BYE BYE BLONDIE
Director: Virginie Despentes
Written by: Virginie Despents
Soko's role: young Gloria
With: Emmanuelle Beart
Released: 21 March 2012 (France)
Length: 85 minutes
Genre: drama
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Said Soko of her character: "I look just like Nina Hagen!" Soko plays the younger version of Béatrice Dalle's character. Others in the film are Emmanuelle Béart, Pascal Greggory, and Stomy Bugsy, the French rapper, as the chauffeur. The film is funny and beautifully romantic. It is a shame that the only available DVDs have only Dutch subtitles only, and not any other languages.
The book on which the film is based is available in German from Amazon.de and in French from Amazon.fr.
It was difficult for Despentes to acquire financing for the film. Eric Lavallee, writing for Ioncinema during the film's production, said: "...the release of Baise-moi a decade back hasn't made financing her 2nd film easier, she (Despentes) is filming with a budget of less than 3 million euros and had to cut some key backdrops from the shooting script." Soko sings The Ruts' song Babylon's Burning in the film.
Bruno Boutsen wrote in La Libre: "Bye Bye Blondie is adapted from the novel of the same name, which has been described as "punk-rock romantic comedy" by its author. It tells the story of a youthful love between two women, Gloria and Frances, that was resurrected twenty years after having been abruptly interrupted. One of the lovers, played by Béatrice Dalle, lives in Nancy, without work or family while the second, played by Emmanuelle Béart, lives in Paris where she is a television news presenter. And while, in the book, Frances is a man named Eric, Despentes deliberately wanted to film a love story between lesbians.
Les Sorties Cinéma said: "Soko and Clara Ponsot interpreted the couple in the 80's, and convinced us that they are the true revelations of the film. We had already seen in Clara Ponsot a Lolita-like incandescence with Gilles Lellouche in THE INFIDELS. Here she used all of her fiery temperament to embody the troubled Frances...Each time the moments between Gloria and Frances are brought into the present tense [with Dalle and Béart], you find yourself wanting to return to the past with the young couple...If Clara and Soko hug with fever, the love scenes played by Dalle and Béart are chaste."
Lydia Lunch makes an appearance.
TRAILER
CAST
- Soko - young Gloria
- Emmanuelle Béart - Frances
- Béatrice Dalle - Gloria
- Nadège Prugnard - Gloria's mother
- Fantazio - Gloria's father
- Clara Ponsot - young Frances
- Pascal Greggory - Claude
- Stomy Bugsy - chauffeur
- Sasha Andres - Véro
- Mélanie Martinez - waitress
- Jean-Marc Royon - Michel
- Olivia Csiky Trnka - Hélène
- Mata Gabin - the maid
- Sophie Malnatti - gym coach
- Camille Chamoux - Tonina
- Julien Lucas - TV producer
- Lydia Lunch - herself
- Coralie Trinh Thi - goth girl
- Jean Cotter - dancer
- Nicolas Rey - scientist
- César Andrei - Claude
- Vartan Fau - pianist
- Mélanie Gautier - makeup artist
- Didier Manuel - record salesman
- Eric Larcin - head nurse
- Jean-Yves Ruf - psychiatrist
- Jacqueline Le Tellier - building lady
- Christophe Berthemin - bar patron
- Alban Lenoir - police officer
LUTETIA'S GUESTS -- Bojena Horackova and Pierre Léon
NURSES -- Véronique Desnoeck - Hanna Novak - Vincent Bersoulle - Michel Bouis
GANG MEMBERS -- Robinson Delacroix - Assia Khvatov - Camille Dejoux - Benoît Poilve - Yohan Hermant - Kevin Dusic - Quentin Chauziex - Tarek Haoudy - Louis Dugast - Clément Colonia - Esther Hania - Sébastien Jacuinot - Victor Lapprend - Swann Janin - John Hermeline - Malik Diouf - Mathieu Camus
CHINA CLUB PERFORMERS -- Tom de Pékin and Victor Marzouk
TV SHOW GUESTS -- Chantal Djedje - Pascale Bodet - Marie-Céline Rey - Dgiz - Jean-Marc Desmond - Jacqueline Umuraraneza - Marion Mazauric
SAINT-EUSTACHE POLICEMEN -- Eric Wielemans and Xavier Fillol
