Le Stade de Wimbledon is a French film directed by Mathieu Amalric, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in August 2001, followed by a general release in France on 13 February 2002. The director's second feature, this is a faithful adaptation of Italian writer Daniele Del Giudice's 1983 homonym novel, which, contrary to what its title suggests, is the story of a personal and literary quest in the Italian border town of Trieste. The film's main protagonist is played by actress Jeanne Balibar, who also acts as narrator.
Well-received by the critics, this work, with its distinctive aesthetic and rhythm, has enabled Mathieu Amalric to be seen by the profession and the public alike as a director in his own right in French auteur cinema, and not just as one of its leading players. The film's selection as one of the nine finalists for the 2002 Prix Louis-Delluc is just one element in this recognition.
Synopsis In the streets of Trieste, Italy, a young woman sets out to find a writer, Bobi Wohler, who never published a book during his lifetime, apart from his Italian translations of the works of Robert Musil and Franz Kafka. This ghost-writer died in the 1960s and became a figure in the literary and intellectual milieu of this border town, which was nourished by the triple cultural influence of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the turn of the century, Italy at the beginning of its unity, and post-war Yugoslavia. Wohler frequented Italo Svevo, Eugenio Montale and James Joyce.
Over the course of an entire year, she makes four trips to the city (one per season), each lasting one day, interviewing old booksellers and people close to Wohler for her work, in an increasingly personal, quasi-metaphysical quest whose real reasons are not revealed - although it is probably academic research in nature. Her journey ends in London, England, where she meets Ljuba Blumenthal, a former companion of the writer, to whom she submits her work. After an unsuccessful one-night stand in an English pub, she wanders the deserted bays of Wimbledon stadium's center court.
Crew
Title: Le Stade de Wimbledon Director: Mathieu Amalric (assisted by Elsa Amiel) Screenplay: Mathieu Amalric and Daniele Del Giudice after his novel Le Stade de Wimbledon (1983) Photography: Christophe Beaucarne assisted by Ursula Sigon and Guillaume Deffontaines Sound: Philippe Morel Editing: François Gédigier, Laurence Briaud, Barbara Bascou Original music: Wimbledon Gates by Grégoire Hetzel (adapted from China Gates (1977) by John Adams) performed on piano by Jérôme Ducros Additional music: Rodolphe Burger and Thomas Lago (Beauty Mask), Gianmaria Testa (Polvere di gesso), Joseph Haydn (sonata no 58 in C major) Line producer: Paulo Branco Production and distribution: Gémini Films Budget: approx. 3 million francs (~ 460,000 euros) Country of origin: France (visa n° 98.849) Genre: drama Format: 35 mm - 1.85:1 - Dolby SRD Language: French, Italian, English, Friulian, Slovenian Running time: 70 minutes National release dates: 24 January 2002 in the Netherlands 13 February 2002 in France 8 March 2002 in the United States 12 March 2002 in Argentina 7 August 2002 in Belgium 4 October 2002 in Portugal DVD release: 4 June 2007. (Includes an 18-minute "postscript" entitled Malus as Bonus)
Cast
Jeanne Balibar: The young woman Esther Gorintin: Ljuba Blumenthal Anna Prucnal: the blonde woman Ariella Reggio: the hospital lady Anton Petje: the man with the wine Peter Hudson: the general on the train Claudio Birsa: bookseller Tulio Misan Rosa de Riter: the dark-haired woman Alexandra Raffa: the student on the train Paul-Jean Franceschini: the man in the café Elio Delana: the nurse Duccio Pugliesi: student translator Ariel Haddad: the rabbi Giulio Kirchmayr: Israel Israel Marko Sosic: Anton, the conservatory director Alessandro Mizzi: surveyor Paul Cuniffe: Mr. Porter, the B&B owner Gail Porter: Ms. Porter, the B&B owner
Production
Script
Le Stade de Wimbledon is Mathieu Amalric's second feature film. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Daniele Del Giudice, originally published in 1983 -and winner of the Viareggio prize for first novels- but used in part in an original translation by Jean-Paul Manganaro made for the film,Crédits au générique final du Stade de Wimbledon in which he portrays a woman, played by his then partner Jeanne Balibar, in search of a work and a writer who never published in his lifetime. The novelist and director were inspired by the real-life story of the Triestine poet and writer Roberto "Bobi" Bazlen (1902-1965), who became the film's "Bobi Wohler". For Mathieu Amalric, this poetic search is that of a fantasized and therefore necessarily unfulfilled artistic ideal but also a desire to make a quasi "investigation of Jeanne [Balibar] and light."
