12/03/2007

Principal photography begins in Paris today on Notre univers impitoyable (lit. “Our Heartless World”), the second feature by French/Swiss director Léa Fazer, a Haut et Court production starring Alice Taglioni (The Valet [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), Jocelyn Quivrin (The Empire of Wolves) and Thierry Lhermitte (Les Bronzés 3 [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) and co-starring Pascale Arbillot, Scali Delpeyrat and Julie Ferrier.

A former theatre star and highly acclaimed for her feature debut, comedy Bienvenue en Suisse (lit. “Welcome to Switzerland”), which opened the Un Certain Regard sidebar at Cannes 2004, Fazer has chosen the world of large consulting firms for her new film. Already dealt with from a dramatic angle in 2004 by Jean-Marc Moutout in Violence des échanges en milieu tempéré, this time around the profession is portrayed in a black comedy.

Scripted by the director, the film tells the story of Victor (Quivrin) and Margot (Taglioni), a stable, united couple who also work as lawyers for the same large consulting firm (one of the partners of which is played by Lhermitte). But then they both compete for the job of director. Will their relationship endure the strain?

Produced by Carole Scotta and Caroline Benjo for Haut et Court, Notre univers impitoyable carries a €5.2m budget, including €1.2m in funding from M6 Films (€900,000 in pre-sales and €300,000 in co-production) and pre-sales from Canal + and TPS.

The 43-day shoot will take place in and around Paris. Haut et Court has set the film’s release for the first half of 2008 with Films Distribution handling international sales.

Haut et Court is also working on the post-production of Jean-Marc Fitoussi’s La vie d’artiste (see article) and projects lined up include Laurent Cantet’s upcoming film, Entre les murs, which is scheduled to begin shooting next summer.

(Translated from French)