In “Monsieur Aznavour”, we never see Tahar Rahim, but only Charles Aznavour (and that’s a good sign)

CINEMA – Tahar Aznavour or Charles Rahim, to tell the truth we don’t really know anymore. And that’s probably the best thing you can say to yourself after seeing a biopic. At the cinema this Wednesday October 23, the film Mr Aznavour Directed by Mehdi Idir and Grand Corps Malade tells the story of the son of Armenian immigrants, who became a monument of French song. With a Tahar Rahim as a hero “ for me, formidable ».

« Stunned », « skeptical », « no obvious correspondence between him and me »: the 43-year-old Franco-Algerian actor does not hide the fact that he himself was largely taken aback when the duo of directors (to whom we already owe Patients or School Life) offered him the role. “ And then, I spent the weekend watching documentaries, and the taste for risk and challenge overcame everything », he remembers in the columns of Parisian.

So for his friends, and as he does for all the filmmakers with whom he works, Tahar Rahim threw himself headlong into taming his character until he became one with him. The actor had already proven his ability to blend into a role, since A prophet from Jacques Audiard in 2009 to the cold serial killer Charles Sobhraj in the series The Snake the Netflix and 2021.

The ” Tahar method »

To play Charles Aznavour, Tahar Rahim once again took on the task with great effort. There ” Tahar method », as evoked by Grand Corps Malade in a portrait of the magazine M of Mondegoes through a careful study of the singer’s life. “ I watched every video I could find, every movie he starred in, listened to every song he had “, describes the actor in the production notes.

Tahar Rahim also met the family of the great Charles: his wife Ulla, his second daughter Katia – who is the wife of Jean-Rachid Kallouche, the producer of the film -, his son Mischa, his sister Aïda and his first daughter Seda who lives in Los Angeles. “ They told me about their memories, their joys, their fears, their faults, their qualities and their complexes “, he remembers.

Without forgetting the six to eight hours of singing per week for six months, and the evening classes again during filming. And also some marvels of make-up with many prostheses but “ small, discreet and harmonious ». « I didn’t really feel them and sometimes I even forgot them » he said to Parisian even though he spent four hours every morning in the hands of makeup artist Kaatje Van Damme.

Charles Aznavour’s second daughter, Katia, who came to the film set, was amazed: “ When she told me that when she looked at me she saw her father, it gave me wings ».

ANTOINE AGOUDJIAN

Four hours of makeup every morning on set to transform the actor into Charles Aznavour.

So we too, inevitably find ourselves looking for the features of Tahar Rahim throughout the scenes and periods, trying to distinguish Charles’ voice from Tahar’s in the original soundtrack. And then very quickly we let ourselves be carried away by the whirlwind of Aznavour’s life: the (long) years of hardship; the Laurel and Hardy-style duo formed with pianist Pierre Roche (Bastien Bouillon in the film); the meeting with Édith Piaf (Marie-Julie Baup) who takes him under her wing as gentle as she is sharp; his family life often neglected and sacrificed; and then finally the years of glory tinged with the melancholy of his pursuit of “ always more » .

Charles Aznavour, who spent his life filming others for pleasure, had “ dubbed » before his death the project of Grand Corps Malade and Mehdi Idir. Having passed away on the day when production of this film was to be launched in 2018, he will not have seen the 2h13 of his condensed life on the big screen. But spectators who go to the cinema will only be able to appreciate seeing it come to life again. at the top of the poster ».