STRANGE GARDENS
by Jean Becker
synopsis
Every Sunday, it’s always the same old story: Lucien, 14, can’t understand why his father, a serious and respected teacher, makes a fool of himself by dressing up as a clown and giving a show. André, Lucien’s father’s best friend, feels for the teenager and decides to reveal something from their mutual past that will explain the reason for Lucien’s father’s strange behavior. At the end of World War Two, both men, in a “fit of patriotism” committed a pathetic act of resistance and got caught at it by the Germans. These would-be heroes became German hostages and were thrown into a "dungeon", along with other sorry companions, where they waited to be shot.
international title: | Strange Gardens |
original title: | Effroyables Jardins |
country: | France |
sales agent: | UGC International |
year: | 2003 |
genre: | fiction |
directed by: | Jean Becker |
film run: | 95' |
release date: | FR 26/03/2003, CH 26/03/2003, BE 02/04/2003, UK 30/01/2004 |
screenplay: | Sébastien Japrisot |
cast: | Jacques Villeret, André Dussollier, Thierry Lhermitte, Benoît Magimel, Isabelle Candelier |
cinematography by: | Jean-Marie Dreujou |
film editing: | Jacques Witta |
art director: | Bruno Margery, Thérèse Ripaud |
costumes designer: | Sylvie de Segonzac |
music: | Zbigniew Preisner |
producer: | Louis Becker |
production: | Ice 3, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, Canal+, France 2 Cinéma, France 3 Cinéma, Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, UGC Images |
backing: | Centre National de la Cinématographie |
distributor: | UGC Distribution, JMH Distribution (CH), Les Films de l'Elysée (BE), Capers Mat Cine (UK) |