Something we like about the cinema
This movie was part of the official selection for the Cannes festival 2010. The originality of the mise en scène and the humanism of this most recent work by Mathieu Almaric “Tournée/On Tour” didn’t go unnoticed. All in all, French cinematographic culture is definitely breaking away from its image of a “film intello chiant à la française”, by now offering a wider variety of genres and forms for getting the message across. Tournée is also a bilingual film, with French and English spoken here and there.
Ivanna Pinyak describes one of her favourite films of 2010 - "Tournée/On Tour"
Just a very living movie
Joachim, a French producer – played by Mathieu Almaric himself – is pursuing his career in the US and takes a group of American “new burlesque” striptease performers on a tour of France, his home country. For almost 2 hours, spectators follow the troupe impressing and amazing the French audience, men and above all women, with their shows – an original blend of artistic expression, where beyond striptease are dance, singing and theatre, glamour and lots of humour, right from the stage of an American music-hall. The troupe leads us onto the stage and behind the curtains, keeping the magic and laughter of the show beyond the stage, on trains, in hotels, on the road.
Producer Joachim, back in his home country, is suddenly betrayed by a partner. He has no more stage to take his troupe to Paris, the dream of every woman and of every actress. So, in his search for a solution, he finally returns to his past life that he once left behind for good for a new continent: the Parisian world of TV production, with its passions and rivalries, his old friends and enemies, hopes and disappointments … He takes his children with him for a while, now grown up enough not to be left at a crèche in a public place. But they don’t feel enthusiastic about having fun with their father, who is incapable of managing his work and kids at the same time… The actresses, sometimes feeling abandoned, getting bored in hotels and trains, cheer up anyway, remaining full of life and positive energy.
Almost touching is the relationship between the stripteasers and their producer. He is the one to have the last word at rehearsal. Following his taste and experience, but not without protest, the women point out in one of the scenes: “We are with him for the tour of France, but in America we are individuals”. No domination, tyranny or such like. These women are bright individuals, strong personalities, meanwhile they are very natural – just as Americans can be, easy going and sensitive. They create their shows themselves, create them for women, inspiring women, revealing their imagination and giving them more self-esteem. This story is a true strip tease of human feelings, where mutual support and joy of life overcome the moments of melancholy, failure, disappointment and difficulties, as described by Mathieu Almaric.
Who’s sponsoring the Tour?
With expected income from tourism and love for the arts combined, the film was produced with the support of regional authorities (Regional Council of Pays de la Loire, as well as those of Haute-Normandie, Poitou-Charentes and Charente-Maritime) and shows us the sights and attractions of another France. The France most foreign tourists would probably never see, because they are running to Paris. Here “On Tour” the girls have everything but.
As to the European cinematographic industry, it remains healthy, as the European Union finances the best movies. “Tournée” is one of the films that enjoyed the support of MEDIA, the program of the European Commission worth 755 million euros over seven years (2007-13) which finances the distribution and promotion of audiovisual productions in Europe.
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