In July 2024, the eccentric French singer Philippe Katerine caused a sensation by playing a blue-painted and almost completely naked Dionysus in the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. Twenty months later, director Gaëtan Chataigner tries to understand how his good friend became such a phenomenon in the documentary Where are you Philippe Katerine?.
Screened this Saturday at the Montreal Art Film Festival in the presence of the director and his subject, this film of approximately one hour immerses us in the creative madness of the 57-year-old artist, born Philippe Blanchard, by recounting his atypical journey.
In interview with The Journal Wednesday, Philippe Katerine says he received several proposals for documentaries about him in the months following his performance at the Olympic Games. He accepted when the name of Gaëtan Chataigner was associated with one of these projects.
“I quickly said yes because I have known Gaëtan for a very long time and I had total confidence in him. We have known each other for 40 years. I knew that with him, it would be different from the others,” he says.
Having worked alongside Philippe Katerine as a bassist, but also as a director of music videos for his successes The banana et Luxor, I love itGaëtan Chataigner believed that the immense visibility offered by the Olympic Games ceremony constituted an ideal entry point to tell the artistic trajectory of the enigmatic singer, actor and visual artist.
“I wanted to show how this shy young man that he was when we met as teenagers finds himself today appearing almost naked, painted blue, in front of cameras around the world, triggering the wrath of Donald Trump,” explains the director.
“I asked myself: but what is my friend doing on this table, among drag queens, he whom I knew was so shy? I also wanted to revisit all these images shot together over the years and take stock of this friendship. »
Photo PIERRE-PAUL POULIN
A rebirth
The film returns in particular to the childhood and youth of Philippe Katerine in Vendée, in the west of France. There is also much talk about an event that changed his life forever: at the age of 8, he had surgery to correct a serious heart defect. His heart stopped for 17 minutes, replaced by a machine. The artist says he experienced this moment as a rebirth.
“I think it was a total upheaval of my presence on Earth. Because non-existence was knocking at the door. And then, without this operation, I would have had to disappear at 20 years old. Obviously, it’s an upset. I don’t think I would have done everything I did if I hadn’t had surgery at 8 years old. It triggered things in me. »
Philippe Katerine admits to having been surprised to see everything he had accomplished so far when he watched Gaëtan Chataigner’s documentary for the first time.
“It impressed me because I never look in the rearview mirror,” he emphasizes. I said to myself: did I do all that? He seems like a hyperactive child, which I am not at all. While watching the film, I also asked myself: but what am I going to do next? It’s like I’m dead! I was taken aback for an afternoon, then quickly moved on. »
- The movie Where are you Philippe Katerine? is presented on March 21 at 2 p.m. at the Henry-F.-Hall Pavilion of Concordia University.
