“What is love?” at the cinema

What if love rhymes with forever? What if, beyond the ruptures, there remained something unwavering? This broad comedy unfolds the story of Fred (Vincent Macaigne) who, in order to be able to marry his Catholic lover in church, requests the “annulment” of his first marriage to his ex-wife, Marguerite (Laure Calamy). A process which will prove more complex than expected: not so easy to draw a line under a love.

As in The real family, his previous feature film, filmmaker Fabien Gorgeart delicately highlights the strength of family relationships. In an era where homes are breaking down and being rebuilt, he tickles all forms of conformity – including religious ones – to question the sustainability of the romantic bond. “As a child, I went to catechism and I was very religious. I thought of Jesus as my imaginary friend, and then it passed me by. However, all my films bear the trace of my curiosity and my respect for the sacred,” confides the director.

Maintaining the verisimilitude of his scenario on this technical subject little known outside the Church, he consulted couples who had applied for recognition of the nullity of marriage, lawyers, priests sitting in ecclesiastical courts and even an eminent member of the Faculty of Canon Law in Paris. “Even if I don’t have the same way of reading the world as them, our discussions were fascinating. Rich in this raw material, I felt that I still had things to tell about what it means to “become a family” in the contemporary world. »

Ode to clumsiness

In a tone full of humor and avoiding caricature, the filmmaker portrays the very Catholic Chloé (Mélanie Thierry), Fred’s new companion, who will prove to be much more flexible and conciliatory than one might have believed. So with all the characters who deal with the setbacks of life without drama and without a spirit of seriousness: ex-spouses, new partners, rebellious adolescents. And also these two endearing priests: a whimsical Italian (Jean-Marc Barr) and a more conventional Frenchman (Grégoire LeprinceRinguet).

“During a preview, a spectator told me that this film was an ode to the right to be a little rubbish,” reports Fabien Gorgeart. Yes, my characters are clumsy, because I like our quirks to be pretty to look at. »

And this title in the form of a question? “It is not a question of giving a definition, of course,” he says before adding, as a proposition: “Our links accumulate without canceling each other. Love does not disappear, it transforms. »