"Um, I've seen this somewhere. " Neo said in The Matrix. This is the same feeling that Vincent Cassel shares regarding comedy posters (French and international). Indeed, the actor expressed himself on November 15 on Instagram highlighting the similarities between several comedy posters. Although he denounces formatting in movie posters, in truth his words are quite ironic.
"A glaring example of formatting, lack of invention, laziness and levelling down distributors. ". It is with this sentence that Vincent Cassel wanted to express his frustration with movie posters. A theme that may seem anecdotal but which is in truth an essential tool of communication. Because even if a poster may seem simple, it actually constitutes a major part of the visual communication of a film with its trailer. Note that we often remember more a movie poster than its script for example! Thus, Vincent Cassel wanted to expose a fact: comedy posters are terribly similar and it is difficult to see today an ounce of originality in this field.
Do not play with words, Mr Cassel.
Remarks that have sparked some debate, especially on Twitter with the hashtag #Vivelafrance but that it is necessary to take with a certain distance. Because even if Vincent Cassel is, in a certain sense, right to be offended, he is in fact far from the truth. If we look closely at its editing, we observe 6 films including 5 French. Let's imagine that we are satisfied only with French comedies for the moment. It is possible to highlight similarities between these posters, they are obvious: colors (blue and yellow) and deeply comical tone. Characteristics common to these posters certainly, but not to all French comedy posters. And as we said, we stick to French cinema! Here there is also the film The Boyfriend, an American production. So, if we also take into account international cinema, it is obvious that we find similarities but all are different and this model is only one among many! We could also talk about the face pyramid, a well-known poster model by Vincent Cassel.
Vincent Cassel, real position or marketing coup?
Yes, because even if Vincent Cassel wants to be the protector of originality and the knight of movie posters (title not recognized by the government for the moment), he is in fact also concerned by this "formatting" which is more like a marketing strategy. Because although he wishes to denounce, it is also important to remember that Vincent Cassel will soon enter into a communication campaign for his next role in the film The Emperor of Paris by Jean-François Richet, a new vision of the character of François Vidocq. A film that originally had an original poster (see main photo of this article) but which in the end had to undergo a drastic change by becoming a pyramid of faces, model that you may know because typical of Star Wars posters. In addition, remember that Vincent Cassel also turned in the film Un moment d'égarement by Jean-François Richet (still him) which had a somewhat standardized poster, even if the film is not really a comedy.
But, in the end, it is difficult to blame Vincent Cassel. Although he too is at the center of this marketing game that is the creation of a movie poster, he points to a problem that is real. Although he only took the example of 5 French films, he could have taken many more that have these same color codes: Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis, Les Ex, Ma famille t'adore déjà… Many French comedies can be cited. So, when will we have the right to a real mix in the field of posters? No one knows. And finally, a simple rant or discreet communication campaign by Vincent Cassel to promote The Emperor of Paris ? Another unanswered question. All we know is that the film comes out on December 19.
Trailer of the Emperor of Paris:
