Manon Briand can no longer keep still. She will start filming the comedy in ten days The cook and the customs officer, Her first film since Liverpool, which was released in cinemas in 2012. However, it wasn’t a lack of inspiration that kept her away from film sets for more than a decade, quite the opposite. “This is the fifth script that I have worked on for ten years and it is the one that ultimately led to the film,” explains the director in an interview Newspaper.
“We imagine a lot of movie scenarios in our heads, but we never know if they will become reality,” she adds. So I’m very happy to finally be able to shoot!”
The Cook and the Customs Officer, which Manon Briand has no hesitation in calling a “feel-good film,” tells the story of a fame-seeking French chef (played by French actor Édouard Baer) who tries to help a child (Élodie Fontaine). Win a culinary competition. However, he must contend with the hostility of an entire village toward his mother, the unyielding local customs officer (Julie Le Breton).
Pierre-Paul Poulin / Le Journal de Montréal / Agence QMI
The director of “2 Seconds” and “The Turbulence of Fluids” says she had a lot of fun writing this comedy, which has been “simmering” in her head for about a decade.
“There are little things in the film that come from my personal life,” she admits. But the starting point, I would say, is a big report I saw on TV about star chefs who train for years to compete in culinary competitions. You put everything aside to practice making a perfect mousse. Quebec chef Samuel Sirois [qui travaillera comme consultant sur le film] had done the same to prepare for the Bocuse d’Or [un concours mondial de la cuisine].
“It opened me up to this fascinating world that, in my eyes, was both funny and tragic. These people may train for four years to compete in a competition that they may not win. We can compare this to athletes who train for years to compete.
A “generous” film
Manon Briand is aware that the world of gastronomy has been often portrayed on the small and large screen in recent years.
“But my film is not just about cooking,” she warns. It’s an excuse, an environment to talk about something else.”
An excuse for entertainment too. Because one of the main goals of the chef and the customs officer will be “to make people laugh by evoking real emotions in the audience.”
“It will be a film full of generosity and humor,” she promises.
The filmmaker is pleased to be able to count on actor Édouard Baer (Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra) to play the French chef in her film.
“When we offered the role to Édouard, I expected it would take months to hear back. But after three days he called me to tell me he had accepted, she says.
“What helps a lot is that Édouard loves Quebec. You only have to spend an hour with him on the street to see the effect he has on people. He’s an incredible charmer!”
She is also proud of the rest of her film’s cast, which also includes Julie Le Breton (in the role of the customs officer), Michèle Deslauriers (the village mayor), Normand Chouinard, Lélia Nevert, Oussama Fares, Douaa Kachache and Sylvain Marcel.
“I paid for it. I included everyone I loved,” she concludes.
Filming of the comedy “The Cook and the Customs Officer” will take place this fall in Montreal and Montérégie. The film will be released in summer 2024.