“We come from two different schools”: Everything is going great for Marie Colomb and Hakim Jemili
In Patrick Cassir’s bittersweet comedy, the revelation of Cult and the comedian form a touching duo. Encounter.
As in any good (romantic) comedy, the title is a lie. “Everything is going great”, is the phrase that some people repeat when precisely nothing is going well. It’s the mantra of overwhelmed editors, or here of caregivers and loved ones who cling to a magic formula to ward off the worst. This is the whole subject of Patrick Cassir’s third feature film: denial as a shield and laughter as the only tenable way to look death in the face.
We therefore follow Élie (Hakim Jemili) who, when it begins, is relieved. After five years spent watching over his mother (Noémie Lvovsky, appropriately invasive), suffering from cancer, he learns that she is in remission. He will finally be able to think about himself. One evening of December 31, in a bar, he meets Anaïs (Marie Colomb). It’s love at first sight. Except… Sylvaine relapses. And here is Elie, torn between a love story which is finally opening and another, filial one, which threatens to close. Two ways to love, two ways to be vulnerable.
Presented in competition at the Alpe d’Huez Festival, the film draws on the intimate: Cassir films, in an autobiographical manner, the illness of his own mother. And he succeeds in the most difficult challenge of all – making people laugh about a tragic subject without ever falling into tears. Illness is not the subject of the film. The filmmaker films what she consumes around her, the little arrangements with reality, the lies we tell ourselves to last a little longer.
Obviously, the film holds together thanks to the trio. Hakim Jemili with his demeanor confirms that he is one of the most endearing actors in French cinema: this contagious smile, this nonchalance, this restrained performance. Facing him, Marie Colomb makes a turn. Revealed in Loana in Worship here she offers her first comedy. His sparkling look, his naturalness, permeate the entire film.
“It appealed to me because I love films where we go from laughter to tears. When reading the script I found that there was a good balance between the two“, explains the actress also seen in The Magnetics And As Bestas by Rodrigo Sorogoyen. It is becoming essential. We will find it this year in Eponine in Les Miserables by Fred Cavayé and soon in the biopic of Johnny Hallyday where she will play the singer Nanette Workman alongside Benjamin Voisin:
“She is an American who lived in Canada. She was Johnny’s backing singer for three years, she is an extraordinary woman, very rock, very free. I will have to sing and perform with an American accent. It’s a lot of work, I’m in the middle of it!”
For Hakim Jemili, it’s almost the opposite path. Arriving earlier on the project, he only had access to comedic scenes before accepting the role. He subsequently discovered the dramatic dimension of Everything is going great.
“I tried to put the comedy where it should be, and put the drama where it should be too. These are places where I’m not necessarily expected, but I don’t think I took any risks. I am an actor. But it’s true that when you arrive in the cinema as a comedian, you can be classified as popular comedies and certain actors can get excited about playing with you, especially in this register. I thank Marie for agreeing to work with me on this film.”
Marie Colomb recognizes it, they come from two different schools and did not form “the most obvious duo“, but that’s precisely why she wanted to work with Jemili. And the mayonnaise clearly took off. On screen as in interviews, the chemistry is obvious between the two.
Patrick Cassir also knew how to find the right distance, letting the actors appropriate these characters inspired by his own life. “After a while it became fiction. He’s a very modest person, and the film is also very modest, that’s what makes it beautiful.“, she continues.
Hakim Jemili listened to the director, while drawing on his personal experiences. “It allowed me to get into a state. The luck I had on this film was that I was very well accompanied by Marie, Noémie and the others, and very well directed. In truth, it wasn’t my most complicated shoot, I was super comfortable.“
“Hakim has a really cool thing, he’ll talk to you between takes, but as soon as it says action he’s in the scene“, supports Marie Colomb. “That’s what we all want as an actor, he really has that ability to be in the moment. That’s why he’s so natural in front of the camera.”
Jemili’s other secret is that he performed his last show, Tired, during the filming of Tout va super, which made his partner hallucinate (“you’re sick!“). “I’m never as good at cinema as when I’m on stage at the same time“, he assures us in the video below:
