“Superhero in spite of himself was supposed to be a parody of Jason Bourne” (interview)
The two members of the Fifi gang look back on the origins of their superheroic comedy, to be seen again this Sunday on TF1.
Updated April 14, 2024: While Superhero in spite of himself arrives in the clear on television, a look back at the creation of this comedy of La Bande à Fifi (Babysitting, Alibi.com…). A team which will be at the heart of the show planned for the second part of the evening by TF1, entitlede Fifi, Juju, Tarek… the story of a gang. At the start of 2022, Philippe Lacheau and Julien Arruti presented this Marvel blockbuster parody project in First. Flashback.
Interview from January 17, 2022: Return to Alpe d’Huez! After a 2021 vintage canceled due to Covid, the Isère international comedy film festival returns in great form this evening. On the program for the opening of this 25th edition, Philippe Lacheau and his whole gang, who came to present a preview Superhero in spite of himself. The story of Cédric (Lacheau), a failed actor who by chance lands a role in a superhero film. After borrowing the film car, he is the victim of an accident which causes him to lose his memory. Still dressed in the costume and surrounded by accessories from the film, he really believes he is a masked vigilante… After his adaptation of Nicky Larson, Philippe Lacheau returns to the slaughter of schoolboy gags with a funny object, somewhere between romantic-parody comedy and action film. A mix of genres told to us by the actor/director and his friend Julien Arruti.
How does a Fifi gang film come about? Is it a concept above all?
Philippe Lacheau : There is no rule. The idea of Superhero in spite of himself, we had it at least five or six years ago. Except that basically, it wasn't about making a film about superheroes but more about diverting The memory in the skin. We said to ourselves that there was an axis of comedy to be found with the subject of amnesia and so basically, it was a real parody of Jason Bourne : the story of an actor who was filming a spy film, lost his memory and really thought he was a spy. When writing it, we said to ourselves that for the sequel, he would relive the same thing but on the set of a superhero film.
Julien Arruti : And in fact the idea was so good that we started from the beginning, we rewrote everything.
PL : We found it funnier and crazier to talk about superheroes. And above all, it brought us a whole universe.
This is why the film is not a true parody of superhero films, as one might have thought.
PL : No, what interested us most was the story of memory loss.
J.A. : It was the “despite himself” that we found cool. More than making a real superhero movie.
PL : And that makes the story a little more original than a simple parody, with a loser superhero… And then it had already been done a little bit with Hancock. The subject was wrung out.
J.A. : It perhaps resonates more with everyone to have as the main character an everyday guy who thinks he's a superhero.
As Nicky Larson, Superhero in spite of himself contains many action scenes. This is something quite new in your films.
PL : But each time it suited the subject. It's not a desire to do action for the sake of action, to force the scenario so that it fits. However, it's true that we like it, it brings ” production value ” as the saying goes. That’s a bonus: the goal is first and foremost to make people laugh. I know that in the United States, in productions like Fast & Furious, they start by defining the big action scenes of the film, and then they build the story around them. We don't do that, but it's true that a scene that we find cool, we'll try to put in the film.
J.A. : On the other hand, we sometimes build scenes around a valve. When we have a great gag, we tell ourselves that we have to succeed in including it. But in a natural way, so that it’s not far-fetched. Especially for me (He laughs while rubbing his bald head).
But the arrival of the action in your cinema is very consistent with your humor, which is often based on slapstick.
J.A. : What do you call that?
The slapstick, a form of physical humor. Is that something you think about a lot?
PL : To tell you the truth, I would prefer that we were better at dialogue valves.
Because in your mind it’s less noble, “physical” humor?
PL : No, because it costs less! Frankly, if you're good at text, you only use punchlines and the film is hilarious, I'll buy it. Because you shoot a lot faster and the film costs a lot less money! We have a problem – well, I don't know if it's a problem – which is that the valves that come to us are rather visual and complicated to make. So it takes a lot of time to shoot them. So, sometimes, we try to find more punchlines.
J.A. : But I also believe that when people come to see our films, they also expect to see gags, burlesque…
Are you always aware of what will make your audience laugh? Do you think of your films like that?
J.A. : No, we're already thinking about what makes us laugh… and we're crossing our fingers that the public will like it.
PL : And when we have finished the script, we make predictions about what will make you laugh the most in the film. We annotate the scenario and it's fun to see who messed up.
Nicky Larson – Philippe Lacheau: “Comedy is not an exact science”
Did you design Superhero in spite of himself like a sort of flashback, after Nicky Larson which was not the expected success?
PL: No. And then there are plenty of possible analyzes on Nicky Larson. When we announced the film, we got smashed like never before. We were shocked. It was hard to shoot with that in mind. But the wind changed direction once the film was released. We get asked this question all the time today: “QWhen will there be a sequel? » Let's say that we perhaps got off to a bad start, that it took us a while to convince people.
J.A. : We were disappointed but we put things into perspective a little after contacting professionals in the industry who told us that there aren't many French films that attract 1.7 million admissions. We were a bit like spoiled children, used to making two or three million.
PL : And then – we're going to say that these are mythological excuses – but there was spectacular weather in February 2019, it was 20 degrees! And you know that when the weather is nice like this, attendance plummets. If there hadn't been three weeks of good weather – and it's Sony who tells us this – we'd make two million. In addition Alita and Escape Game were released at the same time and they were aimed at somewhat the same audience.
What is your target, exactly? Who is your audience?
PL : We have more of an audience of young people.
J.A. : Teens, pre-teens.
PL : Even up to 25 years old, but in any case these are people who had not necessarily heard of Nicky Larson. The audience who knew it was older, young adults who have young children. And they are the ones who go to the cinema the least!
J.A. : The action/comedy mix was perhaps also a little confusing for the audience. Quite a few people must have wondered.
PL : The promise may not have been clear. But then we discovered Nicky Larson to a whole new generation. It also perhaps brought us a new audience who didn't watch our films, who didn't calculate us.
This idea of “clear promise” is interesting, because all your films focus on an extremely defined concept.
PL : It's true that we like concept films, the strong idea that we are going to stretch throughout a film. Maxime Saada, the boss of Canal+, told us: “ What's good about your films is that we can summarize them in an elevator! » But as a spectator, I like it too. When someone pitches me a film, I like to say to myself: “ Oh damn good idea, I want to see it “.
But it may also be this simplification that prevents you from broadening your audience. I have the impression that you have a very solid core of fans, and that they are the ones you seek above all to please.
J.A. : When we write, we don't think about that. We try to write a story that we want to see through to the end, with big non-stop gags. We don't think about the audience or the target. We write as we have always written. That's why we have an audience that follows us: we stay true to what we love to do.
PL : And if we had thought like that we wouldn't have done Nicky Larson. Because on paper, it wasn't a win.
J.A. : Maybe we'll make a naughty film, just to change the target (Laughter.)
PL : An erotic comedy, but family friendly!
Eleven years after Alain Chabat, Philippe Lacheau at the helm of a new film Marsupilami?
