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PRODUCTION France

Auteuil wanted man in Donnant donnant

by 

Shooting gets underway next Monday in Seine-et-Marne on Isabelle Mergault’s third feature, Donnant donnant.

After the box office success of You Are So Beautiful [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(3.5m admissions in 2006) and A Widow at Last [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(2.2m viewers in 2008), the director is this time banking on the talent of Daniel Auteuil (Someone I Loved [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
) in the lead role. The cast also includes Sabine Azéma (Wild Grass [+see also:
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film profile
]
) and Romania’s Medeea Marinescu.

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Co-written by the director and Jean-Pierre Hasson, the film centres on a man who has escaped from prison (Auteuil) after being convicted of murder. He takes refuge on a barge, next to a small, deserted village whose inhabitants have lost all hope.

This gruff man, who appears from nowhere, breathes life back into the village, in particular among its female residents whose hearts had almost ceased to beat. But a woman turns up and, recognising him, agrees to keep quiet on condition that he kill someone.

This catch-22 situation is explained by the director in a statement of intent: "Do we always obtain what we want, especially when love dances on an unknown edge? Alas, nothing ever happens as expected... There is such a fine line between love and death..."

Produced by Gaumont (like the director’s two previous works) and co-produced by Thelma Films and France 2 Cinéma, Donnant donnant has also been pre-bought by Canal + and Ciné Cinéma. The first part of the ten-week shoot will take place in Château-Landon in the Ile-de-France region until October 9.

Besides handling international sales, Gaumont will launch the film domestically on March 31, 2010.

Gaumont’s forthcoming releases include Christophe Campos’ La Loi de Murphy (“Murphy’s Law”, on November 4) and Karim Dridi’s The Last Flight, starring Marion Cotillard and Guillaume Canet (November 18).

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(Translated from French)

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