Director Jean-Jacques Annaud (The identify of the roseHe used to go to Notre Dame de Paris each week along with his mom when he was a child. And identical to the remainder of the world, he was shocked when the 859-year-old cathedral was engulfed in flames on April 15, 2019 — though he was holidaying within the Vendée on the time with out entry to a TV.

On this movie, he reconstructs the unbelievable occasions of that darkish night time when the cathedral suffered the best catastrophe in its lengthy historical past and divulges how individuals put their lives in peril in an extremely heroic rescue. With forensic element and ample empathy, Annaud recreates the site visitors jams that held up the hearth brigade, the response of locals and the platitudes of politicians keen for his or her quarter-hour of fame.

His analysis was exhaustive: greater than 150 interviews with police, residents, firefighters, clergy, and extra. “What I found…was unimaginable,” he mentioned. “An exquisite sequence of mishaps, setbacks and breakdowns. Sheer preposterous but true. In addition to, it had all of the components of a superb story: within the lead function, a world star – Notre Dame de Paris; his enemy, a fearsome and charismatic demon – Fireplace. Between the 2, individuals on Prepared to sacrifice their lives to save lots of the stones.”

Requested what he discovered most shocking in regards to the occasions of 15 April 2019, Annaud mentioned: “The hearth was found in the beginning of Monday Mass at 6.17pm, and the firefighters weren’t notified till half an hour later by a pal of the final who was on vacation. In Florence. From the morning, unstoppable drama begins as the whole lot appears to come back collectively to result in inevitable catastrophe: It is the primary day at Notre Dame for the brand new Fireplace Security Superintendent, liable for monitoring an digital board the place alerts are triggered within the occasion of a catastrophe. He by no means visits the cathedral…” And so it goes. It is fairly cool and thrilling stuff all proper.

exit: Jean-Jacques Annaud
championship: Samuel Labarthe, Jean-Paul Bourdais, Mikael Cherignan

From France Right now journal