“We spent our time looking at people, making fun of them, of ourselves too!”: the crazy story of the Splendid told by Gérard Jugnot

Midi Libre gives the floor this week to the actors of the emblematic troupe that celebrates its 50th anniversary with the book “Le Splendid par le Splendid, nous nous sont tant marrés” (Le Cherche Midi), sold for the benefit of the Foundation for Medical Research (FRM). Interview today with Gérard Jugnot.

You found many unpublished documents for this book retracing the history of the Splendid, how did you experience this flashback ?

It's 50 years of our lives… It's funny to see memories resurface, photos that I didn't know, or that I had forgotten. It doesn't make us any younger! I was interested because I had already written part of this story in a book, Une époque formidable (Grasset), I told my feelings about this era.

Thierry had the idea for this new book because he wanted to make it a great operation for the Foundation for Medical Research.

It was a way of doing something together again because we don't have time to get together anymore and I'm very proud of the book, it's very joyful, very copious and I think it works very well.

And the fact that everyone can give their point of view like this – which is never the same – was interesting. Especially since we hadn't read what the others had written. That's what was quite moving, seeing what people thought of each other, what we perhaps hadn't always said to each other.

It's quite disturbing and it takes on even more strength and emotion with the disappearance of Michel who gave us a big blow. He left the day before the book was ready to print. It was the last thing he wrote.

Were you surprised by the extent of the emotion his death caused across the country??

It was crazy to see how much people had adopted us, it was very powerful, we experienced wonderful things thanks to this audience that never left us.

You didn't have a new project together, before Michel Blanc's disappearance ?

There was something hanging around, it was with actors from the Splendid but it wasn't written by the Splendid. All of that is a bit put on hold given the circumstances.

But I think Michel would never have wanted to make another film, it was the first one that “suffered” from both the protective and somewhat stifling side of the group, so he didn't write the second one Bronzés, he didn't write Le Père Noël, he's not in it.

He had a somewhat special place from the start.

Yes, and we all have our own places, it's a collective of individualists. That's what makes me very proud, is that we said “we” for fifteen years and then everyone successfully said “I”, it's quite rare. It's a group where there has never been a leader and where everyone has led their own ship and continues to lead it.

What brings you together?

I think it's the subtitle of the book: “We had so much fun”. We met in high school, we laughed like idiots, we messed around a lot, but we were very serious in our messing around and in our derision…

Michel Blanc, Thierry Lhermitte; Marie-Anne Chazel and Gérard Jugnot. Personal collection

I think it’s derision, the common denominator, a certain laughter. It had to make everyone laugh. That’s why the films were quite dense, because when we were writing, we threw out lots of ideas and as long as they weren’t unanimously adopted, we rejected them.

A lot of things were thrown away. That's why each of us made films separately. The big joke, when it didn't make us laugh, was to say “you'll keep it for your film, for your next play”. I even made films that were the continuation of our writings. When I did Blue Helmet, it was a version of the comic-drama club.

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“Finally alone!”, but without ever staying very far from the Splendid troupe. Personal collection

Papy fait de la résistance and Monsieur Batignole, it was also another way of approaching the same subject. We can even think that Une époque formidable skewed towards Félix.

Overall, there was very little room for emotion in our shows and in our films, that was also the group's problem, except maybe a little bit in Le Père Noël with Clavier, a little something in Les Bronzés. What is normal, when we were together, there was not one point of view, it was a point of view of six.

So we made our more personal films afterwards with our sensibilities, our way of telling life.

But you always have collectively a sense of acute observation of your contemporaries…

We spent our time watching people, making fun of them, of ourselves too, of our parents. Each had their role. That's what made us successful, is that we didn't step on each other's toes.

Michel had a great sense of dialogue, I was more concerned with visual things and visual gags. Christian was more insistent on the characters, Thierry also on a certain ferocity. Josiane was always a little behind, but she had flashes of brilliance that were important. Marie-Anne defended her bit of fat. Everyone tried to pull the sheet so that everyone was well served.

That's what gave rise to these cult characters, notably in Le Père Noël, however, at the beginning, the roles were not distributed in that way.

Yes, they absolutely wanted me to play the transvestite Katia, it made them laugh.

Gérard Jugnot and Christian Clavier in “Santa Claus is a Bastard”. Personal collection

I didn't want to shave my moustache and it pissed me off to put on makeup every day. Christian performed it divinely, so there are no regrets.

These cult lines are now part of everyday language…

We are very happy about that, very proud. But hey, we didn't sit down to write a cult film, we found something that made us laugh and it turned out that we hit the mark and people took it, that's a great opportunity.

This deep and lasting bond that you have formed with the French, from generation to generation, how do you analyze it?

I don't explain it, I observe it. As Jouvet said, “success justifies everything, but explains nothing”. Maybe there was a little talent, a little work and we were lucky to be in tune with the world we live in. Afterwards, it’s true that it’s a blessing to see that these films don’t go out of style.

Like the films we made separately, I’m very proud that Scout toujours, Pinot simple flic, are being broadcast multiple times like Les Choristes, or Monsieur Batignole, or that Les Visiteurs, Grosse fatigue, Marche à l’ombre or Gazon maudit.

It's a little pride to know that many films praised at the same time have fallen into oblivion, while we were a little looked down upon.

Do you have new projects together?

I don't know at all, but we're very open. I hope to make a film that will probably feature Thierry.

I am also happy with what I am doing with the younger generations, I am also currently filming with Christophe Barratier Les Enfants de la Résistance, I also found Nicolas Benamou for On avait faut aller en Grèce (Gérard Jugnot was also recently on the bill for Neuilly-Poissy, by Grégory Boutboul).

You continue to see each other ?

We spent our youth together, now each has his own life, each his own path, but we don't lose sight of each other, we go see each other, at the theater, in the movies.

Michel I hadn't seen him for a long time. Unfortunately, we found ourselves in circumstances that we would have liked to avoid.

With this wreath of flowers as a final nod to Michel Blanc on the day of his funeral…

We made a very beautiful wreath on behalf of “The colleagues of the Française d’Intensité”, it's a kind of stupid society that we had created in our first theater, but they didn't put it in the Church, it stayed on the forecourt.

They thought they had the wrong Church (laughs), it made us laugh in our sadness.

The book “Le Splendid par le Splendid, nous se sont tant marrés” (Le Cherche Midi, with Jean-Pierre Lavoignat, 256 pages, €26.50) is currently on sale for the benefit of the Foundation for Medical Research (FRM). I subscribe to read the rest