Skylab (2011) Le Skylab (original title)

Director:

Julie Delpy

Writer:

Julie Delpy (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 October 2011 (France)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

In July 1979, during the Summer holidays, in a house somewhere in Brittany, a whole family (parents...

Plot Keywords:

Old Woman | Summer Vacation | French Countryside | Vacuum Cleaner | Male Full Frontal Nudity

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Bernadette Lafont	...	Mamie Amandine
Emmanuelle Riva	...	Mme Prévost dite Mémé - la mère d'Anna
Eric Elmosnino	...	Jean dit Jacquot - le père d'Albertine
Julie Delpy	...	Anna - la mère d'Albertine
Aure Atika	...	Tante Linette
Jean-Louis Coulloc'h	...	Tonton Fredo
Noémie Lvovsky	...	Tante Monique
Candide Sanchez	...	Tonton Gustavo
Denis Ménochet	...	Tonton Roger
Valérie Bonneton	...	Tante Micheline
Albert Delpy	...	Tonton Hubert
Vincent Lacoste	...	Christian
Sophie Quinton	...	Tante Clémentine
Marc Ruchmann	...	Tonton Loulou
Michelle Goddet	...	Tante Suzette (as Michèle Goddet)
Luc Bernard	...	Tonton Joseph
Lou Alvarez	...	La petite Albertine
Karin Viard	...	Albertine adulte
Léo Michel-Freundlich	...	Robert
Lily Savey	...	Sissi
Maxime Julliand	...	Pierre
Antoine Yvard	...	Philippe
Anne-Charlotte Moquet	...	Catherine
Pierre-Louis Bozonnet	...	Romain
Mathilde Bozonnet
Chloé Antoni	...	Valérie
Angelo Souny	...	Henri
Félicien Moquet	...	Jean-Luc
Sandrine Bodenes	...	Chantal
Anthony Kimmerle	...	Matthieu
Anaïs Duclos
Clara Korzylecka
Elise Le Cam
Noah Huntley	...	Jonathan
Roland Menou	...	Le 'satyre' du train en 1979
Julian Blight	...	Le jeune homme du train en 1979
Christian Erickson	...	Toby (dans le train)
Paul Bandey	...	Richard (dans le train)
Jérôme Chappatte	...	Jean-Jacques (dans le train)
Lee Delong	...	Jessica (dans le traintrain)
Lisa Jacobs	...	La femme anglaise ( dans le train)
Franck Mercadal	...	Homme 40
Hélène Milano	...	Femme 40
Aramis Bakchev-Arcé	...	Arthur
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
François Mitterrand	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Patrick Poivre d'Arvor	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Julie Delpy

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Julie Delpy		screenplay

Produced by
Michael Gentile	....	producer
Lauraine Heftler	....	associate producer
David Pierret	....	assistant producer

Cinematography by
Lubomir Bakchev

Film Editing by
Isabelle Devinck

Casting by
Stéphane Batut
Elsa Pharaon
Stéphane Zito

Production Design by
Yves Fournier

Set Decoration by
Philippe Cord'homme		(set decoration)

Costume Design by
Pierre-Yves Gayraud

Makeup Department
Marie Lastennet	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Vincent Alexandre	....	post-production manager
Pascal Bonnet	....	production manager
Matthieu Constans	....	assistant unit manager
Bertrand Girard	....	unit manager
Isabelle Morax	....	post-production manager
Frédéric Morin	....	assistant unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jerome Borenstein	....	first assistant director
Fanny Goineau	....	third assistant director
Alexandre Gouveia	....	trainee assistant director
Clément Inglesakis	....	third assistant director
Marie Rolindes	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Bernard Bridon	....	property master
Philippe Cord'homme	....	set dresser
Emilie Justin	....	props
Vincent Martin	....	key painter

Sound Department
Leo Banderet	....	sound assistant
Jean-Philippe Boinot	....	assistant sound editor
Michel Casang	....	sound
Alexis Feodoroff	....	sound mix technician
Sébastien Jeannot	....	dialogue editor
Alexis Leverve	....	co-sound re-recording mixer
Béatrice Pilorge	....	boom operator
Stéphane Thiébaut	....	sound re-recording mixer
Alexandre Widmer	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Odile Beraud	....	special effects coordinator

Visual Effects by
Béatrice Bauwens	....	visual effects producer
Odile Beraud	....	visual effects coordinator
Olivier Blanchet	....	senior digital compositor
Sophie Denize	....	visual effects producer
Cédric Fayolle	....	visual effects supervisor
Damien Hurgon	....	digital compositor
Anita Lech	....	on-line conform artist
Sabine Lineres	....	digital compositor
Guillaume Lips	....	colorist
Sergeï Lourié	....	senior digital compositor
Fred Roz	....	titles

Stunts
Dominique Fouassier	....	stunt coordinator
Daniel Vérité	....	stunt performer

Camera and Electrical Department
Thomas Bigot	....	grip
Maurice Bricler	....	grip
Lucilio Da Costa Pais	....	gaffer (as Lucilio Da Costa)
Camille Durin	....	second assistant camera
Pierre-Yves Le Mée	....	key grip
Mathieu Normand	....	first assistant camera
Ludivine Renard	....	first assistant camera
Thomas Richard	....	third assistant camera
Fabrice Sebille	....	camera operator
Mathieu Szpiro	....	electrician
Mickaël Vigot	....	electrician

