EXCEPTIONAL. The film Hors Normes, directed by Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, to whom we owe Intouchables, is inspired by a reality faced by associations caring for autistic children.
[Mis à jour le 16 octobre 2022 à 20h30] Released in cinemas in October 2019, Hors Normes is the seventh film by the duo formed by Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache whose careers have exploded since their feature film Intouchables released in 2011. In Hors Normes, they direct Reda Kateb and Vincent Cassel in this which is a film inspired by the reality experienced by associations helping young people with autism. Already inspired by the reality of helping people with disabilities for Intouchables, Toledano and Nakache are now interested in another social subject that they had the opportunity to experience themselves as they explained during the promotion. of the movie.
As with Intouchables, Hors Normes is inspired by a true story, with Vincent Cassel and Reda Kateb in the cast. At the origin of the film, we find an association that welcomes young people with autism. In 1994, the two directors worked as summer camp entertainers. They meet Stéphane Benhamou. The latter created the association Le Silence des Justes, which helps autistic children. This meeting upset the filmmakers, seduced by the commitment of this association and touched by the difficulties they encounter on a daily basis. Twenty years later, Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache will film Stéphane Benhamou and the president of the Relais de l’Île de France (another association that works with young autistic people, editor’s note) Daoud Tatou, in a documentary for Canal +. But the two filmmakers do not yet feel ready to tackle this complex subject in the cinema and allow themselves time to mature as directors.
Once the experience has been accumulated, Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache develop a solid scenario to highlight the humanity and the commitment they have observed in these associations. This experience led to the creation of Hors Normes. “We could not afford to distance ourselves from reality or to be clumsy with too many approximations, they explain to Allociné. This period of observation was very instructive, the scenario was nourished daily by these shared experiences, but especially after 2 years, our motivation has increased tenfold”. To add a dose of realism and nuance to Hors Normes, the two directors have hired autistic amateur actors from the Turbulances association to work in the film, alongside confirmed actors Reda Kateb and Vincent Cassel. A paying bias, since Out of the ordinary seduced both critics and the first viewers who were able to discover the feature film.
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Synopsis – Bruno and Malik have lived for 20 years in a world apart, that of children and adolescents with autism. Within their two respective associations, they train young people from difficult neighborhoods to supervise these cases described as “hyper complex”. An extraordinary alliance for extraordinary personalities.