Mathieu Amalric's choice of novel was a matter of chance, as he decided to adapt the first book he came across at random. To do so, he picked a book from the library of the country home of Étienne and Françoise Balibar, Jeanne Balibar's parents in the same way that Jean-Yves Dubois, the main character in Mange ta soupe (1997), did in a scene from his previous film. The desire and challenge of adapting this difficult, action-free novel about an impossible quest also took shape in the director's mind, given that Trieste is "virgin territory" for cinema, with no past references and far removed from the clichés and images of Italian cities. Its use in cinema therefore opens up the possibility of new discoveries, and more strongly stimulates an imagination nourished by the diversity of this border city with its many influences, languages and cultures. Another important element of the adaptation is the filmmaker's choice to transform the novel's main character - who is a man - into a woman, following a suggestion by Jeanne Balibar, initially made in jest, to star in her partner's film, and with the enthusiastic agreement of Daniele Del Giudice.
The film was produced by Paulo Branco, who, at Mathieu Amalric's request, authorized him to begin shooting part of the film on the sly, under the pretext of location scouting in Trieste, without having yet secured the required financing or finalized the entire project. The total budget for the film was around 3 million francs.
Filming and post-production
Shooting took place mainly in the Italian city of Trieste in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, over a period of a year and a half, at a rate of one week's shooting per quarter, to respect the seasons mentioned, and in the chronological order of the main scenes in order to preserve these elements of the novel. A large number of scenes were shot with a very limited crew of just a few people, depending on the light and the mood of the moment on the set, whether that of Jeanne Balibar or that of the director through his desire and his view of his actress, without prior preparation or special administrative authorization. Mathieu Amalric directs his crew with his annotated book in hand and occasionally calls Daniele Del Giudice to clarify certain passages or the reality of certain locations. With Le Stade de Wimbledon, the director declares:"I wanted to get to the heart of cinema, its core. It was like a command to myself"
- Mathieu Amalric, February 2002In agreement with his cinematographer Christophe Beaucarne, Mathieu Amalric decided to shoot in 35 mm with very low-sensitivity film, using natural light according to the conditions of the moment and without artificial lighting. In addition to the streets and squares, the main city locations used for filming included Trieste main railway station, the city's synagogue, Caffè San Marco and Caffè Tommaseo, the Galleria Fabris restaurant, Trieste bookshops including Antiquaria Umberto Saba and the city library, Trieste's unisex beach on the molo Fratelli Bandiera, Miramare Castle, and the apartments of people who actually knew Roberto Bazlen. The part of the film set in England was shot in the streets and neighborhood of Wimbledon in London, including Wimbledon Park tube station, as well as in Streatham for the B&B, and in Clapham for the pub scene. The film's final scene was shot almost in flight at the All England Club hosting the Wimbledon tournament, due to the lack of filming permission received by the production.
During editing, voice-overs were added, essentially excerpts read from the novel adapted by Jean-Paul Manganaro, as well as a few quotations from Roberto Bazlen himself. For the film's soundtrack, Mathieu Amalric asked Grégoire Hetzel to write an original score, which the composer entitled Wimbledon Gates, and which was directly inspired by a work of minimalist music, China Gates (1977), by John Adams. The piece is performed on piano by Jérôme Ducros, who had already played the passages from Bach's Partitas that formed the soundtrack to the director's previous film, Mange ta soupe (1997).
Festival presentations and national releases Le Stade de Wimbledon was first presented to the public at the 54th Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland on 12 August 2001, closing the "Cinéastes du présent " section, and at the Rotterdam International Film Festival on 24 January 2002. The film was widely released in France on the big screen on 13 February 2002, with twenty copies distributed. The same year, it was presented in New York at the "Rendez-Vous with French Cinema" on 8 March, and in Argentina at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival on 12 March.
The film's theatrical run since its release in 2002 has been accompanied by 36,809 admissions in Europe, most of them in France with 34,277 spectators.
On 4 June 2007 Cahiers du cinéma published the film on a double DVD in the "Deux films de..." collection, along with the director's first film, Mange ta soupe (1997). The film is complemented by an 18-minute bonus documentary, a veritable "work in its own right" entitled Malus, presenting the creative work surrounding the film - preparatory notes, fittings, location scouting, and an interview with the Italian novelist - and a "mishap" experienced by Mathieu Amalric during the editing and mixing of Wimbledon Stadium.
Critical reception