Casting Department
Elsa Amiel	....	casting assistant
Estelle Gérard	....	extras casting: Normandy
Mickaël Paquer	....	casting assistant
Stéphane Zito	....	extras casting
Miguel Peraudeau	....	extras casting assistant (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dominique Cristina	....	costume supervisor
Cristina Mirete	....	key costumer

Editorial Department
Nicolas Criqui	....	assistant editor
Sophie Delecourt	....	assistant editor
Michelle Mogavero	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Matthieu Sibony	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Dominique Arcé	....	script supervisor
Thierry Desjours	....	financial manager
Isabelle Duvoisin	....	press attache
Bertrand Girard	....	unit manager
Paul Onteniente	....	production administrator
Mounia Wissinger	....	press attache

Thanks
Marie Pillet	....	dedicatee (as Marie)

Production Companies

• Film, The (co-production)
• Mars Distribution (co-production) (as Mars Films)
• France 2 Cinéma (co-production)
• Tempête Sous Un Crâne Production (co-production)
• Canal+ (participation)
• France Télévision (participation)
• CinéCinéma (participation)
• Canal Overseas Africa (participation)
• Coficup (participation)
• Backup Films (funding)
• Sofica Manon (in association with)
• Soficinéma 7 (in association with)
• Cinémage 5 (in association with)
• Cofimage 22 (in association with)
• Arte / Cofinova 5 (developed in association with)
• Région Bretagne (support)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (in partnership with)

Distributors

• Film Distribution (2011) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Japan Community Cinema Center (2013) (Japan) (theatrical) (in association with)
• Mars Distribution (2011) (France) (theatrical)
• Mermaid Film (2013) (Japan) (theatrical)
• NFP Marketing & Distribution (2012) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Alambique Destilaria de Ideias Unipessoal (2012) (Portugal) (all media)
• Alta Films (2012) (Spain) (all media)
• Bir Film (2012) (Turkey) (all media) (limited)
• EuroVideo (2013) (Germany) (DVD)
• Seven Films (2011) (Greece) (all media)

Special Effects

• Mikros Image (digital effects) (as Mikros)

Other Companies

• Cinésyl  grip and lighting equipment
• Direction Départementale d'Ile-et-Vilaine  thanks
• Mairie de Paimpont  thanks
• Panalux  lighting equipment by

Also Known As:

"Le Skylab" - France (original title)

Runtime:

France:113 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Portugal:M/12 | France:U | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Gare SNCF, Place de la Nouvelle Gare, Saint-Malo, Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, France

Company:

Film, The

Trivia:

Award: Special Jury Prize at the 2011 San Sebastian.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Though set in July 1979, the kids dance to a punk song by the Dead Kennedys which was first released in May, 1981.

Movie Connections:

References Alien (1979)

Soundtrack:

Bambino

Death and the little girl

One of Julie Delpy's main qualities as a movie director is her ability not to repeat what she has done before and to move from one genre to another effortlessly. "Le Skylab" has not much to do with "2 Days in Paris", even less so with "La comtesse". In this particular film, she explores two areas, comedy (for the first time since "Looking for Jimmy") and autobiography (for the first time ever).

"Le Skylab" indeed stems from the writer-director-actress's childhood memories, more precisely from a weekend nine-year-old Julie spent at her granny's house in Brittany. The object of the family reunion was to celebrate the said grandmother's 67th birthday but Julie would probably not have made a film of this "event", had it not been marred by a curious and unsettling menace : the supposed fall of the first American space station on Brittany. This impending catastrophe allows Julie Delpy to bring more depth to her story than if she had opted for a mere emotional evocation of her green years. Back in the Summer of 1979, Little Julie (called Albertine in the movie) can thus be seen both playing with cousins like the little girl she is and more adultly wondering about death and physical disappearance.

To explore such a theme (a child considering death for the first time), the director could have chosen a dramatic angle, in Bergman's style ("Fanny and Alexander"), an emotional approach ("Diabolo Menthe) or a horrific tone ("Night of the Hunter"). But Julie Delpy is a too lively a person not to choose comedy. With a touch of tragedy of course, but laughter will dominate.

Good choice, but to tell the truth, "Le Skylab" delivers less than it promises. On the whole, sincere as it is, the film proves uneven. There ARE good points, the least debatable of which being its brilliant cast, starting with Delpy herself, full of beans and tart-tongued as usual, playing Albertine's activist mother. The others are all good, with a special mention to Eric Elmosnino, her leftist but much less radical husband ; Bernadette Lafont, in fine form as acerbic Granny Amandine ; Valérie Bonneton, both funny and moving in the role of Aunt Micheline ; and Albert Delpy (Julie's real-life father) embodying an eccentric uncle. As for Lou Alvarez, the young actress who portrays Julie Delpy as a little girl, she is just perfect: neither too cute nor too ugly, just an ordinary brat.

In addition to this excellent ensemble cast, a few scenes ARE funny, notably the rows between Albertine's parents, with caustic dialogues penned by Delpy herself, and delivered to perfection by Elmosnino and herself.

But, despite its welcome serious side, the plot remains slender. Which would have been of little consequence if the author had been able to captivate or to amuse us throughout. After all, a slice of life can very well do without a strong plot and move or entertain an audience though. But, unfortunately, Delpy's work only intermittently reaches its target, causing us to yawn between two good scenes. One of the reasons is that the pace is too slack. There are also too many group scenes in which everybody speaks at the same time about topics that are uninteresting to us viewers. And if the characters start singing a song, they sing it out until the end. Really, Julie Delpy should be more careful when it comes to editing.

Well, do not skip "Le Skylab" though. As, for all its shortcomings, this coming of age comedy is quite watchable and reasonably entertaining on the whole.