The Money Maker [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Jean-Paul Salomé
scheda film] is the tenth feature film by Jean-Paul Salomé, who previously directed Mama Weed [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film] (2020) and The Sitting Duck [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Jean-Paul Salomé
scheda film] (2023). Starring Reda Kateb, Bastien Bouillon and Sara Giraudeau, the film is released today in French cinemas by Le Pacte.

Cineuropa: How did you discover the existence of Jan Bojarski, this genius forger?
Jean-Paul Salomé: It was Jean-Baptiste Dupont, the producer of Mama Weed, who told me about this character. He had collected quite a lot of documentation: press clippings, photos, newsreels from the time, testimonies from some of the protagonists, trial transcripts, interrogations, etc. I didn't know Bojarski, so I immersed myself in all this material and immediately saw that he was an incredible character. What I found interesting was the combination of several elements: Bojarski was an emigrant, he started out making false papers, then became a counterfeiter out of necessity, to support his family because his talent as an engineer had not been recognised in France. This resulted in an unusual trajectory for a man who, on the contrary, wanted to be normal, just to support his family, have a job and be respected, which French society denied him. From then on, there was a kind of revenge. Above all, this man tried to reconcile his life as an outlaw counterfeiter with an extremely ‘normal’ family life, but as this was not normal, he found it very difficult.

How did you construct the narrative arc spanning some twenty years?
What guided us, my co-writer Bastien Daret and I, was the crime film and thriller aspects the original story already had: during the 15 years that Bojarski was a counterfeiter, he was hunted by the same police officer. This set the film apart from simple biopics, which I sometimes find a little tedious in the way they recount the years in minute detail. Here, everything could be structured around this chase through time.

You have paid close attention, almost documentary-like, to detailing the work of the forger.
This is one of the most fascinating aspects of this genius forger, who was nonetheless an outlaw. There is a gradual shift from the forger who gets caught up in his own game and becomes an artist. I wanted viewers to feel the pleasure and escape he found in making his banknotes. He was extremely talented, but it took him hours, months, years. That's also why we structured the film around three banknotes.

How did you approach the period film aspect?
I wanted to escape it a little. The film had enough challenges, enough characters, enough emotions, and the focus had to be there and not get lost in a multitude of historical reconstructions that require a lot of energy and money. Of course, the film was period-based, but it just had to be credible, stay focused on what we wanted to tell and not fall into stale reconstructions.

There are numerous references to classic French crime novels, with Melville leading the way with Commissioner Mattei.
The most avid film buffs will find them. Hands Off the Loot, Le Cercle rouge, the same nightclub as in Rififi, certain streets in Paris, certain shots, etc. It was important because these films, some of which have become masterpieces, are incredible testimonies to the 1950s and 1960s. I made a list of these films and all the actors and technical crew watched them for inspiration.

The film is also a story about a couple.
It was inseparable from the rest. Because it guided the choices of Bojarski, who was not a loner. I found this great love story quite fascinating, with a secret that rocks the couple's relationship. During the 15 years he was a counterfeiter, wanted by the police and the Bank of France, Bojarski was an ordinary man with a wife and children. I found that very original and felt it needed to be shown. Besides, in my films, I had never told a long story about a couple going through time and trials. And I find that great crime films are not just films with action scenes. At some point, there is a depth to the characters, to the humanity of the people we are shown. Of course, you can stay on the surface with outlaws, thugs and robbers. But when there is something more, the crime film benefits and you also tell stories about people and their lives.