Depardieu and Clavier filming in Brussels
'Convoi exceptionnel (Exceptional Convoy)', the new Bertrand Blier film currently in production, reunites Gérard Depardieu and Christian Clavier on the streets of Brussels. The two actors have not worked together since 'Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra' in 2002.
The pair have been filming in the Jules Malou district in Etterbeek, between La Chasse and Place Jourdan, since 14 February. Bertrand Blier has also chosen to shoot his feature film in other parts of the Brussels Region. The film, by this 78-year old writer, is described as "a crazy endeavour" and tells the story of a lost soul who meets a man with considerable power over him because he holds the script to his life.
What makes Brussels the perfect location for filming? The fact that the quality of its many different backdrops is very attractive. More precisely, the capital features unusual architecture, from Art Deco to ultra-contemporary, not forgetting Renaissance and even Mediaeval. There are also plenty of green spaces, small urban village streets and wide boulevards. In short, everything that makes residents proud also attracts local and international film-makers.
The French actor Christian Clavier is not content with just filming in Brussels; according to information revealed by the newspaper La Capitale, he has also chosen to live in the municipality of Saint-Gilles. "He probably lives in the upper part of Saint-Gilles, on Chaussée de Charleroi or Avenue Saint-Bernard. That's where the largest houses are, with gardens at the back", explained a source at the local newspaper.