...Comme elle respire (1998)

Director:

Pierre Salvadori

Writers:

Danièle Dubroux (writer)
Pierre Salvadori (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

15 April 1998 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Plot:

Jeanne is a young weirdo girl who flies to Paris, and is hired by an old lady called Madeleine as an au pair...

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Marie Trintignant	...	Jeanne
Guillaume Depardieu	...	Antoine
Jean-François Stévenin	...	Marcel
Serge Riaboukine	...	Barnabé
Blanchette Brunoy	...	Madeleine
Michèle Moretti	...	Jeanne's mother
Bernard Verley	...	Jeanne's father
Joe Grancher-Pedretti	...	Jérémie
Marc Susini	...	François
Blandine Pélissier	...	Hélène
Gwenaëlle Simon	...	Isabelle
Patrick Ligardes	...	Waiter at restaurant
Kamel Cherif	...	Pizzeria boss
Eric-Ruben Biyick	...	Stranger at the bar
Luc-Antoine Diquéro	...	Doctor Balcon
Patrick Lizana	...	Chauffeur
Nicolas Koretzky	...	Waiter at bar
Pascale Lievyn	...	Tearoom owner
Thierry Balcon	...	Friend 'spare a dime?'
Sylvie Jobert	...	Young woman at accident
Thibaut Nolte	...	Male nurse at accident
Camille Célia	...	Woman at kidnapping
Gérard Chaix	...	Guest at wedding
Michèle Rème	...	Guest at wedding
Corina Pomerantz	...	Young woman at wedding
Andrée Saldo	...	Madeleine's family member
Corinne Vauvillé	...	Madeleine's family member
Jean Lechoux	...	Madeleine's family member
Lisa Livane	...	Madeleine's cousin
Jean-Baptiste Marcenac	...	A cousin
Alain Teulié	...	Jérémie's father
Jacques Dacqmine	...	Maître Maillard
Bernard Bourdeau	...	Priest
Vincent Nemeth	...	Policeman
Mathieu Archer	...	Policeman
Arnaud Le Morillon	...	Stranger on motorbike
Anne-Marie Grisoni	...	Old corsican woman
Noël Rocchiccioli	...	Old corsican man
Isabelle Petit-Jacques	...	Madame Martin
Marion Cerquant	...	Waitress
Fawzi B. Saichi	...	Grocer (as Fawzi B. Saïchi)

Directed by
Pierre Salvadori

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Danièle Dubroux		writer
Pierre Salvadori		writer
Marc Syrigas		writer

Produced by
Gérard Louvin	....	co-producer
Philippe Martin	....	producer

Original Music by
Camille Bazbaz

Cinematography by
Gilles Henry

Film Editing by
Hélène Viard

Casting by
Marie-Jeanne Pascal

Production Design by
Valérie Chemain

Art Direction by
Yan Arlaud

Costume Design by
Valérie Pozzo di Borgo

Makeup Department
Michelle Bernet	....	additional makeup artist (as Michèle Bernet)
Sano De Perpessac	....	key hair stylist
Bernard Floch	....	key makeup artist
Isabelle Nyssen	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Mathias Benguigui	....	unit manager
Christophe Casanova	....	unit manager
Christian Paumier	....	production manager
Luc Tissot	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Brice Cauvin	....	first assistant director
Axelle Laborde	....	trainee assistant director
Jérôme Tardieu	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Philippe Bonnard	....	props
Olivier Bouet	....	key carpenter
Patrick Buisson	....	carpenter
Jean-Pierre Cabardo	....	carpenter
Baba Coudanne	....	set dresser
Joëlle de Jesus	....	painter
Anne Deschaintres	....	painter
Christophe Doubliez	....	carpenter
Brahim El Amrani	....	painter
Ludovic Erbelding	....	carpenter
Hélène Imbert	....	key painter
Ouabid Kaddachi	....	painter
David Karoubi-Szymkowicz	....	second assistant decorator
Arnaud Lenoble	....	constructor
Bruno Lousteau	....	carpenter
Anne Marchand	....	painter
Michel Masson	....	painter
Théo Meyer	....	construction manager
Franck Monseigny	....	assistant art director (as Frank Monseigny)
Benjamin Sadok	....	constructor
Bernard Schlegel	....	tapestry
Maxime Schlegel	....	tapestry

