JÉRÔME SEYDOUX PRESENTS ALICE DANY MICHEL YVAN SABINE PATRICK FRANÇOIS FLORENT POL BOON BLANC ATTAL AZEMA MILLE LEVANTAL PEYRE A COMEDY BY DANY BOON - CRÉDITS NON CONTRACTUELS WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF ANNE MARIVIN ALAIN DOUTEY URBAIN CANCELIER JÉRÔME SEYDOUX PRESENTS A COMEDY BY DANY BOON RUNTIME: 105 MINS DISTRIBUTION INTERNATIONAL SALES Pathé Distribution Pathé International 2, rue Lamennais – 75008 Paris 2, rue Lamennais – 75008 Paris Phone: +33 (1) 71 72 30 00 Phone: +33 (1) 71 72 30 00 Materials downloadable at www.pathefilms.com SYNOPSIS Johanna Pasquali is your typical woman cop. Absent-minded, head-in-the-clouds, clumsy, from the standpoint of pure police work she is both likeable and a total zero. She does have some real skills (good shot, hand-to-hand combat skills and a cop’s sixth sense), and even her stumbles make her a threat to criminals, but also to her fellow officers and the general public. Relegated to such dangerous assignments as parking violations and shoplifting, she uses every minute of her spare time to make her dream come true – she wants to become the first woman officer in R.A.I.D.1 For mysterious and political reasons, she is accepted into the elite unit’s training program and becomes the problem of agent Eugène Froissard (AKA “Gene the Jinx”), the most misogynous of RAID agents. This unlikely duo is in charge of stopping the Leopard Gang, which is behind some daring burglaries on the streets of Paris. But before they can put the bad guys behind bars, they must find a way to partner without killing one another, whether in training or on a series of very colorful cases. R.A.I.D. SPECIAL UNIT is a comedy/adventure set against the background of the extraordinary true-life stories of these heroes of exemplary humility and courage. 1 R.A.I.D., or Recherche, Assistance, Intervention, Dissuasion (Search, Rescue, Intervention, Deterrence) is the French national police’s elite unit, roughly equivalent to the American S.W.A.T. INTERVIEW WITH DANY BOON HOW LONG CAN YOU REMEMBER WANTING TO absent-minded, awkward, funny. She’s also a TELL THIS STORY? very attractive woman who never hesitates to I think I got the idea for R.A.I.D. SPECIAL UNIT go over the top in the faces she makes, never about ten years ago. Back then, I thought I afraid to be ridiculous, without compromising would like to play a cop who was sort of a her talents as an actress. That’s what gave me bungler and joins an elite unit. It was also the spark – what if my awkward cop were because I wanted to make an action comedy. a woman? So my co-writer, Sarah Kaminsky, Over the years I wrote some ideas down and and I went to work seriously about two and sort of tucked them away, taking them out a half years ago. That’s also when I started once in a while for a look. Actually, I guess I researching the GIGN (Groupe d’Intervention was missing that little spark to start seriously de la Gendarmerie Nationale) which is a working on the screenplay. I felt like this kind military unit and on RAID, which I found of movie has already been done and I was more interesting because it’s part of the looking for an original angle, that little extra national police. I wanted my character to be something to convince me that this would an homage to Belmondo and all those French really be an exciting project. films that influenced the American movies, for example the Bruce Willis movies, where the AND HOW DID YOU FIND THAT SPARK? hero is heroic, but also funny and flawed… It was meeting someone. When I made SUPERCHONDRIAC in 2013, I gave the lead THOSE REFERENCES ARE VERY PRESENT IN R.A.I.D. role to Alice Pol, with whom I had acted in SPECIAL UNIT – PIERRE RICHARD ON THE POSTERS Pascal Chaumeil’s film A PERFECT PLAN, a THE BELMONDO FILM YOUR CHARACTER WATCHES couple of years before. My wife and I went to AT HOME. THE STORY ITSELF AND YOUR WAY OF see her on stage a little while later and when TELLING IT ALSO EVOKES PHILIPPE DE BROCA, I auditioned her, Alice was so great that I EDOUARD MOLINARO OR GÉRARD OURY. IT’S A decided to give her a larger role in my film. GENRE THAT FRENCH CINEMA HAS SHIED AWAY On the shoot I felt like I was discovering a FROM, BUT WHICH GAVE RISE TO A WHOLE female Pierre Richard! In real life, Alice Pol is GENERATION OF ARTISTS, YOURSELF INCLUDED… Absolutely. We grew up with those movies. It’s always fun to watch them