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Champignolle Farm
“The people here are lovely, I’ve rarely seen such a welcome.”
Xavier Beauvois, director of The Guardians
It is in this abandoned farmhouse in the hamlet of Champignolle in Journet that the actresses, Nathalie Baye and Laura Smet, meet around the table of the unique room. The Guardians tells the story of a mother, Hortense Sandrail, and her daughter, Solange, on the farm while their men are at the front during the First World War. As the harvest arrives, the matriarch hires Francine (Iris Bry). This young twenty year old clerk upsets the relationship between Hortense and Solange.
For the farm scenery, the technical teams had to find a place that was still in its original state and had not undergone too many recent changes. Near Montmorillon in the Vienne, the farm of Champignolle was then rehabilitated and refurbished. The story of The Guardians is supposed to take place in the Limousin countryside in 1915 on the farm of Paridier and is based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Pérochon published in 1924.
Moreover, Catherine Dionnet, the owner of Champignolle farm, confided her astonishment to see her abandoned house retained by the production to the daily newspaper La nouvelle république:“I don’t know how they found me! They came to me one day. You think I was surprised!“.
Local collectors were asked for the loan of carts and draught horses, and farmers for cows. For the big harvest scenes, 400 extras will be used. “ We recruited extras who rehearsed for weeks in costume before coming to the shoot; they have practically become actresses,” the director of the feature film Of Gods and Men also said.
The Guardians reunited Nathalie Baye and her daughter Laura Smet for the first time in the cinema
Champignolle
Champignolle is a locality of the commune of Journet in the Vienne.
Not far from Montmorillon, the sub-prefecture of the Vienne, the small commune of Journet has 372 inhabitants.
During the French Revolution, it became the rallying point for all the revolutionary celebrations and events, such as the fête des Epoux. It also planted a tree of Liberty.
The most important symbol of the city is the lantern of Journet dating from the 12th century. Its function is not really defined. According to historians, this illuminated column could have served as a guide for lost travelers, as a signpost for the cemetery or as a lantern allowing the dead to leave their graves and haunt the living.
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The Guardians
The story is about the women who run the farms while the men are away in World War I, especially one particularly energetic one: Hortense.
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By Damien Canteau
Passionné par l'Histoire, les animés, les Arts et la bande dessinée en particulier, Damien est le rédacteur en chef du site spécialisé dans le 9e art, Comixtrip.