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''102 Boulevard Haussmann'' is a 1991 British
biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
written by
Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two ...
and directed by
Udayan Prasad Udayan Prasad (born Sevagram, 4 February 1953) is an Indian-born British television and film director. He is best known for his films ''Brothers in Trouble'' (1995) and ''My Son the Fanatic'' (1997), the latter based on a short story by Hanif Kures ...
. It is based on the life of French novelist Marcel Proust in 1916, during his residency at 102 Boulevard Haussmann in Paris, France. The film stars Alan Bates,
Janet McTeer Janet McTeer (born 5 August 1961"Ms Janet McTeer, OBE"
. ''Derbrett's P ...
,
Jonathan Coy Jonathan Coy (born 24 April 1953, in Hammersmith, London) is a British actor. He has worked since 1975 largely in television, notably as Henry in the long-running legal series '' Rumpole of the Bailey'' and as Bracegirdle in the television ser ...
,
Paul Rhys Paul Rhys (born 19 December 1963) is a Welsh theatre, television and film actor. Early life Rhys was born in Neath to working class Catholic parents, Kathryn Ivory and her husband Richard Charles Rhys, a labourer. At fourteen, he bred and train ...
and
Celia Imrie Celia Diana Savile Imrie (born 15 July 1952) is an English actress and author. She was described in 2003 as one of the most successful British actresses of recent decades. She is best known for her film roles, including the '' Bridget Jones'' f ...
. It aired on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
on 17 February 1991. Prasad won a Golden Gate Award in Best of Television Feature from the
San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in i ...
, and the drama was also nominated for a
British Academy Television Award for Best Single Drama The British Academy Television Award for Best Single Drama is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry. According to the BAFTA website, the cate ...
.


Plot

Set in 1916 during World War I, Marcel Proust lives a nocturnal, closeted life in Paris, obsessed by his writing and looked after by his devoted housekeeper Céleste Albaret. Proust has sequestered himself to a bed in his sound proofed bedroom, where he is writing his latest work. On a rare visit to a concert, he becomes fascinated by the music of a string quartet, which includes a young
viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...
player, Amable Massis, a war veteran who he befriends. He invites the musicians to play a private performance for him in his apartment, where they perform César Franck's Quartet in D. Proust invites the young Massis back to his apartment on numerous occasions to play for him, but Massis is unaware of the true nature of Proust's feelings towards him.


Cast

* Alan Bates as Marcel Proust *
Janet McTeer Janet McTeer (born 5 August 1961"Ms Janet McTeer, OBE"
. ''Derbrett's P ...
as Céleste Albaret *
Paul Rhys Paul Rhys (born 19 December 1963) is a Welsh theatre, television and film actor. Early life Rhys was born in Neath to working class Catholic parents, Kathryn Ivory and her husband Richard Charles Rhys, a labourer. At fourteen, he bred and train ...
as Amable Massis *
Jonathan Coy Jonathan Coy (born 24 April 1953, in Hammersmith, London) is a British actor. He has worked since 1975 largely in television, notably as Henry in the long-running legal series '' Rumpole of the Bailey'' and as Bracegirdle in the television ser ...
as Odilon *
Celia Imrie Celia Diana Savile Imrie (born 15 July 1952) is an English actress and author. She was described in 2003 as one of the most successful British actresses of recent decades. She is best known for her film roles, including the '' Bridget Jones'' f ...
as Madame Massis *
Philip McGough Philip McGough is a British actor with many appearances on UK television and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Personal life In an interview with The Mirror in 2001, McGough revealed he had trained as a monk between the ages of 14 ...
as Dr. Bize * Philip Rham as Gaston Poulet * Peter Geeves as Louis Ruyssen * Michael Wilcox as Victor Gentil


Production notes

Director Udayan Prasad said the relationship between Proust and Céleste is portrayed in the film "like an old married couple", and the idea is that Céleste created the reclusive environment which enabled Proust to work. Prasad also revealed that the "script has its own reality", and we didn't pretend for the drama to be a "documentary about what Proust did in that short period of time". Writer Alan Bennett made the point in the script about wanting to "show people who are artistically engaged in the process of creativity as being barely human". Prasad described Alan Bates as engaging in a "sinister charm," that created a "Proust who is both dislocated from the outside world and in control of his own".


Critical reception

Elaine Paterson wrote in '' Time Out'' that the film is "absorbing and affecting. Its underlying musing on the nature of genius may be a meander up an intellectual cul-de-sac, but the cul-de-sac is beautifully shot, set in a space and time entirely of its own, and governed by two extraordinary characters". TV critic Kevin Thomas said writer Alan Bennett "tells of an incident in Proust's life that allows us to see the Proust-Celeste relationship from a different - and disturbing - angle". Thomas also questioned the motives of Celeste and Proust's physician (Philip McGough), after Proust begins courting the young viola player. Thomas wonders, "are they interested merely in protecting Proust's health? Or do they feel that Proust, as a homosexual, somehow has to be protected from himself? In any event, their actions are outrageous, and all the more so for not actually sparing Proust any pain". John J. O'Connor, said that Alan Bennett created an "extraordinarily complex universe, exploring with painstaking detail shifting relationships and subtle controls, esthetic theory and sexual obsessions, indeed life and art". He also praised Alan Bates as capturing "the underlying strength of the writer", and "lending enormous support is the music, performed by the Deline String Quartet". Sheila Whitaker of the
San Francisco Film Society SFFILM, formerly known as The San Francisco Film Society, is a nonprofit arts organization located in San Francisco, California, that presents year-round programs and events in film exhibition, media education, and filmmaker services. The Execut ...
wrote that Alan Bennett "created a sympathetic and understated script", that is "dense with inflection and nuance rather than action, and the performances of Alan Bates as Proust and Janet McTeer as Celeste match Bennett's achievement". Director Udayan Prasad won a Golden Gate Award from the Film Festival.


See also

* Céleste * In Search of Lost Time *
Screen Two ''Screen Two'' was a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1985 to 1998 (not to be confused with a run of films shown on BBC2 under the billing ''Screen 2'' between April 1977 and March ...
*
List of made-for-television films with LGBT characters This is a list of live action made-for-television films that feature lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender characters. The orientation can be portrayed on-screen, described in the dialogue or mentioned. (For fictional queer characters ( ...


References


External links

*{{IMDb title, id=tt0101246, title=102 Boulevard Haussmann *
102 Boulevard Haussmann
at
BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
*
Remembrance of Proust's past
' at ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'' 1991 television films 1991 films 1991 LGBT-related films British television plays British LGBT-related television films British LGBT-related television episodes 1991 television plays 1990s English-language films Films directed by Udayan Prasad 1990s British films