Four Lovers (2010) Happy Few (original title)

Director:

Antony Cordier

Writers:

Antony Cordier
Julie Peyr

Release Date:

30 March 2012 (USA)

Genre:

Romance

Plot:

What are adult love affairs ? Two couples meet and fall in love, lose sight of each other in the confusion and end up pulling through. |

Plot Keywords:

Love | Kiss | Skinny Dipping | Kissing | Flashback

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Marina Foïs	...	Rachel
Élodie Bouchez	...	Teri
Roschdy Zem	...	Franck
Nicolas Duvauchelle	...	Vincent
Jean-François Stévenin	...	Le père de Rachel
Alexia Stresi	...	Diane
Blanche Gardin	...	La soeur de Rachel
Geneviève Mnich	...	La mère de Franck
Philippe Paimblanc	...	Le père de Franck
Naomi Ferreira	...	Margot
Ilona Caly	...	Thelma
Ferdinand Ledoux	...	Tim
Ya Hui Chan	...	La petite amie de Diane
Nathalie Roche
Eric Kailey
Cédric Weber
Mariame N'Diaye		(as Mariama N'Diaye)
Elias Lemercier
Mathilde Cheval
Pauline Coutant
Baskar Selva

Directed by
Antony Cordier

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Antony Cordier
Julie Peyr

Produced by
Pascal Caucheteux	....	producer
Sebastien Lemercier	....	producer

Original Music by
Frédéric Verrières

Cinematography by
Nicolas Gaurin

Film Editing by
Christel Dewynter

Casting by
Richard Rousseau

Production Design by
Marie Cheminal

Costume Design by
Isabelle Pannetier

Makeup Department
Laurent Bozzi	....	key hair stylist
Catherine Bruchon	....	key makeup artist
Anouck Sullivan	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Martine Cassinelli	....	production manager
Thibault Mattei	....	unit production manager
Béatrice Mauduit	....	post-production supervisor
Olivier Thoret	....	assistant production manager
Isabelle Tillou	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Denis Kralj	....	assistant director: location
Christelle Lahaye	....	second assistant director
Valérie Roucher	....	assistant director

Art Department
Maxime Girault	....	second assistant production designer
Cécile Hurlé	....	set dresser
Chloé Leguay	....	graphics
Anne Passelergue	....	assistant art director
Cyril Péré	....	property master
Valérie Rozanes	....	first assistant production designer
Valérie Rozanes	....	set decorating department assistant

Sound Department
Annabel Acquaviva	....	boom operator
Niels Barletta	....	sound mastering engineer
Damien Bouvier	....	post sync dialogue
Stéphane Brunclair	....	sound editor
Sophie Durand	....	dialogue editor
Cyril Holtz	....	sound re-recording mixer
Vincent Milner	....	foley artist
Cyril Moisson	....	sound
Laure Montagnol	....	assistant sound editor
Pierre Picq	....	boom operator
Maxime Saleix	....	sound mix technician

Stunts
Delphine Boulay	....	stunts
Catherine Mourlon	....	stunts
Laurent Mulot	....	stunts
Olivier Schneider	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Aurélien Cachoir	....	first assistant camera
Jeannick Gravelines	....	still photographer
Julia Mingo	....	second assistant camera
Jean-Michel Pitois	....	electrician
Alexis Robin	....	video assistant
Jérémy Stone	....	key grip
Karim Younes	....	electrician

Casting Department
Julie David	....	casting associate
Alexandre Nazarian	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ariane Daurat	....	wardrobe
Paulette Ribot	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Carole Borne	....	assistant editor
Fabien Turriziani	....	first assistant editor

Other crew
Roselyne Bellec	....	script supervisor
Stéphane Boulay	....	travelling car
Claire Viroulaud	....	press attache

Production Companies

• Why Not U.S. (co-production)
• Why Not Productions (co-production)
• France 2 Cinéma (co-production)
• Canal+ (participation)
• France Télévision (participation)
• CinéCinéma (participation)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)
• Région Ile-de-France (support)
• Procirep (support)
• Angoa-Agicoa (support)

Distributors

• Atlantis Entertainment (2010) (Czechoslovakia) (theatrical)
• Benelux Film Distributors (2010) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Odeon (2011) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Oscilloscope Pictures (2011) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• All Media Company (2011) (Russia) (all media)
• Le Pacte (2010) (France) (all media)
• Teleview International (2010) (Lebanon) (all media) (Middle East)

Other Companies

• Rubini & Associés  insurance

Also Known As:

"Happy Few" - France (original title)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby

Certification:

South Korea:18 | France:U (with warning)

Filming Locations:

Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, France

Company:

Why Not U.S.

Movie Connections:

Features Nenette and Boni (1996)

Soundtrack:

Heures érogènes

Frank French

"Physical infidelity is the signal, the notice given, that all fidelities are undermined." Katherine Anne Porter

Polyamory is tricky for the best of lovers, so put two couples into mate-swapping, with kids in the mix and professions pushing time limits, and you have a perfectly French sex drama not easy on anyone involved.

Oh, in Four Lovers it's initially easy enough, as attractive as the principals are and as conducive the circumstances: Vincent (Nicolas Duvaunchelle), a blonde boy/man with tattoos and Web designing occupation, connects with Rachel (Marina Fois), a boutique jeweler; her husband, Franck (Roschdy Zem), is a coffee-table erotic book writer/photographer, who through deft massaging connects with Vincent's Teri, a former Olympic gymnast of half American blood. Sensuality abounds through most of the film with no apparent jealousy as everyone knows what's up. Only when the kids need attention or a diary is read does the edginess of this hanky-panky surface. And then it's all still very much subdued. It's unusual not to witness crying and shouting as the inevitable challenges arise. But then it's discomforting not to have discourse among the principals about their infidelities. The film's so cool as to be almost passionless.

Unlike Mike Nichols' Closer, starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen, which has a similar situation with four acquaintances unfaithful to each other, Closer has a decidedly US/Brit clandestine, guilt cast to it. But it is full of witty dialogue that helps us deconstruct their astonishing selfishness and disregard for feelings.

I had assumed the French Four Lovers approach would be the opposite: open, relaxed, sensitive, sensual, and surviving. I was right: It's a different world from the Catholic one I grew up in, but it seems the same demons show up in different disguises.

Even the French can't find this arrangement tenable over the long haul.

"I don't want to sell myself short. You hurt your spouse, not so much by the infidelity, but by the negative feelings about yourself that you bring home." Michael Zaslow