Fabien Faure on the cinematography of À l’ancienne

A remake of the 1998 British film Waking Ned Devine — photographed by Henry Braham, BSC and directed by Kirk Jones — À l'ancienne offers a fresh and expressive take on the lottery-ticket tale under the direction of Hervé Mimran. Distinguished from its British predecessor in more ways than just language, À l'ancienne showcases a unique visual style crafted by cinematographer Fabien Faure. Using T Series optics with a Panavised Arri Alexa 35, Faure infused vibrancy into every frame of this late-life comedy. The cinematographer shared his experience with Panavision Paris for this Q&A.

Panavision: How did you become involved in this project?

Fabien Faure: When I met Hervé Mimran, he had already started preparing À l'ancienne and had conducted the first recce. He had to find a cameraman quickly, and mutual friends — Olivier Rosemberg, Emmanuelle Youchnovski, Mathieu Ouillon and Jennifer Devolder — brought us together and allowed us to meet. I also knew his producers of the film, Hugo Gélin and Igor Gotesman, although we hadn’t worked together directly.

Hervé and I had coffee, and we immediately got on very well. He told me that he was interested above all in the individual and in the motivation of the people involved in his project. I immediately felt a real alchemy and a bond between our two personalities.

How would you describe the look of À l’ancienne?

The film takes place on a small island, isolated in Brittany. It's a story of friendship between two characters who have known each other a long time, in a simple and modest environment. There was a desire to show these rather contrasting, somewhat austere Breton landscapes whilst remaining in the realm of comedy. We wanted to show dark and dense interiors, compared to the brighter exteriors, marked by cloudy and changing skies, just like the weather we had on set. 

Were there any particular visual references you looked at for inspiration?

Hervé Mimran warned me and explained quite quickly his way of working, his vision for preparing his film. For my part, I like and am used to arriving with stills and references to create mood boards, to find the atmosphere of the film and to refine it with the staging in preparation. Hervé, on the contrary, wants to have freedom on the set. He likes to adapt to the constraints of life, which we can have on the set and during filming. He likes to cut the morning of filming, on the set, with his director of photography, his script supervisor and his staging first assistant. He does not like to plan things in advance so as not to be stuck on them later. He has great confidence in his different department heads and is open to suggestions. 

It was a very good exercise for me. It forced me to find solutions quickly and to be very responsive and flexible on set, and not to embark on overly big setups, as they would have to be able to change quickly. We also had technical and budgetary constraints, so we had to have fairly lightweight light sources and a small technical team.

I remember seeing the original version of the film Waking Ned Devine at the cinema with my mother in 1998. Having Breton origins and having often visited the Isle of Groix, where part of my family lives, I was obviously close and touched by this story and these inhabitants. 

What brought you to Panavision for this project?

From the start, Hervé and I both wanted to do the project with anamorphic lenses. We wanted a rendering with character, quite pronounced, but realistic and authentic, neither too modern nor vintage. I immediately thought of and wanted to compare the T, G and C Series from Panavision, which I knew thanks to Renzo [cinematographer Laurent Tangy, AFC] for whom I was a first AC for many years. The T Series imposed itself very quickly, thanks to its rendering and its character, its soft and sharp side at the same time. Its compactness, mainly on the shoulder, as well as the number of focal lengths that we had available in this series were also a big plus for our film. 

I like and regularly use the Arri Alexa, and I needed a sensitive camera as I had to be light on lighting. The dynamics and the possibility of choosing and customizing the texture confirmed my choice for the Alexa 35 very quickly.

What inspired you to become a cinematographer, and what keeps you inspired today?

I was always attracted to cinema, from a very young age, and felt a desire to participate and tell stories, to use the camera as a means of expression to convey messages and emotions. Quite quickly, the image imposed itself on me and confirmed my career choices, initially as a camera assistant and then as a director of photography.

I like meeting new people and being able to support directors, especially in their first films. I like having to renew myself, to build and adapt my collaboration with a director each time in the face of their expectations.

All images courtesy of Five Dogs, Zazi Films, STUDIOCANAL and M6 Films.