2023-08-09 18:10:15
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Almost entirely shot in the Rhône, “La Voie royale” follows the journey of a farmer’s daughter who dreams of joining the Ecole Polytechnique. Far from the family farm, his desire for social ascent will come up against the harsh reality of the “preparatory classes”.
France Televisions Writing Culture
Published on 08/09/2023 18:10
Reading time: 2 min.
“The Royal Way” by Frédéric Mermoud (Emmanuelle Firman)
On the heights of the hill of Fourvière, the building is imposing and majestic. Like other prestigious high schools in the provinces, the Saint-Just high school looks a bit austere and that’s partly why the school in Lyon’s fifth arrondissement was used as the setting for the filming of Frédéric’s last film. Mermoud, The Royal Way which hits theaters Wednesday, August 9. It is within these walls that Sophie, embodied by Suzanne Jouannet, will lead a fierce fight to get out of her condition as a farmer’s daughter.
A few months after the shooting and on the occasion of a preview in Lyon, the director and the actress came back for us on the spot. A moving return for Suzanne Jouannet. “I have all the memories coming back, she confides to our reporting team in front of the entrance to the school. There is the same beautiful light and as it was a happy shoot, seeing a boom operator and a cameraman in this place again moves me. But quietly,” she adds with a smile.
France 3 Rhone-Alpes
French elitist model
The choice of location owes nothing to chance. “One of the obstacles that Sophie is going to face is this kind of feeling of illegitimacy, explains Frédéric Mermoud. Deep down, she has the feeling that she has no place in this place and no doubt that the architecture and the magic of this place are so impressive that it contributes to this feeling that she has of not really being at a good place.”
When she leaves her village of Thizy-les-Bourgs in the Rhône, the brilliant student, passionate about mathematics and physics, does not know all the obstacles she is about to overcome. Sleepless nights toiling away on equations, the demands and humiliation of teachers. The young woman learns about competition against a background of class struggle. Unlike most students who attend preparatory classes, the daughter of farmers does not have the codes.
Presented in preview at the Lumière cinema in Lyon Bellecour, this reflection on youth and social ascent through this French elitist model won over the first spectators.
The sheet
Genre : Drama
Director: Frederic Mermoud
Actors: Suzanne Jouannet, Marie Colomb, Maud Wyler, Maryline Canto
Pays : France, Switzerland
Sortie : August 9, 2023
Distributer : Pyramide Distribution
Synopsis : Sophie is a brilliant high school student. Encouraged by her mathematics teacher, she left the family farm to follow a scientific preparatory class. Over the course of encounters, successes and failures, faced with fierce competition, Sophie realizes that her dream, to integrate Polytechnique, represents more than a competition, a real challenge of social ascent.
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