''Abbé Pierre – A Century of Devotion'' () is a 2023 French

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film based on the life of

Abbé Pierre Abbé Pierre (born Henri Marie Joseph Grouès; 5 August 191222 January 2007) was a French Catholic priest. He was a member of the Resistance (France), Resistance during World War II and deputy of the Popular Republican Movement. In 1949, he foun ...

, a Catholic priest and national hero in France who devoted his life to helping the poor, homeless people and refugees. Directed by

Frédéric Tellier Frédéric and Frédérick are the French versions of the common male given name Frederick. They may refer to: In artistry: * Frédéric Back, Canadian award-winning animator * Frédéric Bartholdi, French sculptor * Frédéric Bazille, Impress ...

from a screenplay written by Tellier and Olivier Gorce, the film stars

Benjamin Lavernhe Benjamin Lavernhe (, born 14 August 1984) is a French actor. Career After attending evening classes at Cours Florent, a private drama school in Paris, France, Lavernhe began taking free classes at Cours Florent, studying under the direction of, ...

as Abbé Pierre. The film premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 26 May 2023. It was theatrically released in France by SND on 8 November 2023.

Synopsis

The life of Henri Grouès, known as

, from his time in the Resistance in WWII to his fights against poverty and for the homeless.

Cast

Emmanuelle Bercot Emmanuelle Bercot is a French actress, film director, and screenwriter. Career Filmmaking Bercot wrote, directed, and played a lead role in the film '' Clément'', which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film ...

as Lucie Coutaz *

Michel Vuillermoz Michel Vuillermoz (born 18 December 1962) is a French actor and scriptwriter. Vuillermoz has appeared in more than 100 films and 40 plays. In 1998, he received two Molière Award: Best Male Newcomer and Best Play for ''André le Magnifique''. ...

as Georges Legay

Production

Development

In January 2020, it was announced that SND Films and Wy Productions were preparing a film about the life of

was announced as director, and co-writer of the script with Olivier Gorce. The idea for the film was born from the desire of Wassim Béji and SND Films to tell the story of the priest's life. Béji explained, "Abbé Pierre had an incredible life and was a true ''rock star''. To tell the story of this figure who traversed the 20th century is to tell our story". The film was produced by Béji's WY Productions and by SND, in co-production with

France 3 Cinéma France 3 () is a French free-to-air public television network. The second flagship network of France Télévisions, it broadcasts a wide range of general and specialized programming. France 3 is structured as a regional service with 13 re ...

. In developing the screenplay, Frédéric Tellier researched extensively for about 3 years. He read books written by Abbé Pierre or by his relatives and watched news footage as well as fictional portrayals of the subject, including '' Hiver 54, l'abbé Pierre'' (1989) and ''Les Chiffonniers d'Emmaüs'' (1955). He also spoke with individuals who knew the priest, such as Laurent Desmard, who worked in a high-ranking position at Emmaüs and who was his private secretary.

Filming

Filming began in December 2021, under the working title ''Les Onze Vies de l'Abbé Pierre'' (''The Eleven Lives of Abbé Pierre''). It took place in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

(Studios Ferber), in the

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

region (

Villeneuve-la-Garenne Villeneuve-la-Garenne () is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris in the Hauts-de-Seine department in the Île-de-France region. History The commune of Villeneuve-la-Garenne was created on ...

Boissy-sous-Saint-Yon Boissy-sous-Saint-Yon (, literally ''Boissy under Saint-Yon'') is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. Population Inhabitants of Boissy-sous-Saint-Yon are known as ''Buxéens'' in French. See also *Comm ...

) and in the

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (; AURA) or ; or ; . is a Regions of France, region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into e ...

region, including

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the southeastern ...

(Savoie),

Annecy Annecy ( , ; , also ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Haute-Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, regi ...

(Haute-Savoie) and the Vercors (Isère). In July 2022, a sequence was shot in

Agon-Coutainville Agon-Coutainville () is a commune in the Manche department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Population Heraldry Personalities * Berthe Dagmar (1881–1934) * This is the village of radio personality Madame Leprieur. See a ...

(Manche).

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

concluded in July 2022.

Release

The film was selected to be screened out of competition at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 26 May 2023. The film was theatrically released in France by SND on 8 November 2023.

Reception

Critical response

''Abbé Pierre – A Century of Devotion'' received an average rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars on the French website

AlloCiné AlloCiné is an entertainment website founded by Jean-David Blanc in 1988, then joined by Patrick Holzman. It has belonged to the company since 2013 Webedia. which specializes in providing information on French cinema, mostly centering on nove ...

, based on 28 reviews. Reviewing the film following its Cannes premiere, Allan Hunter of ''

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'' praised the film's "handsomely crafted storytelling".

Accolades

References

External links

* {{IMDb title Abbé Pierre 2023 films 2023 biographical drama films 2020s French films 2020s French-language films Films about Catholic priests French biographical drama films France 3 Cinéma films Biographical films about religious figures Films about homelessness Films shot in Paris Films shot in Hauts-de-Seine Films shot in Essonne Films shot in Lyon Films shot in Savoie Films shot in Annecy Films shot in Isère Films shot in Manche Films scored by Bryce Dessner