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Work camp
“Tout est chaos
Refrain of Désenchantée, lyrics : Mylène Farmer, music : Laurent Boutonnat
A côté
Tous mes idéaux : des mots
Abimés…
Je cherche une âme, qui
Pourra m’aider
Je suis
D’une géneration désenchantée,
Désenchantée”
As soon as you hear the lyrics “Tout est chaos, à côté…”, it’s impossible not to recognize the refrain of Désenchantée, Mylène Farmer’s most emblematic song. With 800,000 copies sold in France – certified as a gold record – and 1.3 million copies sold internationally, it is the single that has earned the most royalties for its author. This song also became iconic thanks to its video clip shot in Hungary in a disused factory.
A video clip as a short film
The video-clip of Désenchantée is a real short film of 10 min filmed by Laurent Boutonnat, to whom we also owe the music. It was broadcast for the first time in the NRJ-A2 program, on April 3, 1991.
The technical teams invest in a disused factory in Budapest, next to the Kerepesi cemetery. Now gone, the buildings are ideal for rendering the disenchanted atmosphere of the song.
From work camp to freedom
The story immediately puts the audience in a dirty and violent atmosphere. Mylène Farmer is dragged by a guard into a labor camp. She is greeted by stone throwing, beatings and mockery, but it is from her that the revolt comes. She waltzes the plates while climbing on the tables. The prisoners rebelled, set fire to the buildings and fled the camp.
The last images of Désenchantée are set in the snowy plain of Apaj Puszta. Moreover, this scene is absent from a 6 min version of the video-clip, because it is not considered very optimistic. The prisoners then free have no future. The short version ends before the murder of guards by a child.
An unusual shooting
Désenchantée won the best video of the year award at the 1992 Victoires de la musique ceremony. It should be noted that the means are important to shoot these 10 minutes of short film. The previous project, Libertine, was allocated a budget of 500,000 francs. For this clip, it is doubled.
Laurent Boutonnat is inspired by the plot of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens and by its feature film adaptation by David Lean. The scene in the snowy plain is based on Eugène Delacroix’s painting, Liberty Leading the People.
To constitute the group of prisoners, 120 extras are cast. These children come from rehabilitation homes or institutes for the disabled in Budapest.
The director and his partner at the time, Mylène Farmer, had also put in images other songs of the interpreter. The clips of Tristana, Sans contrefaçon or Pourvu qu’elles soient douces – the longest video-clip in the history of France with its 17 minutes – remain in the imagination of a not so disenchanted generation.
The single Désenchantée has sold 1.3 million copies worldwide.
Fiumei út 16
The Fiumei út National Cemetery is located in Budapest, the Hungarian capital.
Known as the Kerepesi Cemetery, the Fiumei út National Cemetery was inaugurated in 1840.
The place of eternal rest covers an area of 56 hectares. It houses the Funerary Museum and many graves of Hungarian statesmen.
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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.