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More Than Ever (film)

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More Than Ever
Promotional release poster
FrenchPlus que jamais
Directed byEmily Atef
Written byEmily Atef
Lars Hubrich
Produced byXénia Maingot
StarringVicky Krieps
Gaspard Ulliel
CinematographyYves Cape
Edited bySandie Bompar
Hansjörg Weißbrich
Music byJon Balke
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Jour2Fête (France)[1]
  • The Match Factory (Germany)[1]
  • Pandora Film Medien (Germany)[1]
Release dates
Running time
123 minutes[4]
Countries
Languages
Budget€4,8 million[6][1]
Box office$281,448[7]

More Than Ever (French: Plus que jamais) is a 2022 drama film directed by Emily Atef, starring Vicky Krieps and Gaspard Ulliel in his penultimate film before his death. It is a co-production between France, Germany, Luxembourg, and Norway.[4] The film made its world premiere at the 75th Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section on 21 May 2022.[2]

Plot

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Hélène is a 33-year-old French woman who lives in Bordeaux, France and has been in a happy marriage with Matthieu for many years. Their life turns upside down when Hélène is diagnosed with a rare lung disease. Hélène is lost on how to deal with this new situation. Looking for answers, Hélène stumbles across a Norwegian blogger by the name of Mister, who is seriously ill and documents his life with a mix of sincerity and a dry sense of humor. This and the incredible nature of Norway shown in some of his pictures attract Hélène. She contacts Mister and a genuine relationship starts between them as she seems to be able to articulate her feelings. Even if it is difficult to leave Matthieu behind, Hélène listens to her deepest instinct and travels across Europe all the way to Norway alone in order to be able to find her way. The overwhelming beauty of the vast, spectacular landscape as well as the unusual friendship with Mister do her good. When Matthieu comes to Norway to take her back to France, she realizes despite their intense love, her path is one she can only go on her own.

Cast

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Production

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Development and casting

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The film is a co-production between France's Eaux Vives Productions, Bjoca, Jour2Fête, Ramona Productions and Arte with Luxembourg's Samsa Film, Norway's Mer Film, and Germany's Bayerischer Rundfunk.[1] With a €4,8 million budget,[6] the production is 33.07% French, 33.07% German, 23.85% Luxembourgish, and 10.01% Norwegian.[5] The film was financially backed by Arte Grand Accord, Arte, the French National Film Board (CNC), and the French-Germany co-production treaty.[8] Other backers include the Filmförderung Hamburg, Regional Fund Medienboard, DFFF, Pandora, Luxembourg Film Fund, Norwegian Film Fund and Zefyr Regional Fund Norway.[8]

The film's original title was "Mister".[9][8] Director Emily Atef had the idea for the film in 2010, and it took her more than ten years to get this film off the ground, find her story and convince the financiers.[10] On 22 February 2018, Screen Daily reported that Emily Atef was preparing her first French-language production entitled Mister.[9] Producer Xenia Maingot said Atef "wanted to aim high" for the casting of the film and that negotiations were underway with a possible high-profile French actress for the female lead.[9] The film was scheduled to shoot in early Summer 2019.[9]

On 21 August 2020, Screen Daily reported that the cast assembled included Luxembourgish actress Vicky Krieps, French actor Gaspard Ulliel, Danish actor Jesper Christensen, and Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann.[11] Norwegian actor Bjørn Floberg was announced in the cast on 29 April 2021.[12] Director Emily Atef told French newspaper Le Parisien on 20 May 2022, that it was Vicky Krieps who suggested Gaspard Ulliel for the role of Matthieu because they were friends but had never worked together.[13] However, in an interview for France's Prèmiere magazine a few days later, Atef said that Krieps suggested Ulliel for the film after meeting him during a casting.[14] Atef said that three years before the film was made, Ulliel went to see her with notes such as the first name of his character and that he offered her many things regarding the film.[13] Atef also said that Ulliel remained faithful to the project despite its many delays and money problems.[13]

Filming

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Filming started in France on 14 April 2021.[15][12] Filming took place in Bordeaux, France, between 14 and 23 April,[12] before moving to a Luxembourg studio in late April.[12] In the meantime, Gaspard Ulliel was also filming La Vengeance au Triple Galop between April and May 2021.[16][17] Production then moved to Norway on 11 May 2021, followed by a compulsory period of quarantine (due to the COVID-19 pandemic),[13] where it wrapped filming on 4 June 2021.[18]

Gaspard Ulliel died on 19 January 2022 following a skiing accident in France.[19] More Than Ever was the penultimate film that Ulliel shot before his death, although it is often cited and promoted as his last film.[20] After finishing More Than Ever on 4 June 2021,[18] he filmed the miniseries Moon Knight,[21][22] and in December 2021 he completed Bertrand Bonello's 2022 film Coma,[23][24] but Ulliel's role in Coma was kept a secret until the film was selected for the Berlin Film Festival in February 2022, making it the first film released after his death despite being the last one he filmed.[25]

