REPORTAGE
History may tell us if the shroud had pockets in the Saint-Sulpice church in Paris, as filmmaker Jean-Pierre Mocky, who died on Thursday at the age of 90, said in a film. In or around the church, many people gathered Monday morning to greet the director's memory for the last time. Funny parishioners undoubtedly, a crowd in the image of what Jean-Pierre Mocky has been throughout his rich career in 66 films: a child of the people, but also a director who attracted all that French cinema can produce stars.
Many great figures of the cinema have thus clung to the benches to pay homage to the director of Is there a Frenchman in the room? Among them: Henri Guybet, Agnès Soral, Benoît Magimel or Michel Boujenah. When the coffin made of light wood entered the church, a barbaric organ played in particular Paris Jadi s, an ode to popular Paris. Then the prayer of the parish lasted about ten minutes, followed by religious songs and speeches of his relatives.
"He leaves an exceptional work"
Two of Jean-Pierre Mocky's sons were present. His daughter Olivia, dressed in a colorful flower dress, made an offbeat speech, full of emotion. "He had convinced us that he would live to 100 years, the time to do a few more films, and his departure, so sudden, is a shock even at 90," she said, before continuing: "Same party, he still surprises us, you do not see him, but he's wearing a bright orange jacket, hat on his head, camouflage pants he loved and Playboy underpants."
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In the front row, in front of the altar, in a black suit, the Minister of Culture Franck Riester greeted "Mocky the Independent". "He leaves an exceptional work, he was one of the greatest French filmmakers, he was above all a free man, and one needs freedom, the seventh art allows it in an exceptional way. one of the biggest defenders of this freedom, "he said at the microphone of Europe 1.
The coffin of the director came out of the church to the applause of celebrities, but also many anonymous. In Le Figaro's notebook, his children had invited his fans to "come and say goodbye to him rather than mourn his death." Jean-Pierre Mocky must now be buried in the family vault of Saint-Prix, in Val-d'Oise.