« CWhat I would like is that this documentary gives hope, that we say to ourselves that it was not won for her, but that she did it, suddenly we can do it too » , immediately announces Clara Luciani in It starts like this. The film, written and directed by Philippe Lézin, retraces his career and accompanies him for more than twenty-four months, from the recording of his second album Heart (released in 2021) at his concert in front of more than 15,000 people at the Accor Arena in Paris in December 2022.
When you meet Clara Luciani, “luminous” is the first word that comes to mind. She has this gaiety, this freshness, this charming smile… However, she wants to reveal here her dark side. She was not born a star, but by dint of blowing on the little light (“Clara”) nestled within her, she became one, climbing step by step a long and laborious path.
Recognizable by her doe eyes underlined with ebony kohl under a long brown fringe, the one that was baptized Clara in honor of the song by Alain Chamfort – “Clara wants the moon” (1993) – ended up winning it, from the height of its 1.82 m.
The family clown
Daughter of a Sicilian caregiver and a Corsican bank employee, she is today the most popular voice in French song. Born into rock and Jacques Higelin by a dilettante musician father who always leaves his guitars lying around, encouraged by her sister Léa – singer under the name of Elha – Clara Luciani has always been the family clown, multiplying performances in the living room of the house Martigues (Bouches-du-Rhone). It is touching to delve into the archives of this simple and happy childhood until “his rise to Paris”, the beginning of the galleys…
After a year of studying art history, housed in a badly heated maid’s room at 17e district, she does odd jobs – sales assistant, hostess, pizza maker… – to pursue her dream: to become a singer. Fortunately, she quickly met the group La Femme, of which she became one of the voices, accompanying them at the beginning of their success, before leaving them to write her own songs. But his solo career did not take off. She then sang for Nouvelle Vague, Bristol or even the duo Hologram, with Maxime Sokolinski, Soko’s brother (a kind of depressive Underground Velvet sub).
She was 23 when the singer Raphaël asked her to accompany him on tour for almost a year. On stage, hidden behind glasses and a keyboard, she looks so shy… She almost turns her back on the audience, we don’t hear her.
Hymne post-#MeToo
She still manages to land a duet with Nekfeu and provide the first part of Benjamin Biolay. It took a devastating heartbreak to pull her out of her torpor. Overwhelmed by sadness, bits of texts and songs come to her. Her voice also changes: serious, strong, dark, she dares to go higher and higher.
She then composed with Ambroise Willaume, alias Sage (ex-singer of Revolver), and Benjamin Lebeau (The Shoes), her first album, Sainte-Victoire, dramatic and intimate exploration of the feeling of love. It is above all his “Grenade”, born of his nostalgia of the 1965-1975 decade and the films of Jacques Demy, which blew it up. This post-#MeToo anthem has accumulated nearly 60 million listens and has won two consecutive Music Victories (“Scene Revelation” in 2019 then “Female Artist” in 2020).
READ ALSOClara Luciani : drama queen
We would expect to see a happy Clara, driven by success. But the woman who appears in Philippe Lézin’s lens is eternally dissatisfied, eaten away by anxiety, pressure and the panic fear of disappearing. As she works on recording new songs, we discover a girl who wants to be loved, and above all to love herself. She does not seem to be able to overcome the complexes inherited from adolescence, mocked at school because of her size and her deep voice.
Life, love and desire
While the public is pleased to see her hatch, increase in power, presence and self-confidence, she is collapsing behind the scenes. Because the second album is a real test. There are many who disappoint, who no longer manage to repeat the magic formula of their debut, to renew themselves without losing their essence. Working hand in hand with Sage, the singer-songwriter nevertheless manages to deliver Hearta sparkling and dancing album, between Abba and France Gall.
In the end, we don’t learn much in this somewhat smooth documentary. But fans will enjoy diving into the background of the creation of this second opus recorded in the middle of Covid-19, which makes you want to open the windows and party.
“Le Reste” is the best French-language radio entry of the past ten years. “Respire encore” is a dance hit full of life, love and desire, heard everywhere, from taxis to supermarket shelves. On the cover of magazines, in the metro, on social networks, Clara Luciani is everywhere, almost causing disgust.
With nearly 300,000 albums sold, it brings together more than 600,000 spectators in 90 concerts, including two at the Accor Arena, sold out. In 2022, she won two Victoires de la musique, those for album of the year for Heart and Female Artist of the Year. She is also nominated again this year for the Victoires de la Musique in the tour and song categories. Verdict on February 10.
Clara Luciani: it starts like thisdocumentary by Philippe Lézin, from Wednesday February 8 on Prime Video.