The director Emmanuel Courcol loves music, he tells TT. It was one of the reasons he wanted to make a drama comedy about a brass band in northern France.
I wanted to show what a band means socially for the population in a working-class town. And I wanted to tell about what happens when this band meets classical music.
Thibaut in the film is a world-renowned conductor who suffers from leukemia and needs to get bone marrow from a relative. When he finds out that he is adopted and has an unknown brother, he seeks him out. The brother lives in a small town in the northern part of the country, a town that is threatened by factory closures, but where the local brass band stands for some kind of community.
"Loves British comedies"
The brothers slowly find each other through music and the common struggle to help Thibaut. Courcol knew more about classical music than local bands when the work started – but traveled to northern France to meet people who played in amateur bands. He was impressed by the community they created.
I love British social comedies, and there are many similarities between northern France and areas in England. I wanted my film to remind of the British films. Like, for example, "Brassed off", which I saw before I wrote the script so they wouldn't be too similar.
Brother Jimmy is played by Pierre Lottin, one of France's most hyped young actors. In the film, he plays the trombone, an instrument he learned to handle for the film.
Most of what I play in the film is me, I was only "dubbed" a couple of times. But piano I could play since before. I learned it when I was seven and I've had some performances at, among other things, hospitals, he says.
"Not as successful"
In France, he is most known for the role as the "somewhat homosexual" rapper in four extremely successful "Les Tuche" films (the fifth is coming later this year). They are broad comedies that have not reached outside of France, and which have made the home audience mostly associate him with comedy.
But between the "Les Tuche" films, I've done a lot of dramatic roles, just they haven't become as successful.
Later this year, we will see him in Sweden in François Ozon's drama "When Autumn Comes". And ahead of him now under 2025, he has no less than five films to do.
Then my wife and I will try to make a film about a guy who wants to become a samurai.
Name: Pierre Lottin.
Age: 36 years.
Family: Wife.
Lives: In Paris.
Previous roles in selection: "Les Tuche 1–4", "In God's Name", "Vampires", "Waiting for Freedom", "Notre-Dame Burns", "The Night Before the 12th", "Lupin".
Currently with: "My Unexpected Brother" which has a Swedish cinema premiere on 28/2. The film is nominated for seven awards at the French César Awards, which takes place the same evening – Lottin can get an acting award.
Name: Emmanuel Courcol.
Age: 67 years.
Occupation: Actor, writer, director.
Previous films as director: "Cessez-le-feu", "The Earth We Inherited", "Waiting for Freedom".
Currently with: "My Unexpected Brother" which has a Swedish cinema premiere on 28/2.
