SHINY SHRIMPS
French film about a gay men’s water polo team makes a splash
France doesn’t make many gay comedy movies. There’s La Cage aux Folles and… umm, that’s it. But the latest, The Shiny
Shrimps, could be this summer’s feelgood film. Inspired by a real- life gay water polo team, it’s not subtle and includes every cliché in the book, including the homophobe who realises the error of his ways, but it’s such fun that none of that matters. It’s co- directed by Cédric le Gallo, a member of the real Shiny Shrimps, alias Les Crevettes Pailletées, and established filmmaker Maxime Govare.
MAXIME You’ve made two earlier films that didn’t get a cinema release in the UK. Was either of them similar to The Shiny Shrimps?
The first one, I Kissed a Girl, was a comedy that was one of the few mainstream comedies with a gay character. It was one of the reasons Cédric came to me with his story. So there is that link. He thought I would be a good partner to help him make his story come alive because he had no experience of cinema.
How famous are Les Crevettes Pailletées in France?
Before the movie they were an amateur gay team, more interested in partying than actually competing so they were not that well known. Now they are one of the most famous water polo teams in the world because [ the film has] been released in 25 countries! They are superstars. They were outsiders and now they are celebrities.
When it came to working with Cédric, who did what?
The real thing was that Cédric was part of the team, openly gay, and I’m straight, married to a woman. We always wanted a mainstream movie but with gay heroes talking to the gay community and the
rest of the world. He wanted to tell the truth but sometimes it was not that clear for straight people and I would tell him, “This is becoming too much of a private joke and people are going to be excluded.” But sometimes he would say “No one [ gay] would ever do that,” so we were always the judge of the other one, making sure that it would be true but accessible. For us, the challenge was to have a movie that would bring people together. Most LGBTQ movies are made by LGBTQ people for LGBTQ audiences. We wanted a wide audience.
You use the word “true” but it could be said that the characters are gay stereotypes.
Comedy heroes usually are a bit of a cliché. We decided we were not going to be too subtle otherwise you lose a bit of the comedy. We’re not representing the whole community, it’s just a queer team. We were coming with good intentions so we shouldn’t censor ourselves.
As a heterosexual man, what did you learn about gay culture?
I happen to have a lot of gay friends. I was raised in a world where it was never a problem. My family was always very accepting. So, I haven’t discovered much but I realise, because I spent a lot of time with the Shiny Shrimps, that in that community there’s so much acceptance of freedom, so much kindness, how they look at other people without judging.
Was it always your intention to pay tribute to
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert?
We tried to avoid that. We actually cut some stuff because it was too similar. But Priscilla is almost a genre by itself so, even if you don’t want to mention it, you have to because it’s a very important film. There’s no way you can avoid that comparison. We tried not to go there but we decided it’s fine.
You filmed at the Gay Games in Croatia. How was that possible?
From the start, we had discussions with the organisation. They really liked the script. It was also very emotional because [ that scene] was the last day of shooting for the movie. We sent the actors on the field with all the athletes coming from across the world.
Have the real Shiny Shrimps seen the film?
That was another emotional moment. The real crevettes were competing in the Gay Games, they always do. So they were always around. We showed the film at L’Alpe d’Huez Film Festival. For Cédric and me, it was really stressful because we were showing it for the first time to a jury and above all to the real Shiny Shrimps. It would have been heart- crushing if they didn’t like it. When it finished we turned around and they were all in tears. It was very touching. They said: “It’s not exactly us but it’s exactly who we are.” We were very happy.
Did you expect the film to be so successful?
To be honest, no. It was such a difficult project to finance. We have very good actors but they are not bankable. So many times we were thinking: either we are doing something super different and great or we are making a mistake. But there was a big buzz at L’Alpe d’Huez and that’s when Universal started to believe in the movie. So they doubled what they were going to pay for marketing. Then we started a tour and every day there were more people than the previous day. So then they said, “We want to offer you one night in Le Grand Rex in Paris, the biggest cinema in Europe.” Nearly 3,000 people came, which was crazy.
Do you think this signals a new acceptance of gay culture in France?
It’s a tricky question. Yes and no. You have more debate for everything, which is a sign of the times. But as Spider- Man is told, “With great power comes great responsibility.” The thing we were happy about was that in small cities, where we thought we wouldn’t have much of an audience, we ended up having a lot of older people, very far away from knowing anything about [ the gay] community, who came because they were curious. It’s going in the right direction but the war hasn’t been won yet.
“IT WAS DIFFICULT TO FINANCE. THE ACTORS ARE VERY GOOD BUT
NOT BANKABLE”
CÉDRIC Have you always had ambitions to work in film?
For me, it was an impossible dream. I have several dreams actually. Being a journalist was my first dream and I thought it would be easier than being a movie director. I don’t come from a movie family and I think to make a movie you must have a story to tell. But during my 16 years of journalism I told a lot of stories — just not mine. In this movie, I tell my story. That’s why I waited. And when I was ready, I said: “OK let’s try it, why not, I have nothing to lose. I have something to say now, if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, I have another job so it’s fine.” But it worked which is cool.
Why did you want to make this film?
I started sport very late, when I was 37. I never did it before because the changing room was a kind of trauma, a place where there is a lot of negative macho energy. For the first time in my life I felt I can be different and [ in the Shiny Shrimps’ changing room] difference is celebrated. I thought I could do a sports movie with completely different values because we don’t care about winning. We are happy to win but if we don’t, it’s fine. Also all my friends in this team are very colourful, they could be comedy characters. When there is a gay movie in France it’s always a drama. The last gay comedy in France was called Pédale Douce [ Soft Pedal] and it was more than 20 years ago. So I decided: right, it’s time to do another gay comedy. It changed my life.
Why did you want to play water polo?
I didn’t especially want to do water polo but a friend of mine told me, “There is this gay water polo team”, and at that time I didn’t have gay friends and he said: “You should go there because maybe you need some gay friends.”
With this film, you wanted to do something different?
Yes, I said I wanted to make a comedy but in an English way. It’s very English to exaggerate sometimes. French people fear [ being seen as] ridiculous. But I said it should be over the top because in my life I am over the top.
I thought there was a similarity to The Full
Monty.
I would say even more so than Priscilla, which is the easier comparison because there is a bus in both movies. But in Priscilla there are only three drag queens going to the show. We are closer to The Full Monty because it’s a group of men, different ages, jobs [ and] body types.
Why did you want to work with Maxime?
I wrote a 10- page script and the first producer I met said, “Well, you’ve never done a movie before so maybe it would be interesting to work with someone else and why not Maxime? Maybe you should meet.” It worked because I thought from the beginning that we were sharing the same goal.
You say the film changed your life and an example of that is the front cover of the French sports magazine L’Equipe, which shows you kissing another man. What was the reaction to that?
I’m very happy that the magazine brings this debate to the table because, when a mainstream magazine does that, people say, “OK, well, maybe we should talk about that.” So I’m very proud. I didn’t realise at the beginning how powerful it would be. It makes society move in a good way.
There’s been no similar picture on a British sports magazine cover.
I’m very open to do that!
Will your next project have a gay theme?
The Shiny Shrimps was about friendship because at that time I was single and friendship was very important to me. Now I’m part of a couple. Four years ago I had nothing to say about couples, now I do. So maybe the next one will be more intimate. But it will always be LGBTQ. It’s easier to talk about something you know [ about].
The Shiny Shrimps is due to be released in the UK on 6 September. See p117.
“I WANTED TO MAKE A COMEDY IN AN ENGLISH WAY. IT’S VERY ENGLISH TO EXAGGERATE”