“Head or tails!” Destination Belleville during the 70s:
Having freshly arrived from Israel with his wife Mireille and their two children, Félix harbors dreams of greatness. This benevolent antique dealer, passionate about racing, gradually helps his family settle in…
His encounter with Serge, a local godfather who shares his roots, will mark a significant turning point in his life.
The choices he makes will profoundly disrupt the childhood of his son Michel, aged eleven. Luis, who has always viewed his father as a hero, will grow up quickly, too quickly…
That is what is written in the synopsis. But in this bittersweet family dramedy, filled with tenderness and nostalgia, director Marco Carmel tells his own story. These are childhood memories. “At four years old, I arrived in Belleville with my parents to try and build a life in France. True, writing this film was very tough, but not making it.”
Serge is portrayed by Richard Berry. How was he chosen? “Having Richard Berry in my film was a dream! He has a face strong enough to be both respectable and corrupt,” replies the director. And Gad Elmaleh? “I was sure he would say no! I met him on a beach in Tel Aviv,” continues Marco Carmel. “I was afraid of appearing comical,” replies Gad, “Speaking Hebrew in a film was enticing. I learned Hebrew in Morocco. And above all, I was going to act alongside the magnificent Yaël Abecassis. With Richard Berry, it was a reunion in a serious film!”
A very beautiful reunion on screen! Gad Elmaleh plays an endearing father, “a man who is unaware of the harm. He thinks he is doing good, while his life spirals into the dark.”
The most difficult scene for Gad Elmaleh was the death of the mother. “Many people cried watching this scene, and when my mother saw the film, she told my sister: ‘I hope he will cry more for me.’ It’s incredible she thought of that! I was really moved while shooting it; it was incredibly intense. And without spoiling the movie, in dying, his mother saves his life and at the same time, it is her fault she dies. It’s very beautiful; she leaves for him…”
The touching scene that Nice-Premium will remember shows an image of a grandmother with her two grandchildren who wants them to listen to a song by Mike Brant “the most successful Israeli in the world,” she says. Then when she goes to turn on the record player, it doesn’t work. So, her eldest grandchild immediately fixes it and says, “You see, grandma, to make it work, you need to have studied.” Then the music plays in the room but suddenly stops. The grandmother then begins to pray, and Mike Brant starts singing again, and then she tells her grandson: “To make it work, you have to believe.”
Félix’s life is determined by fate, a fate he shapes by playing “Heads or Tails.” “The truth is the memory…”
Besides his role in the movie “Like Your Father,” Gad Elmaleh also lends his voice to a little bee in “Bee Movie,” which is a film about ecology and honey production. “It’s very difficult to play a bee,” he confides, “You spend 7-8 hours making buzzing sounds, and then when you leave the studio, you only come across people who have played animals, you meet a duck, a bird, a crocodile… Basically a real menagerie!”
Yes, laughter is truly a part of daily life for Gad Elmaleh. And you know what? He even has plans to direct a comedy film in which he would portray a megalomaniac character named Coco! Gad likes two-syllable names.
To conclude, Gad Elmaleh left us with an idea for a topic he would place on the front page of Nice-Premium if he were the editor: “I would do a feature on respecting people, on France. People need to stop breaking everything; they need to realize that they are lucky to live in France compared to other countries. France is a beautiful country. Love your country…”
