Exhibitions
Le Géant se regarde dans le Miroir et ne vit rien
Feature film written and directed by Clément Grimm and Antoine Poudret. Film, black and white, 77’36min, 2023.
Salle Paderewski, Lausanne, CH
2024
Press Release2024
In "Le Géant se regarde dans le Miroir et ne vit rien", a distant adaptation of the work of Raul Ruiz, we follow Christian Broutin, an illustrator, painter and actor, who once starred in the original film, "The Stolen Painting Hypothesis” (1978).
The story unfolds around a mysterious dinner where allusions replace words, and images intertwine with thoughts. We delve into the tormented mind of a painter, at the crucial moment of his creation. The architecture of the space becomes the backdrop, while the music guides the protagonist's thoughts.
Between the blurred boundaries of dream and reality, the speech suggests rather than shows. Time itself oscillates between future and past, mixing reality and fiction. The paintings come to life and merge with the characters, in a dance where everything becomes possible. At the heart of this enigmatic story, different emblematic protagonists embark on a mysterious and strange quest. Each of them is linked both by their passion for art and by a secret that haunts them. Together, they seek to unravel the mystery surrounding a series of stolen paintings, which appear to hold crucial clues.
Throughout the film, viewers find themselves trapped in a tangle of leads, false leads and surprising revelations. They are invited to solve the puzzles scattered throughout the dialogues suggesting a hidden truth.
“Le Géant se regarde dans le Miroir et ne vit rien” is a fascinating journey through the mind of an artist, where the boundaries between art and reality blur. Prepare to be immersed in an enigmatic world where the quest for truth mixes with the beauty of art, and where each painting reveals a new mystery to discover.
Words by Christian Broutin, translated from French
Reality always surpasses Fiction C.B. PA. GC. 33“
In 1978, I was passing through the INA offices when a man approached me in a corridor and asked me to play a Templar in a film. I was tempted and accepted. The man was Raoul Ruiz, who was preparing his film L’Hypothèse du tableau volé. Forty-five years later, I receive a call from someone who asks me if it was really me who starred in Raoul Ruiz’s film L’Hypothèse du tableau volé and, if so, do I remember where this film was shot? I remember it was in Gustave Eiffel’s former home on the Place d’Iéna in Paris. I find this call quite surprising, for- ty-five years later! It was Clément Grimm explaining his film project Le Géant se regarde dans le Miroir et ne vit rien (The Giant looks into the Mirror and lives nothing).
Some time later, he and his colleague Antoine Poudret arrived at La Roche- Guyon, where we spent an afternoon chatting about their project over the microphone of a laptop. They asked me if I’d do a poster for them, and I said yes enthusiastically! Before leaving, Antoine made a short video with his laptop in my studio. And we parted. I didn’t know what kind of adventure I was going to be involved in. I had no idea exactly what they were up to. Kept informed of the film’s progress, I couldn’t wait to see it. And then I saw it. What a shock! A real UFO, brilliant, full of inventions and ideas, superb black and white, an admirable soundtrack, music and sets. All homemade! A strange, totally mysterious film, probably even more so than Raoul Ruiz’s.
But for me, the big surprise was to discover that I had become the painter in the film, that my chatter was part of the meat of the film, that what I thought was a little video taken by Antoine in the studio was also part of it. I have to say that I came away from watching this film completely stunned, amazed and delighted by so much creativity, talent and savoir-faire.”
Christian Broutin
The story unfolds around a mysterious dinner where allusions replace words, and images intertwine with thoughts. We delve into the tormented mind of a painter, at the crucial moment of his creation. The architecture of the space becomes the backdrop, while the music guides the protagonist's thoughts.
Between the blurred boundaries of dream and reality, the speech suggests rather than shows. Time itself oscillates between future and past, mixing reality and fiction. The paintings come to life and merge with the characters, in a dance where everything becomes possible. At the heart of this enigmatic story, different emblematic protagonists embark on a mysterious and strange quest. Each of them is linked both by their passion for art and by a secret that haunts them. Together, they seek to unravel the mystery surrounding a series of stolen paintings, which appear to hold crucial clues.
Throughout the film, viewers find themselves trapped in a tangle of leads, false leads and surprising revelations. They are invited to solve the puzzles scattered throughout the dialogues suggesting a hidden truth.
“Le Géant se regarde dans le Miroir et ne vit rien” is a fascinating journey through the mind of an artist, where the boundaries between art and reality blur. Prepare to be immersed in an enigmatic world where the quest for truth mixes with the beauty of art, and where each painting reveals a new mystery to discover.
Words by Christian Broutin, translated from French
Reality always surpasses Fiction C.B. PA. GC. 33“
In 1978, I was passing through the INA offices when a man approached me in a corridor and asked me to play a Templar in a film. I was tempted and accepted. The man was Raoul Ruiz, who was preparing his film L’Hypothèse du tableau volé. Forty-five years later, I receive a call from someone who asks me if it was really me who starred in Raoul Ruiz’s film L’Hypothèse du tableau volé and, if so, do I remember where this film was shot? I remember it was in Gustave Eiffel’s former home on the Place d’Iéna in Paris. I find this call quite surprising, for- ty-five years later! It was Clément Grimm explaining his film project Le Géant se regarde dans le Miroir et ne vit rien (The Giant looks into the Mirror and lives nothing).
Some time later, he and his colleague Antoine Poudret arrived at La Roche- Guyon, where we spent an afternoon chatting about their project over the microphone of a laptop. They asked me if I’d do a poster for them, and I said yes enthusiastically! Before leaving, Antoine made a short video with his laptop in my studio. And we parted. I didn’t know what kind of adventure I was going to be involved in. I had no idea exactly what they were up to. Kept informed of the film’s progress, I couldn’t wait to see it. And then I saw it. What a shock! A real UFO, brilliant, full of inventions and ideas, superb black and white, an admirable soundtrack, music and sets. All homemade! A strange, totally mysterious film, probably even more so than Raoul Ruiz’s.
But for me, the big surprise was to discover that I had become the painter in the film, that my chatter was part of the meat of the film, that what I thought was a little video taken by Antoine in the studio was also part of it. I have to say that I came away from watching this film completely stunned, amazed and delighted by so much creativity, talent and savoir-faire.”
Christian Broutin
