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2009 Festival Feature Films (March 27-29)

French director Jean-Michel Ribes, French producer Frédéric Brillion and French actress Josiane Balasko present the North American premiere of Musée haut musée bas

director Jean-Michel Ribes screenplay Jean-Michel Ribes producers Hervé Frédéric Brillion, Gilles Legrand based on the play by Jean-Michel Ribes starring Michel Blanc, Simon Abkarian, Victoria Abril, Pierre Arditi, Alfredo Arias, John Arnold, Sophie Artur, Hélène Babu, Josiane Balasko, Jean-Damien Barbin, Isabelle Carré, Julie Ferrier, Annie Grégorio, Gérard Jugnot, Fabrice Luchini, Yolande Moreau, François Morel, Daniel Prévost, Muriel Robin, Eva Darlan, Urbain Cancelier, Avril Benard, Xavier Gallais, Laurent Gamelon, Dominique Pinot, Milan Mauger, Aurélia Petit, Alexis Maah, Franck de la Personne, Patrick Robine, Samuel Theis, Tonie Marshall, Pierre Lescure, Valérie Mairesse, Christian Hecq, Francois-Xavier Demaison, André Dussollier, Evelyne Bouix running time 1 h 37 min general audience

Synopsis

A curator terrorized by green plants, a mother coated in plastic so as to be exhibited, a ballet of Holy Virgins, museum attendants exhausted by Rodin, a car that disappears in the Rembrandt parking deck, provincial folks in love with impressionist paintings, hoards of tourists galloping from one room to another, an illegal passenger at sea among primitive art, Picasso, Gauguin, Warhol — they are all gathered here in this little world that resembles the big one, in this museum not quite as imaginary as it appears, where the human comedy waltzes to a burlesque beat.

director/screenwriter/actor
Jean-Michel Ribes

producer
Frédéric Brillion

actress
Josiane Balasko

For selected filmography see Cliente.

actor
Gérard Jugnot

selected films since 1978

actor
Michel Blanc

actor
Fabrice Luchini

selected films since 1994

actor
Pierre Arditi

Interview with Jean-Michel Ribes (director/screenwriter)

Before we begin discussing this film, we have to discuss the play from which it was derived. How was this play born?
It was born without my realizing it. I began writing about characters who strolled around in a museum, much like playing keys on a piano in order to find a tune, and little by little they brought me into this free and crazy place where the imaginary, the sublime, the sophisticated, the grotesque, the ridiculous, the ugly — in short the up side and the down side meet. I quickly realized that the masterpieces that interested me more were the people who were looking at the masterpieces. Visitors, tourists and guards, all with differing ideas of what is aesthetically pleasing, all cohabitating in a museum. Some are surrealists, others are naïve, romantic, or even unrefined, scandalous, burlesque, etc.

I escaped to Naples for a few days in order to try to put all of this onto paper and when I returned to Paris, I decided to put this pandemonium into a movie.

The film had an exceptional cast ranging from Michel Blanc to Muriel Robin and including Isabelle Carré, Gérard Jugnot, Josiane Balasko and Fabrice Luchini, etc. Was it difficult to manage all these people on the set?
Curiously, yes. I sensed a real connection between the actors and the scenario. It is true that I had already worked with many of them and that most of them had laughed plenty when they saw the play. They all knew that there were not 120 minor roles but rather somehow, 120 leading roles. They all accepted this without a bashed ego … well most of them (laughs).

What was the last museum you visited? Aside from those where you filmed, of course.
I often go to Beaubourg — it is a place that is invigorating and lively. Sometimes I go in the afternoon, it helps me center my thoughts; even better, contemporary art restores my will for life. Because you have to admit these days we are living in a world where the economy devours everything; we have the impression that we are no longer citizens but rather part of an enterprise that must make profit at all costs. Whether our politicians are on the right, or on the left, or wherever else they are, they never take a stand on culture, as if it is counter-productive and it does not concern people. Culture is not only museums, cinema and theater, but also a connection with others, a way of expressing oneself, an art of living, a happiness of being. I have the feeling that after the social breakdown we are up for a cultural breakdown. A technician told me after seeing the film “you know your museum that is sinking; it is exactly what is happening these days. …”