again because they’re entertaining, funny and full of adventures. Back then, don’t forget, Hollywood was turning out these smooth and big-budget pictures, much less interesting. These films had a little flesh on them, they were more human. WHOM DID YOU APPROACH AT RAID TO TALK ABOUT THE PROJECT? Sarah and I went to see them in June, 2014 and we had lunch with their top guy, Jean- Michel Fauvergue. I could feel he was a little worried in the beginning! “Uh- read when preparing the film. Some of them oh, Dany Boon wants to make a movie about are sort of superstitious about doing a job us…” My first question was, are there any that constantly puts them in harm’s way. These women in the elite unit. Turns out there are 3, are incredible destinies, incredible lives. And out of 170 officers. We spoke to all three of I was also fascinated by the women in RAID. them as well, including the very first woman Just like the men, they go through intensive to join RAID. Then I dove into the books on the training, putting their lives on the line, and I subject – Robert Paturel’s book, for example, wanted to address that issue. There are very which is one of the group’s historical pillars. few if any action comedies where the main He worked as technical advisor on the film character is a woman. What happened in and also played the role of Alice’s Pygmalion 2015 did complicate matters – we could no instructor. I was really impressed with these longer shoot in France with RAID equipment men and women, this elite unit of our police and uniforms, for example. So we had to force. Their sacrifice, courage, and sense of shoot certain action scenes in Belgium. duty demands respect. But I also found out that these people have a real conscious idea RAID ALLOWED YOU TO SHOOT USING THEIR about the role they play and the dangers LOGISTICAL MEANS BUT ALSO IN THEIR ACTUAL involved. RAID doesn’t recruit young police HEADQUARTERS… officers, but rather people in the 30 – 40 Yes, we were lucky enough to be able to set range. You have to have several years as a up our cameras in their actual operations “I was also fascinated by the women in RAID. Just like the men, they go through intensive training, putting their lives on the line, and I wanted to address that issue. There are very few if any action comedies where the main character is a woman.” cop under your belt before you can apply. center. And I met personnel all the way up The management isn’t looking for gung-ho the chain of command, including the Minister types – they want people with something to of the Interior, Mr. Bernard Cazeneuve, who lose, like a family. I really admire them and I was really great with us. Sarah and I spent actually have stayed in touch with more than a lot of time with them, observing them, a few of them. For me, this film also had to participating in simulated ops, training with be an homage to their work for our safety, them, in order to be as close as possible to especially with what’s been going on recently. their reality. In the end, to the extent possible and doable, we actually managed to make ABOUT THAT, WHEN THE 2015 TERRORIST ATTACKS a place for ourselves in the unit. Two and a OCCURRED DID YOU THINK ABOUT WHETHER YOU half years of common experience leaves some SHOULD CONTINUE? pretty intense memories. We had a special No, just the opposite. It only made me want screening for Police Orphans, and another to talk more about these modern-day heroes. one for members of RAID. When those dramatic events you mention I know they really liked the move, especially took place, I was frightened not only for the the fact – and this is something true of all victims but also for those who would risk their my films – that we laugh “with” someone or lives in coming to their assistance. In R.A.I.D. something and never “at” them. SPECIAL UNIT, there are some emotional moments when we realize that that is their LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR PHYSICAL TRAINING AS day-to-day reality. My character, Eugène WELL. SEVERAL TIMES ON SCREEN, YOU CAN TELL Froissard, thinks he’s a little jinxed and that is THE TRAINING WAS INTENSIVE! the sort of thing that came out of the stories I Alain Figlarz was the one who first brought it up to me. This guy is both great and a complete wagon a little since then, but I still work out! lunatic! He’s the one who set up Alice’s fights and stunts.