Gad Elmaleh gets naked in Stay a bit where he goes himself in the company of part of his family. Actor, screenwriter and director of this very personal film, he makes people smile and think by appearing in his own role, that of a Jew who has decided to convert to Catholicism.
“Leading my parents was not easy, confides Gad Elmaleh to 20 minutess. I had lied to them a little about the story by telling them that I was talking about my midlife crisis. In fact, his hero, fascinated by the Blessed Virgin, does not dare announce to those close to him that he wants to change his religion as he doubts that his decision will be badly taken.
Film X or report on the Virgin
This situation worthy of a vaudeville gives hilarious scenes when his mother thinks he is watching an X movie on his computer when it is a report on the Virgin or when his parents discover a pious statue in his suitcase . Impossible for the spectator not to wonder what is reality or fiction between two bursts of laughter. “This ambiguity fed the film. There is love but also a lack of communication between us”, declares Gad Elmaleh who sometimes had trouble channeling his parents. “The editing was complicated because you had to unearth pearls in the middle of scenes where they could go freewheeling,” he recalls.
The tenderness that Gad Elmaleh feels wins the heart of the viewer. You don’t have to be a believer to let yourself be carried away by this deeply sincere work that never turns religion into ridicule. “I was a little afraid of the reaction of my family and especially that of my parents”, admits Gad Elmaleh. The latter have embraced the film and even accompany their son on television sets. “It’s a testimony that describes our family but not only that,” insists the 50-year-old. Indeed, Stay a bit plunges into the family life of Gad Elmaleh with a tender humor because the latter does not take himself seriously. But you can also find material there to make your little gray cells work.
“I wanted to talk about faith and religion, two subjects which I feel have become taboo in France”, insists Gad Elmaleh. The erudite presence of the rabbi Delphine Horvilleur offers an exciting sequence on these subjects and is one of the many elements that make us happy to have stayed a little with Gad Elmaleh.