08/01/2003 - The French director has completed his fifth film with a tiny budget of just Euros2m. It's based on a British play and stars Anna Mouglaglis and Hyppolite Girardot

Arnaud Desplechin has just wrapped production on his latest film, En jouant dans la compagnie des hommes (Playing in the company of men), based on the play by Britain’s Edward Bond, and starring Hypolite Girardot, Anna Mouglaglis and Sami Bouajila.
Desplechin was forced to interrupt production work on Roi set Reines after Canal+ ran into the well-documented financial problems. He began making En jouant dans la compagnie des hommes, his fifth feature in April 2002 with a tiny budget of just Euros2mn.
Co-produced by Why Not Productions, the drama arm of Franco-German TV channel ARTE and by Capa Drama, En jouant dans la compagnie des hommes is a thriller set in England’s financial and arms dealing worlds and is vaguely reminiscent of Al Pacino’s Looking for Richard.
It was made using three distinct filmmaking techniques that will be united in the editing process: DV, HDDV and 35mm film. The film is a new technological challenge for Desplechin, a director known for his love of perfection and a favourite with both French film critics and fans alike. Audiences will see the result for themselves in 2003 when the film is scheduled to be broadcast on Arte and also released theatrically.

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(Translated from French)