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Hotel des Ventes
“As you can hear from my accent, I’m from Paris.”
Hélène (Romy Schneider)
Shot between the Paris region, the island of Ré and La Rochelle, The Things of Life makes very little use of film studios. When he can, the director Claude Sautet puts his cameras in real places. He was the first to operate the city’s auction house as part of a film production.
Although not as often cited as works like Breathless, The Things of Life is also one of the masterpieces of the New Wave. It is mainly during the editing that Claude Sautet adopts the codes of the movement born in France a few years earlier. With his editor, he meticulously builds a story at the crossroads. He decided, for example, to remove passages that he considered too explanatory in order to constantly innovate. Forced to do without the composer Georges Delerue, with whom he wanted to work first, he collaborated with the young Philippe Sarde. The work of the latter will undoubtedly influence the patina of the feature film.
At the time of the release, already awarded the Louis-Delluc prize, Claude Sautet was anxious. At the time, the future director Bertrand Tavernier will remember having witnessed a rather violent altercation between Claude Sautet and an exhibitor, before the end of the screening. He also takes rather badly the fact that his film is ignored by the Cannes jury and announces that he will never set foot on the Croisette again. Fortunately, critics and audiences alike are doing justice to Things in Life by recognizing it as a true classic.
Before Claude Sautet, Claude Chabrol and Alain Cavalier were approached to direct the film.
Hôtel Des Ventes De La Rochelle
Located in the city center of La Rochelle, between the hospital and the covered market, this auction house is dedicated to auctions.
Auctions are regularly organized in La Rochelle, in this private mansion. Cars and other vehicles, furniture, works of art and accessories for professionals are offered to buyers from all over France. The Hôtel des Ventes is located north of the Old Port, west of Saint-Éloi, in a peaceful area.
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By Gilles Rolland
Passionné de cinéma, de rock and roll, de séries TV et de littérature. Rédacteur de presse et auteur des livres Le Heavy Metal au cinéma, Paroles de fans Guns N' Roses, Paroles de fans Rammstein et Welcome to my Jungle : 100 albums rock et autres anecdotes dépareillées. Adore également voyager à la recherche des lieux les plus emblématiques de la pop culture.