Cherchez Hortense (2012)

Director:

Pascal Bonitzer

Writers:

Agnès de Sacy (scenario) (adaptation) (dialogue) &
Pascal Bonitzer (scenario) (adaptation) (dialogue)

Release Date:

5 September 2012 (Belgium)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

A wife pressures her husband to solicit work papers from his civil servant father.

Plot Keywords:

Father | Dysfunctional Couple | Taxi | Chess | Friend In Distress

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Jean-Pierre Bacri	...	Damien Hauer
Kristin Scott Thomas	...	Iva Delusi
Isabelle Carré	...	Aurore
Marin Orcand Tourrès	...	Noé Hauer
Claude Rich	...	Sébastien Hauer
Arthur Igual	...	Antoine
Jackie Berroyer	...	Lobatch
Jérôme Beaujour	...	Campuche
Philippe Duclos	...	Henri Hortense
Benoît Jacquot	...	Kevadian
Masahiro Kashiwagi	...	Satoshi - le serveur japonais
Iliana Lolitch	...	Véra - la femme de Marco (as Iliana Lolic)
Francis Leplay	...	Marco - le frère d'Iva
Joséphine Derenne	...	Blandine Hauer
Agathe Bonitzer	...	Laetitia
Francis Veron	...	Le deuxième policier
Georges Martin-Censier	...	Le PDG
Stanislas Stanic	...	Marek
Jean-Laurent Bourel	...	Le chef de rang du restaurant La Sirène
Angeli Hucher de Barros	...	Le chauffeur de taxi débutant

Directed by
Pascal Bonitzer

Writing credits
Agnès de Sacy		(scenario) (adaptation) (dialogue) &
Pascal Bonitzer		(scenario) (adaptation) (dialogue)

Produced by
Saïd Ben Saïd	....	producer
Kevin Chneiweiss	....	assistant producer

Original Music by
Aleksey Aygi

Cinematography by
Romain Winding

Film Editing by
Elise Fievet

Casting by
Antoinette Boulat

Production Design by
Emmanuel de Chauvigny		(as Manu de Chauvigny)

Makeup Department
Anne Moralis	....	wig maker

Production Management
Nicolas Estampe	....	unit manager trainee
Abraham Goldblat	....	post-production supervisor
Olivier Hélie	....	production manager
Damien Martinière	....	assistant unit manager
Damien Martinière	....	production manager
Clémence Névot	....	assistant production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Marie Aubert	....	second assistant director
Laure Chichmanov	....	third assistant director
Juliette Maillard	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Noelie Charles	....	assistant art director
Pascal Courtinel	....	painter
Marie Delfau	....	assistant art director
Jacq Fred	....	props
Thomas Pitre	....	first assistant art director
Bernon Sebastien	....	carpenter

Sound Department
Damien Boitel	....	assistant sound editor
Julien Chabbert	....	sound mix technician
Olivier Dô Hùu	....	sound re-recording mixer
Gérard Hardy	....	sound editor
Josselin Panchout	....	boom operator
Philippe Richard	....	production sound mixer

Visual Effects by
Olivier Debert	....	digital effects artist
Marc Latil	....	digital artist
Frederic Moreau	....	visual effects designer
Sarah Moreau	....	visual effects producer

Stunts
Rémi Canaple	....	stunt coordinator
Antonio Cides	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Malik Brahimi	....	first assistant camera
Antoine Debove	....	electrician
Thierry Debove	....	gaffer
Guy Ferrandis	....	still photographer
Maxime Massard	....	electrician
Jan Rubens	....	steadicam operator
Lilla Smoluch	....	assistant camera

Casting Department
Patricia Guyotte	....	casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marielle Robaut	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Ana Antunes	....	post-production assistant
Jean-Baptiste Combette	....	digital dailies manager
Charles Fréville	....	colorist
Fabien Napoli	....	colorist: dailies

Music Department
Elise Luguern	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Julie Belthoise	....	location manager
Christelle Bladinières	....	assistant location manager
Alexis Delage-Toriel	....	press attache
Marie Guillon	....	administratrice de production
Annelise Landureau	....	press attache: France
Damien Martinière	....	location assistant
Michèle Massé	....	location scout
Maud Mischi	....	legal counsel
Clémence Névot	....	production secretary
Clémentine Schaeffer	....	script supervisor
Marilou Signolet	....	location assistant

Thanks
Philippe Le Guay	....	thanks
André Téchiné	....	thanks

Production Companies

• SBS Productions
• Orange Cinéma Séries (participation)
• Cinémage 6 (in association with)
• Soficinéma 8 (in association with)
• Région Ile-de-France (support)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (as Centre National de la Cinématograpie et de l'Image Animée)

Distributors

• Le Pacte (2012) (France) (theatrical)
• Praesens-Film (2012) (Switzerland) (theatrical) (French speaking region)
• SBS Productions (2012) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• France Télévisions Distribution (2013) (France) (DVD)
• Rialto Distribution (2012) (Australia) (all media)
• Rialto Distribution (2012) (New Zealand) (all media)

Special Effects

• Def2shoot (visual effects company)

Other Companies

• Gras Savoye  insurance company
• Public Système Cinéma, Le  publicity
• Toutoui  sound equipment by
• Transpacam  camera equipment provided by
• Transpalux  lighting equipment by

Also Known As:

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | France:U

Filming Locations:

Place du Palais Royal, Paris 1, Paris, France

Company:

SBS Productions

Trivia:

Swiss censorship certificate # 1009.140

Cosy and lazy: routine Parisian film-making

You've got the typical subsidised French movie: the writer-director-author puts in some nice bits about his characters and he is pretty content with his flimsy story. Looks like low production specs with a Parisian artsy bourgeois coating. Mid-life crisis & intellectual couple trouble - check. Political/social issue - check. Father-son relationship - check. Male friendship, mmmm.... not so sure. Heterosexual unease in a gay context - check. Hypocrisy and shallowness of the powerful - check.

Quite frankly it is boring to think so many movies are made in France about Parisian intellectuals who have little problems in their lives but who really suffer because they're aware of all the misery outside. The title says it all, and we can guess Pascal Bonitzer was not sidelined when a release titled had to be decided upon. The title means nothing, it doesn't stay, it is most probably a pretentious intellectual guess game.

All in all it is somewhat distressing to see such movies that go nowhere and are plenty happy with it. Cherchez Hortense doesn't go as far as being pretentious author stuff, he never wants to assert a message, that's what makes it nice and very forgettable. And with such a poor title it is a movie that can be forgotten even before you seriously think of seeing it.