Sagan (2008)

France, 1950s. From the Quartier Latin to Saint-Tropez via New York, a young Parisienne becomes the icon of a whole generation. In 1954, 19-year-old Francoise Sagan shot to fame with her ... See full summary »

Director:

Diane Kurys

Writers:

Diane Kurys, Claire Lemaréchal,

Stars:

Sylvie Testud, Pierre Palmade, Jeanne Balibar

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sylvie Testud	...	Françoise Quoirez dite Sagan
Pierre Palmade	...	Jacques Chazot
Jeanne Balibar	...	Peggy Roche
Arielle Dombasle	...	Astrid
Lionel Abelanski	...	Bernard Frank
Guillaume Gallienne	...	Jacques Quoirez
Denis Podalydès	...	Guy Schoeller
Bruno Wolkowitch	...	Philippe (Complete TV version)
Samuel Labarthe	...	René Julliard
Margot Abascal	...	Florence Malraux
Gwendoline Hamon	...	Suzanne Quoirez
Chantal Neuwirth	...	Mme Lebreton
Silvie Laguna	...	Mme Bartoli
Alexis Michalik	...	Denis Westhoff 23 / 33ans
William Miller	...	Robert 'Bob' Westhoff

Storyline

France, 1950s. From the Quartier Latin to Saint-Tropez via New York, a young Parisienne becomes the icon of a whole generation. In 1954, 19-year-old Francoise Sagan shot to fame with her first novel, Bonjour Tristesse. Flamboyant, scandalous and underrated, Sagan lived her life at the furthest edge of excess. She won and lost fortunes at the roulette table, bought and crashed superb sports cars, drank, danced and partied, leaving a trail of lovers in her wake.

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Plot Keywords:

reference to sarah bernhardt | mother son relationship | cocaine | purse | paris france | 

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Taglines:

Sagan

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Genres:

Biography

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [fr] Official site [jp]

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

11 June 2008 (France)

Also Known As:

Bonjour Sagan

Filming Locations:

Casino Barrière - 2 Rue Edmond Blanc, Deauville, Calvados, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alexandre Films, France 2 (FR2)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

180 min 180 min (2 parts) 117 min (theatrical)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Sagan" was originally produced and shot as a two-part TV miniseries (2 x 90'). When seeing it, Luc Besson (director, producer but also distributor) decided to purchase the screen rights and released it after having trimmed it down to a two hour feature film.

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Goofs

When Françoise chooses her pen name, we can see the bar code on the back cover of the book. Such detail could not exist in the 1950s.

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Soundtracks

"Twist à Saint Tropez"
Lyrics by Andre Salvet
Music by Guy Lafitte and Martial Solal
Performed by Dick Rivers and Les Chats Sauvages
Recorded in 1961 on Pathé 45 Tours EA 569

User Reviews

Rushed, and somewhat incoherent

This film started as a TV miniseries; it was chopped down to feature length for general release. I don't think it is an important film, being rushed and skimpy on character development. Guy Schoeller meets Francoise at a book signing and ten seconds later, they're getting wed, and shortly after that, divorced.

It was very hard to keep track of the many characters who drop in to the story, then abruptly exit. Just when did Mme. Lebreton enter Francoise's life anyway? Sylvie Testud does a tremendous job of playing Francoise Sagan; she must have been a sort of Rimbaud of the moneyed class, and Testud captures all the wild, impulsive, spendthrift behavior Sagan was noted for. Pierre Palmade as Chazot walks through an underwritten part (all the supporting parts are underwritten) but is interesting to look at.