IN THE YARD / Dans la cour

North American Premiere • Dramatic comedy • France, 2014

DCP • Scope 2.35 • Dolby Digital • Color • 97 min

 

Directed by: Pierre Salvadori

Written by: David Léotard, Pierre Salvadori

Cinematography: Gilles Henry

Film Editing: Isabelle Devinck

Original Score: Stephin Merritt, Grégoire Hetzel

Produced by: Philippe Martin (Les Films Pelléas)

Cast: Catherine Deneuve (Mathilde), Gustave de Kervern (Antoine), Féodor Atkine (Serge), Pio Marmaï (Stéphane)

International Sales: Wild Bunch

 

Catherine Deneuve and comedian Gustave de Kervern strike an unexpectedly tender friendship in this poignant slice-of-life comedy. In need of a time-out from his anemic music career, fortysomething Antoine bails on his band in the middle of a gig. Desperate for a new line of work, he soon finds that the possibilities are limited for a man who wears a couple of decades of insomnia and addictions like a tattered overcoat. Perhaps glimpsing a kindred spirit through the cracks of Antoine’s crusty façade, Mathilde convinces her husband to give him a try as the concierge of their aging apartment house.  With no previous experience or aptitude, Antoine falls back on his questionable intuitions in order to satisfy the eccentrics and social castoffs inhabiting the building. But his biggest test comes when Mathilde’s own façade begins to crack.

 

With his breakout Audrey Tautou starring comedies, Priceless (COLCOA 2007), and Beautiful Lies (COLCOA 2011), writer/director Pierre Salvadori gained an international reputation for offbeat comedies with tightly constructed stories and gently humane characters. French audiences have known this since 1993, when his first feature, Wild Target scored at the box office before going on to a Best First Feature nomination at the César Awards. Of his eleven features, only The Sandmen (2000), a dark thriller, was a departure from comedy. Early on, Salvadori enjoyed multiple collaborations with Guillaume Depardieu and Marie Trintignant with hits like The Apprentices (1995), and White Lies (1998). In 2009, Wild Target was remade in England starring Emily Blunt, Bill Nighy, and Rupert Everett. The first appearance of Pierre Salvadori at COLCOA was in 2004 for the Premiere of After you, starring Daniel Auteuil and Sandrine Kiberlain. In the Yard is presented at COLCOA just after its French release.

 

 “The dark heart of In the Yard makes its comedy ever more piquant, while Deneuve and Kervern are exceptional as two lonely souls finding solace in each other's company during the twilight years of their lives.

- Ed Frankl CINEVUE

 

“A bittersweet and occasionally hilarious comedy-drama”.

- Boyd van Hoeij HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

 

“Deneuve is immensely sympathetic”-

- Guy Lodge VARIETY