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Port of La Rochelle
“You’re just like I like.”
Pierre (Michel Piccoli)
If only one sequence of Things of Life was shot in the port of La Rochelle, it is one of the most striking, just after the famous car accident at the center of the story. An accident that pushed the director Claude Sautet to accept the project after the refusal of Claude Chabrol.
The accident in question is the starting point for the story of Things of Life. Seriously injured, Pierre, the character played by Michel Piccoli, finds himself in a coma and relives the best moments of his life. An accident in the form of a real technical challenge for the filmmaker. He declared after the release of the film: “I saw it as an opportunity to finally deal with couples’ problems. Pierre, this privileged, indecisive, vulnerable man has everything going for him, but he hesitates to make a decision, to change his life. He is afraid to question himself and chooses an attitude of escape from life itself. For him, the accident is almost a solution.”
To stage the accident, Claude Sautet asked the Ponts et Chaussées to build a real stretch of road. He “plants” fake apple trees whose leaves are repainted every morning: “This accident, I had to imagine it second after second. How do we go from normal speed to the still image, and from slow motion to the relationship that witnesses make of it? This mixture of times was very perilous. We filmed with three cameras, from different angles.” Michel Piccoli takes the wheel most of the time as an excellent driver. Nevertheless, he gives up his place on the most risky passages. It is then the stuntman Gérard Streiff that Claude Sautet films. Concerning the close-ups of Michel Piccoli, as he rolls over several times, Claude Sautet uses half a car with a ring around it. While editing the film, Jacqueline Thiédot calls the sequence “a slow waltz leading to death.”
Things of Life had its American remake in 1994, with Richard Gere and Sharon Stone in the main roles.
Vieux Port de La Rochelle
Regrouping several structures, the port of La Rochelle is an essential element of the economic network of Charente-Maritime.
The port of La Rochelle includes the autonomous port, the submarine base, created during the occupation, the fishing port of Chef de Baie and the marina. It is within this last one that are grouped the Old-Port, the port of Minimes and the Port-Neuf. The Old Port is undoubtedly the most touristic part, with its vestiges like the Chain Tower and the Saint-Nicolas Tower. Two monuments integrated into the city’s fortifications. The port has evolved considerably, without losing its identity. Every year, it attracts thousands of tourists as well as several cultural and sporting events.
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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.