Little White Lies

Guillaume Canet wrote the script in five months, out of his own holidays at Cap Ferret and out of The Big Chill. In May 2009 he sent the cast to the main location house for three days, to use the boat and the kitchen, so that they would return to shoot that summer feeling they had holidayed there for years. Canet refused a composed score on purpose. A score places you inside a film, he said; he wanted the audience on holiday with these people. He used tracks that play like a holiday compilation, mostly American and in English. The tide is a choice too; he talks about the set changing constantly and about something psychologically depressing in low water. One piece of casting is barely acting. Joël Dupuch, who plays the oyster farmer Jean-Louis, is a sixth generation oyster farmer from Arcachon Bay who had already acted for Canet in Tell No One. It opened on more than 550 French screens, sold 5.2 million tickets there, and took supporting nominations at the 36th César Awards for Gilles Lellouche and Valérie Bonneton. A good fit if you want feeling built by record choices and tides rather than a score. Not for viewers expecting a reckoning straight after Ludo’s crash; the group goes on holiday first.