Rousseau

Production Design by
Jean-Michel Simonet

Set Decoration by
Eric Molitor
Florence Rivière

Costume Design by
Françoise Dubois
Virginie Montel

Makeup Department
Sylvie Aid	....	makeup artist
Delphine Jaffart	....	makeup artist
Michel Vautier	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Julien Azoulay	....	assistant production manager
Julien Greco	....	unit manager trainee
Jean-Marc Gullino	....	unit manager
Olivier Jacob	....	unit manager
Ève Machuel	....	production manager
Cécile Rémy-Boutang	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nicolas Cambois	....	first assistant director
Olivier Desagnat	....	assistant director
Sébastien Gardet	....	assistant director

Art Department
Anthony Baron	....	head painter
Nicolas Chick	....	property master (as Nicolas Chik)
Christophe Colomer	....	first assistant decorator
Bernhard Crozas	....	construction crew
Jacques Freydier	....	construction coordinator
Denis Janon	....	painter
Thierry Litou	....	assistant decorator
Pascal Mollet	....	construction crew
Valérie Moy	....	painter
Florence Rivière	....	set dresser
Yann Roslagadec	....	construction crew
Jocelyn Sémavoine	....	construction crew
Philippe Tarricone	....	construction crew
Anne Tô	....	painter
Michael Zanella	....	construction crew

Sound Department
Nicolas Becker	....	foley artist
Etienne Curchod	....	sound editor
Assia Dnednia	....	assistant foley editor (as Assia Zipper)
Thomas Gauder	....	sound mixer
Pascal Jasmes	....	boom operator
Florent Lavallée	....	additional sound mixer
Valène Leroy	....	dialogue editor
Pierre Mertens	....	sound
Antoine Rigaud	....	assistant sound editor
Michel Schillings	....	sound recordist
Jean-Noël Yven	....	sound effects editor

Special Effects by
Luc Augereau	....	visual effects producer
Alexandre Martin Dupont	....	special effects
Christophe Huchot	....	special effects supervisor
Gilles Piéri	....	special effects
Christian Renaud	....	special effects
Philippe Teissier	....	special effects
Jean-Francois Theault	....	special effects technician
Guy Vanderplaetsen	....	special effects supervisor
Michel Vialla	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Luc Augereau	....	visual effects producer
Kevin Berger	....	digital compositor
Agnès Sébenne	....	visual effects supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department
Laurent Bourlier	....	additional grip
Thierry Debove	....	gaffer
Dominique Degand	....	grip
Pascal Doyen	....	electrician
Clement Gharini	....	camera operator: flying camera
Olivier Goelen	....	key grip
Marc Kahlouche	....	additional electrician
Elin Kirschfink	....	first assistant camera
Jérémie Nassif	....	still photographer
Laurent Pauty	....	second assistant camera
Marie Sorribas	....	first assistant camera
Hervé Traini	....	additional electrician
Laurence Trémolet	....	still photographer
Emmanuel Van Wambeke	....	key grip
Oliver Verdoot	....	assistant camera: aerial camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Agathe Laemmel	....	costumer
Virginie Montel	....	costumer
Isabelle Pannetier	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Maya Cypel	....	assistant editor
Isabelle Manquillet	....	assistant editor trainee
Juliette Urbain	....	additional editor
David Vincent	....	color timer

Music Department
Valérie Lindon	....	music producer
Stéphane Reichart	....	music mixer
Rodolphe Sampieri	....	assistant music mixer

Other crew
Dominique Baron	....	production administrator
Patrick Bruneton	....	travelling car
Eric Dupressoir	....	groupman
Claudia Neubern	....	script supervisor
Cécile Rémy-Boutang	....	assistant to producer
Isabelle Sauvanon	....	press attache: FR2
Pascal Villanueva	....	groupman

Thanks
François Aubé	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Artémis Productions
• Canal+
• Centre Européen Cinématographique Rhône-Alpes
• Cofimage 12
• M.S. Productions
• Mars Distribution
• Nord-Ouest Productions
• Procirep
• Rhône-Alpes Cinéma
• StudioCanal

Distributors

• Mars Distribution (2001) (France) (theatrical)
• A-Film Distribution (2002) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Fama Film AG (2001) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Prokino Filmverleih (2002) (Germany) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Artificial Eye
• Filmladen
• Films Philos
• Koch Lorber Films (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Lucky Red
• Universal Pictures (2003) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• L'Etude et la Supervision des Trucages (L'E.S.T.) (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Car Grip Films  electrical equipment
• Cinetec  grip equipment
• Ercidan  titles
• Transpalux  electrical equipment

Also Known As:

"Une hirondelle a fait le printemps" - France (original title)
"One Swallow Brought Spring" - International (English title) (informal literal title)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Brazil:14 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:6 | Norway:7 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Singapore:PG | Malaysia:U | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Vercors, Drôme, France

Company:

Artémis Productions

Trivia:

At one point the farmers tie a bottle to a pear tree and stick a small branch with a blossom inside. They do this so, in a few months, the result will be a full sized pear inside the bottle, much too big to have been put into the bottle in the usual way. One of the farmers uses it to make a bottle of a pear flavored alcoholic drink, with the pear still inside, and the bottle, pear, and drink appear late in the film when the two farmers and Sandrine have a drink together.

Soundtrack:

La valse au village

Just how many swallows do make a summer ??

A stressed Parisienne decides to take up sheep-rearing in the Massif du Vercors, situated not far from Grenoble, France. She buys up a farmstead and the owner of the latter remains on site while waiting for transfer to a town. The film is basically about the tense relationship between the young lady played by Mathilde Seigner and the retired farmer played by Michel Serrault who generally tries to make life hard for her but eventually is taken with affection by the same young lady. I am no fan of Michel Serrault, but his performance in this film is excellent as is that of Mathilde Seigner. Although the script is limited in scope, the dialogues and development of the characters may be followed with pleasure by the spectator. The décors are magnificent as the film was made in natural surroundings so we see the mountains change in form and colour according to the passing seasons. I would strongly recommend the film to people of all countries as it has a very universal message. It may be noted that the film was made by someone who has a very rural background. It is now available on DVD in France and the editor has taken the unusual (but welcome) step of including English Subtitles on the DVD. The title is a play on words because the expression `Une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps' = `One Swallow doesn't make a Summer'. So it's as if you were saying ` One Swallow has Made the Summer' ! This film deserves to be successful outside France, unlike many of the other mediocre productions of that country today !