Sound Department
Nicolas Becker	....	foley artist
Yves Coméliau	....	sound trainee
Dominique Dalmasso	....	sound
Assia Dnednia	....	assistant foley artist (as Assia Dnednia-Walker)
Philippe Donnefort	....	sound assistant
Philippe Heissler	....	sound editor
Hubert Persat	....	assistant sound editor
Laurent Poirier	....	sound
Jean-François Schenegg	....	boom operator
Pierre Tucat	....	boom operator
Dominique Vieillard	....	co-sound mixer

Special Effects by
Philippe Alleton	....	special effects
Jean-François Cousson	....	special effects
Piotr Styczen	....	special effects
Pierre Turmeau	....	special effects

Stunts
Laurent Larcher	....	stunt double
Roland Neunreuther	....	stunts
Patrick Steltzer	....	stunts
Daniel Vérité	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Nicolas Beauchamp	....	second assistant camera
Olivier Clausse	....	electrician
Philippe Dalera	....	additional grip
Jean-François Grancher	....	electrician
Gilbert Lucido	....	key grip
Sylvain Maillard	....	first assistant camera
Ted Paczula	....	still photographer
Jean-Luc Perréard	....	additional grip
Serge Pinson	....	gaffer
Marc Tevanian	....	first assistant camera
Laurence Trémolet	....	still photographer
Laurent Usse	....	grip

Casting Department
Alain Charbit	....	casting assistant
Sylvie Minéo	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Bernadette Beaudet	....	assistant costume designer
Elisabeth Dordevic	....	costumer
Marie Rodriguez	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Olivier Bondeelle	....	assistant editor
Florence Lemoine	....	post-production coordinator
Simon Njoo	....	trainee assistant editor

Music Department
France Tarpinian	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Hélène Bastide	....	production administrator
Patrick Demoro	....	groupman
Jean-Michel Gageat	....	groupman
Olivier Guerbois	....	location manager
Patrick Lemaire	....	groupman
Richard Verkade	....	groupman
Nathalie Vierny	....	script supervisor
Elise Voitey	....	production secretary

Production Companies

• Canal+
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)
• France 2 Cinéma
• Glem Production
• La Sept Cinéma
• Les Films Pelléas
• Procirep

Distributors

• Cinema Mondo (Finland)
• Les Films du Losange (France)

Other Companies

• GTC  film lab
• Iris Camera  camera equipment
• Marchetti  titles and opticals
• Pyral  sound film
• SVL  grip equipment
• Telegrip  grip equipment
• Transpalux  electrical equipment
• Tri-Track Sync  dubbing services

Also Known As:

White Lies (USA)

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud)

Company:

Canal+

Soundtrack:

Maria Maria

look where rash lying can lead you

The title of Pierre Salvadori's third effort is the second part of a French expression concerning lies. In English, one would translate as "he's a compulsive liar". The chief subject of "Comme Elle Respire" partly revolves around the art of lying and this characteristic will also be prevailing in "Après Vous" (2003), perhaps Salvadori's finest hour.

Jeanne (Marie Trintignant) has the gift of telling extravagant stories about herself. But at the very beginning of the film, little did she know that due to this dangerous habit she would find herself in the heart of an abduction organized by a wretched gangster, Antoine (Guillaume Depardieu) and his two sidekicks, Barnabé (Serge Riaboukine) and Marcel (Jean-François Stévenin) to demand a ransom to her parents. Circumstances and her tendency to tell false tales led her to pretend to come from a rich family to an old lady but as we say: "walls have ears". Her parents actually come from a modest background and to complicate things a little, Antoine falls in love with Jeanne.

Pierre Salvadori kept some strong points of his first film "Cible Emouvante" (1993) which made it enjoyable. Like in his 1993 film, "Comme Elle Respire" has potent delineations of the characters which give the movie substance. Then, Salvadori films Jeanne's adventures on a communicative effervescent style with hilarious, preposterous moments. A sense of unpredictable in the development and the construction of the story gives it a fresh, original tonality. This is reinforced by the fact that Salavdori's effort is straddling two genres: detective comedy and sentimental film...

...and this is where the film shows some glitches. As it constantly fluctuates between these two poles, it unbalances the whole film. The transition from comedy to drama is often a little hard to follow and the denouement is laboriously solved. The final installment in Corsica is both an asset and a disadvantage. An asset because it cements Jeanne's elusive personality and a drawback because it stretches a little too far the film towards the sentimental domain.

But this honorable work shouldn't be decried all the same and the actors make it worthwhile which add to the justification of the screening of the film provided this lack of cohesion of the genres aforementioned above doesn't mind you.