Synopsis: At once actor, writer, director and producer, for over twenty years Pierre Richard has played a central role in French comedies. Associated with some of the biggest hits of the ’70s and ’80s, the actor has enjoyed an immense popularity which continues today, despite a more subdued presence during the last decade.

However, making a living portrait of Pierre Richard by merely browsing through his triumphs would be simplistic and somewhat unfair. Indeed: despite his popularity, the man is modest, even shy, and only those who know him well have seen the real person behind his distracted alter-ego.
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Pierre Richard: Portrait d’un rêveur 7.5

‘Portrait d’un rêveur’ is a short film on Pierre Richard. It’s not really a bio in the proper sense, in that it doesn’t cover his life from day one to present, nor is it a retrospective in that it doesn’t discuss his films from A to Z. What it is is a glimpse into the heart of a man that not very many people know outside of his public persona.

We discover that, despite becoming imprisoned by his alter-ego, by “Pierre Richard”, so-to-speak, and not being able to broaden his horizons as much as he’d have liked, Richard kept a positive outlook and soldiered on; “it is what it is”, is the vibe we get from him.

Along the way, we also hear many tributes to him: for instance, Francis Veber claims that Richard might have been another Woody Allen, if not for the fact that other people (himself included) kept writing material especially for Richard, thereby reducing the possibility that he would write his own material.

It’s all a pleasant affair. What was unfortunate, however, was that the quality of audio was quite poor. In fact, I could not understand what they were saying in the beginning; without subtitles, and even after boosting the volume, I was a bit lost. Thankfully, after 5-10 mins, everything cleared up.

Despite its brevity, ‘Pierre Richard: Portrait d’un rêveur’ gives an intriguing perspective on the artist and painted a better picture than some full-length features do. It is the portrait of a confident man with a few unrealised dreams who appears very much at peace with the outcome.

Post scriptum: I am now very interested in revisiting all of his films that I’ve already seen but haven’t watched in years. And I may just do that…