Nice-Première: You are participating in the first mystery novel festival…
Richard Balducci: Yes, as I have written books, my publisher thought it appropriate for me to come. I have always written. I started as a journalist at Paris Soir then at France Soir.
N-P: What does the journalism profession mean to you?
R.B.: It’s a job that delivers information to millions of readers with very concise expressions.
N-P: Do you consider a journalist without a press card to be a journalist?
R.B.: What is a press card? It means nothing. I don’t even know if I ever had one in my life, yet I did journalism in my life. A journalist without a press card is not a journalist? It’s completely stupid to think that. Being a journalist is not about having a piece of paper. Being a journalist is in your head. In the morning when you wake up, you want to write about what you see.
N-P: Journalist but also screenwriter.
R.B.: Yes, especially that. Through journalism, I ended up writing screenplays.
N-P: How?
R.B.: One day, I went to Saint Tropez. At noon, I went to the police station because someone had stolen a camera from my car. The officer asked me, “Do you want to file a complaint?” “Of course,” I said, “but it’s noon. At noon, you don’t file a complaint,” he replied. “But sir, there’s no set time to make a statement just as there’s no set time to be robbed,” then the officer told me I needed to come back at 2 p.m. because at 2 p.m., his chief would be there. So, I told him, “I don’t know if I will get my camera back, but one day, I will make a movie.” That’s how the idea for The Gendarme of St Tropez came to me.
N-P: How did the idea of having Louis de Funès play the role of the gendarme Ludovic Cruchot come about?
R.B.: During the writing process. As I was writing, I envisioned De Funès. It’s better to write for someone you know than for no one.
N-P: And what did Louis de Funès think at the time?
R.B.: He was thrilled. At first, De Funès was a second fiddle in all the films he had done. He deserved better. So, I went to see his producer, telling them that Louis De Funès was worth more than those films. We are going to get him to do a great film. He replied, “But we don’t have a project.” I’ll write one for you.
N-P: And that’s how the famous Louis De Funès was born. You wrote numerous films.
R.B.: 17 films. The last one was “On l’appelle catastrophe” with Michel Leeb. Today, I no longer write.
N-P: Books!
R.B.: Yes, I’m delighted, it allows me to attend events, meet people, and chat with readers.
N-P: You wrote a book about Charles Aznavour.
R.B.: Yes, I wrote with him and about him.
N-P: How did this encounter happen?
R.B.: Charles is a lifelong friend. I knew Charles when we were very young and we stayed very close. We went to South and North America together. We traveled across the U.S.A. I did many things with Charles. He’s a loyal friend and a wonderful person.
N-P: Let’s talk about your mystery novel, “L’autopsie d’une crapule”.
R.B.: As its name suggests, we take a scoundrel and dissect them like a medical examiner. In fact, deep down in every scoundrel, we find a small patch of blue sky.
N-P: And what if we dissected Richard Balducci?
R.B.: One might say it’s the seed of a scoundrel (Laughs). No. I don’t know how you could describe me… Happy, in any case.
N-P: Finally, if we asked you tomorrow to make the front page of our newspaper, what would you put as the headline?
R.B.: The French football cup.
N-P: In politics?
R.B.: Politics doesn’t interest me.
N-P: What do we replace it with?
R.B.: With crossword puzzles.
N-P: In culture?
R.B.: Ah! Culture, that’s something else. Culture is on every corner. It’s wonderful. In Nice, it’s a different kind of culture than in the north, because for me Paris is the north. Here, I find the culture of my homeland, and to be honest, I am Corsican. I feel the same air in Nice. I feel at home. In Paris, no? I feel more at home abroad than in Paris. I feel good in New York, in Rio… Paris is too sprawling. There are too many things.
N-P: And to close this front page, the heartthrob of Richard Balducci?
R.B.: The Mediterranean. When I come here, I breathe, I feel rejuvenated (Smile)
