Synopsis
In February 1974, Yves Montand decides to sing at the Olympia for Chilean refugees in France. He has not performed live since 1968 and has only twelve days to get ready. Montand moves to his home in Auteuil with his pianist and 30-year-old sidekick, Bob Castella.
A word from Tënk
The long-distance run, which ranged from the singer getting into shape to the unique show given in 1973 in support of the thousands of Chileans in exile, was more akin to a middle-distance race, for which the pressure was increasing.
From the very first session with Bobby, the pianist's accomplice and punching bag, where the show is set up to the curtain fall, the film bears witness to a Montand who is a great show organiser, without bypassing the scenes revealing the artist's flaws.
Montand, protean, travels through the film: crooner, astonishing, loud-mouthed, sensual, provocative, lucid defender of just causes, contradictory…
Chris Marker reveals a portrait of a man, a long-distance runner.
François Waledisch
Sound Engineer
