Philippe Guilbert shoots Catherine Deneuve in Mères et Filles

by Philipe Guilbert
by Philippe Guilbert

Just a quick word to announce the release of Mères et Filles, a film by Julie Lopez-Curval for which I was the DOP. Mères et Filles is a ‘woman’s film’ starring Catherine Deneuve, Marina Hands and Marie-José Croze. After Toi et Moi (starring Julie Depardieu and Marion Coltillard, 2006) this was the second film that I did with her, and I dare say that our collaboration had improved a lot: Julie was a lot more confident in the suggestions and remarks I made regarding the lighting and the shots.

meres et filles

This film’s imagery is very sober, indeed. No special effects whatsoever. The main issue was to emphasize the crossing of three courses of life in two different periods in time: the fifties and the year 2008. We hesitated about how we were going to handle the flash backs, but in the end we opted for a sober approach: everything much in one single style, using only the costumes, hair style and, of course, the narrative to take the viewer back in time. I liked it a lot!

We shot in 35mm, with ordinary traditional color grading. No budget available for scanning and digital coloring!

Film stock: Kodak 50 Daylight: bright and luminous definition, but sharp contrasts. But this was no problem, as Julie wanted a very bright image. Moreover, we made copies on positive Fuji, thus slightly softening the black tones and color saturation. Camera: Arri 535

Belgian crew: the usual suspects – Bruno Verstraete as gaffer, assisted by David Lamberta, Zoé Vink as first assistant. Key grip: a superb technician from Arcachon: Julien Monneret – it was a real pleasure working with him!

 

Catherine Deneuve & Michel Duchaussoy
Catherine Deneuve & Michel Duchaussoy

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