Malabar Princess (2004)

Director:

Gilles Legrand

Writers:

Gilles Legrand (writer)
Marie-Aude Murail (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

3 March 2004 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A man leaves his 8-year old son with his father-in-law who lives near the glacier where the boy's mother died.

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jacques Villeret	...	Gaspard
Jules-Angelo Bigarnet	...	Tom (as Jules Angelo Bigarnet)
Michèle Laroque	...	Valentine
Claude Brasseur	...	Robert
Clovis Cornillac	...	Pierre
Damien Jouillerot	...	Benoit
Urbain Cancelier	...	Gaston
Fabienne Chaudat	...	Odette
Georges Claisse	...	Gardien du refuge
Roland Marchisio	...	Le bijoutier
Patrick Ligardes	...	Gendarme Petit
Franck Adrien	...	Gendarme Hélico
Julianne Loucq	...	Sophie
Alexandre Brasseur	...	Gérard
Rémi Bergman	...	The Optician
Philippe Vuaillat	...	Pompier à la DZ
Bernard Veillet	...	Collègue de Gaston
Marion Gannaz	...	Fillette à l'école

Directed by
Gilles Legrand

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Gilles Legrand		writer
Marie-Aude Murail		writer
Philippe Vuaillat		writer

Produced by
Frédéric Brillion	....	producer

Original Music by
René Aubry
Andrea Sedlácková

Cinematography by
Yves Angelo

Film Editing by
Judith Rivière Kawa
Andrea Sedlácková

Casting by
Anne De Reparaz
Mélanie Gautier
Benjamin Masino
Aïda Pratte

Production Design by
Denis Renault

Costume Design by
Sylvie de Segonzac

Makeup Department
Isabelle de Araujo	....	makeup artist
Jean-Christophe Roger	....	makeup artist
Patrick Villain	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Rémi Bergman	....	unit production manager
Frédéric Blum	....	production manager
Philippe Giblin	....	unit manager
Emmanuel Legrand	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Philippe Chapus	....	first assistant director
Samuel Girardin	....	assistant director
Virginie Marchesseau	....	assistant director

Art Department
Marie José Arnautin	....	painter
Sébastien Borie	....	property master
Marc Fivel	....	assistant decorator
Jean-Philippe Geoffriau	....	assistant art director
Bernard Husquin	....	construction coordinator
Henri Moisan	....	property master
Vincent Panossian	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Katia Boutin	....	assistant sound mixer
Christophe Burdet	....	foley artist
Thomas Desjonquères	....	sound editor
Patrick Egreteau	....	foley artist
Eric Ferret	....	sound recordist
Vincent Goujon	....	boom operator
Jean-Louis Lebras	....	boom operator
Anne Le Campion	....	sound
Xavier Marsais	....	assistant sound mixer
Laurent Poirier	....	sound
Patrice Séverac	....	post-synchronization
Raphael Sohier	....	sound editor
Sébastien Treney	....	assistant sound mixer

Special Effects by
Philippe Hubin	....	special effects supervisor
Denis Le Doyen	....	special effects
Jean-Christophe Magnaud	....	special effects
Sylvain Magnaud	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Thierry Ardiller	....	digital compositor
Raphael Hattab	....	digital artist
Chia-Chi Hu	....	digital compositor
Olivier Poujaud	....	visual effects supervisor

Stunts
Francis Auguy	....	stunts
Gilles Cappelletto	....	stunts
Nils Delagarde	....	stunts
Christophe Marsaud	....	stunts
Loïc Saintilan	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Jérôme Alméras	....	first assistant camera
Patrice Birzin	....	electrician
Stéphane Birzin	....	grip
Fabrice Bismuth	....	assistant camera
Simon Blanchard	....	additional assistant camera
Eric Blanckaert	....	assistant camera
Maxence Bottreau	....	assistant camera
Catherine Cabrol	....	still photographer
Stephane Canda	....	grip
Delahousse	....	best boy
Stéphane Duchemin	....	grip
Thierry Engler	....	electrician
Pierre Hugues Galien	....	assistant camera
Michel Gallois	....	assistant camera
Jean Gava	....	electrician
Mélanie Guégan	....	assistant camera
Pascal Henin	....	electrician
Mouloud Lakrout	....	electrician
Eric Le Roux	....	camera operator (as Eric Leroux)
Rachid Madaoui	....	gaffer
Olivier Martin	....	key grip
Christian Metz	....	grip
James Swanson	....	aerial director of photography
Sebastian Vaysse	....	electrician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Florence Clamond	....	costumer (as Florence Clamond-Vidal)
Paule Mangenot	....	costumer
Josée Mermoud	....	costumer

Editorial Department
François Dupuy	....	post-production
Thomas Marchand	....	assistant editor
Judith Rivière Kawa	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Camille Brugere	....	production assistant
Delahousse	....	production assistant
Brigitte Hedou	....	script supervisor (as Brigitte Hédou-Prat)
Vincent Lefeuvre	....	production assistant
Guillaume Lips	....	digital grader
Marion Sommermeyer	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Epithète Films
• France 3 Cinéma (co-production)
• Rhône-Alpes Cinéma (co-production)
• Canal+ (participation)
• Ciné Cinémas (participation)
• France 3 (FR 3) (participation)
• Centre Européen Cinématographique Rhône-Alpes (participation)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)
• Cofimage 14 (participation)
• Banque Populaire Images 4 (participation)
• Gimages 6
• Sogécinéma 2 (participation)

Distributors

• Warner Bros.

Special Effects

• Bigbang SFX

Runtime:

France:94 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Hong Kong:I

Filming Locations:

Mont-Blanc, Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France

Company:

Epithète Films

A boy comes to terms with his mother's death

When I hear the word "moving" about a film, I usually fear the worst in the form of sentimental, self-indulgent tripe. This movie skilfully steers away from those perils. Light-hearted comedy and fascination for death are mixed in this truly moving film reminiscent of the all-time French classic "Les jeux interdits".

The storyline: Tom is about ten and gets dumped on his grandfather Gaspard (Jacques Villeret), because his mother is dead, and his father is a train driver who is ofter away and cannot give the child the attention he needs. The grandfather lives at the bottom of the very glacier that swallowed up the child's mother five years before. Tom's troubled history is manifested by problems such as dyslexia and anxiety. These sombre themes are balanced by comedy, and by the endearing characters played by Laroque and Villeret. Claude Brasseur is excellent as a rather unsettling garage owner obsessed with finding the treasure hidden on the India Airways plane named Malabar Princess, that crashed on the glacier fifty years earlier (that much is authentic). Finding the treasure involves using dynamite, and on occasions he brings back human remains to be kept in bottles. The whole script is as if seen through the eyes of a child, with crude realism mixed to dream-like fantasies. Jacques Villeret's baby face and innocent outlook further contribute to anchor the film into the world of childhood.

The beauty of the mountain, the great white mass of the glacier makes for beautiful images and powerful symbolism. The troubled and troubling questions of the child about what happens to people who die in a crevasse culminates in the experiment he practices on stolen chickens shut up alive in the freezer ("you told me my mother didn't suffer, because she had a thick feather coat"). Despite all this, the tone is quite light-hearted, and quite appropriate for viewing with children.