“The Family Hero” is a film “about transmission and heritage, family secrets and the involuntary belonging to a social and cultural environment,” set in the night, in the cabaret world with “its girls and magic acts.”
And the setting? Nice, where the director has “many personal childhood memories.” However, if you stop to search for the inheritance stake, “The Blue Parrot” on the French Riviera, you are on the wrong track; it’s a true Marseilles establishment but entirely fictional on the Côte d’Azur.
That’s where the very beautiful and enchanting Emmanuelle Béart sings.
That’s where Valérie Lemercier leads a revue and performs a trapeze act.
That’s where Gérard Lanvin, assisted by Miou-Miou, becomes a magician, “someone very dexterous and skillful”: A challenge for this great actor who considers himself “as clumsy as can be”!
That’s where Claude Brasseur becomes Gabrielle. “A drag artist, […] a performer who does an act dressed as a woman,” but Gabrielle is “certainly not a comedic character. He should never be ridiculous. On the contrary, he should be touching and moving”: A significant challenge successfully met by this celebrated giant of French cinema.
Let’s not forget the noteworthy performance of Pierrick Lilliu, for whom this is the first film role. The young artist revealed by “Nouvelle Star” showed his acting talent by easily portraying a homosexual “with tender and loving gestures.”
Claude Brasseur plays the role of the director of a famous cabaret. At his death, all his family members by heart are brought together, despite themselves, … for the time of an inheritance, an opportunity to explain, settle some scores, make confessions, or finally discover who are his parents, his friends, his children, or former loves. “The show must go on”!
A beautiful ensemble film that is touching, moving, and funny, which Christopher Thompson and Thierry Klifa, the two screenwriters, have highlighted!
Official website: www.leherosdelafamille-lefilm.com
