Christophe Bourseiller: “Jean-Loup Dabadie was the man of the shock phrase”

Yves Robert's favorite actor remembers the screenwriter of We Will All Go to Heaven (tonight on Arte), who wrote four roles for him.

Author, teacher and journalist, Christophe Bourseiller had a thousand lives. He was notably an active actor for twenty years. From his career as a street performer, we remember in particular An elephant cheats a lot And We will all go to Heaven by Yves Robert: his performance as Lucien, the student stoically in love with Jean Rochefort's wife, remains in everyone's memory. A role co-written by Robert and Jean-Loup Dabadie. In May 2020, when the screenwriter died, he remembered for First of the last.

We are sharing Christophe Bourseiller's anecdotes again on the occasion of the rebroadcast of We will all go to Heavenat 8:55 p.m. on Arte (and already visible, with An elephant… free in replay on the channel's website).

First: In what circumstances did you meet Jean-Loup Dabadie?
Christophe Bourseiller: I am a child of the ball. Little, I had like “godfather” And “godmother” unofficially, Jean-Luc Godard on one side, Danièle Delorme on the other, who was the wife of Yves Robert. It was in the property of Yves and Danièle, the Moulin de la Guéville, located near Rambouillet, that I met Jean-Loup, at the end of the 60s. The circumstances of my meeting with him are therefore above all family and friendly.

How did the child you were perceive it?
He was an extremely elegant and courteous guy. He was interested in everyone – I remember him showing interest in me. His culture was immense, he always had a word about an author unknown to the uninitiated… For me, he formed a triangle with Yves and Bertrand Poirot-Delpech. These three shared the same humor and the same tastes.

Why everyone loved Jean Rochefort

In 1976, you played in An elephant cheats a lot which he co-wrote with Yves Robert.
At the time, I was a young, somewhat sententious leftist. While observing me, Yves and Jean-Loup had the idea of ​​writing me a tailor-made role without telling me. Lucien was me! Through indiscretions, I learned what they were up to and went to Yves' Parisian offices, rue Marignan. I was impressed by the meticulousness with which they worked, it was like profilers who displayed their thoughts on the characters on a large board pinned up everywhere… Yves and Jean-Loup embodied on this point a little the reverse of the New Wave that I had known well with Godard. A dialogue by Jean-Loup, it had to be said down to the last comma! No question of improvising. He was the man of the shock formula.

Did Dabadie often come to the set?
Never. He must have considered his task finished. I think he would have liked to direct but he didn't dare take the step. When I shot Clara and the Classy Guys In 1980, there was talk that Jean-Loup, who had written it, would direct it. He finally declined for reasons of his own and Gaumont entrusted the film to a very good technician from advertising, Jacques Monnet.

You ended up playing in four films written by Dabadie: Yves Robert's diptych, Courage, let's flee And Clara and the Classy Guys.
Yes, and each time it was a bit of me, the guy with this slightly lunar presence that Jean-Loup clearly held on to. In Courage, let's fleemy character was called Christophe, there was no more ambiguity! (laughs)

Victor Lanoux in five major roles