Ulliel had been scheduled to do post-synchronization for More Than Ever three weeks after the skiing accident that caused his death.[13]

Release

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The film made its world premiere at the 75th Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section on 21 May 2022.[2] It will be released in France by Jour2Fête on 16 November 2022.[3]

Reception

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Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 93% of 30 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10.[26]

Accolades

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Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
Cannes Film Festival 27 May 2022 Un Certain Regard Emily Atef Nominated [27]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "More Than Ever, Feature Film, 2021-2022". Crew United. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Programme - Festival de Cannes 2022 - 21 May 2022". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Plus que jamais - film 2022". AlloCiné (in French). Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Plus que jamais - Festival de Cannes". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "More Than Ever de Emily Atef (2022)". Unifrance. Retrieved 21 May 2022. Technical details > Coproducer countries: France (33.07%), Germany (33.07%), Luxembourg (23.85%), Norway (10.01%)
  6. ^ a b "Vicky Krieps et Gaspard Ulliel bientôt têtes d'affiche de Plus que jamais". Ecran Total (in French). 25 February 2021.
  7. ^ "More Than Ever (2022)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  8. ^ a b c Keslassy, Elsa (4 March 2021). "Emily Atef Readies Shoot of 'More Than Ever' With Vicky Krieps, Gaspard Ulliel (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d Goodfellow, Melanie (22 February 2018). "Emily Atef preparing new French-Norwegian drama 'Mister' (exclusive)". Screen Daily. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  10. ^ Greenleaf, Sarah (17 May 2022). "Cannes 2022 Women Directors: Meet Emily Atef – 'More Than Ever' ('Plus Que Jamais')". Women and Hollywood. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  11. ^ Mitchell, Wendy (21 August 2020). "Finland's Teemu Nikki and Jani Poso win Haugesund's Eurimages Lab award". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021.
  12. ^ a b c d Lemercier, Fabien (29 April 2021). "Emily Atef in the midst of filming More Than Ever". Cineuropa. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  13. ^ a b c d e Jaeglé, Yves (20 May 2022). ""Plus que jamais", le dernier film de Gaspard Ulliel, présenté à Cannes : "Je ne l'ai jamais vu heureux comme ça"". Le Parisien. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  14. ^ Cheze, Thierry (24 May 2022). "Cannes 2022 - Vicky Krieps: "Travailler avec Emily Atef et Gaspard Ulliel a été très intuitif"". Premiere.fr (in French).
  15. ^ Roqueplo, JF (14 April 2021). "1 et jour de tournage de " Plus que Jamais " d'Emily Atef..." [First day of shooting of Emily Atef's « More Than Ever »...]. Instagram (in French). Archived from the original on 21 May 2022.
  16. ^ Merle, Sylvain (3 May 2021). ""La trahison, l'amour, l'argent…": Alex Lutz parodie le soap opera avec Audrey Lamy pour Canal+" ["Betrayal, love, money…": Alex Lutz parodies the soap opera with Audrey Lamy for Canal+]. Le Parisien (in French). Archived from the original on 21 August 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  17. ^ Philippe, Vandel (16 June 2021). ""La vengeance au triple galop": Alex Lutz signe une parodie au casting en or pour Canal+". Europe1 (in French). Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  18. ^ a b Atef, Emily (4 June 2021). "It's a wrap!!". Instagram. Archived from the original on 25 September 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  19. ^ Vaux-Montagny, Nicolas (20 January 2022). "Gaspard Ulliel, French actor slated to appear in 'Moon Knight,' dies at 37". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  20. ^ "Plus Que Jamais (More Than Ever): through Emily Atef's eyes". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  21. ^ Guttmann, Graeme (26 July 2021). "Marvel's Moon Knight Show's Midnight Man Actor May Have Been Revealed". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  22. ^ Aljowaily, Hayat (29 June 2022). "One year ago today we were shooting the Mogart scene for Moon Knight". Twitter. Archived from the original on 21 August 2022. A special thought to Gaspard Ulliel today
  23. ^ Roos, Gautier (24 December 2021). "INFO CHAOS – Avant "La bête", Bertrand Bonello a réalisé un film-surprise intitulé "Coma"" [INFO CHAOS – Before “The Beast”, Bertrand Bonello made a surprise film entitled "Coma"]. Chaos Reign (in French). Archived from the original on 12 March 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  24. ^ Roos, Gautier (25 December 2021). "[INTERVIEW BERTRAND BONELLO] Le grand entretien chaos" [[INTERVIEW BERTRAND BONELLO] The Great Chaos Interview]. Chaos Reign (in French). Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  25. ^ Pearce, Leonard (2 February 2022). "First Look and Plot Details for Bertrand Bonello's Coma, Premiering at Berlinale". The Film Stage. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  26. ^ "More than Ever". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  27. ^ "The films of the Official Selection 2022 - Festival de Cannes". festival-cannes.com. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
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