Antoine and Mathias, (or rather Marc Levy and Philippe Guez), have spent many a vacation together as single fathers with Louis and Emily, their respective children. Every summer their twosome draws a few curious looks, and even a bit of mocking from the fairer sex. One day, while making their rounds at the supermarket, the laughter they left in their wake inspired them to write a story of two best friends, both single fathers, who live together with their children ; a full house of four, a "home" par excellence...It remains to be seen which one, Philippe or Marc, is the « neat freak ». A clue is in this photo, taken while filming Just Like Heaven…
As for Philippe, he has always refused to comment on the topic.
A few close friends of the "couple" have nevertheless confided (under the strict condition of anonymity) that the "neat freak" is, without a doubt, Marc.
With the idea of London Mon Amour in mind, Marc and Philippe began writing a screenplay. But they found the constraints of screenwriting too restrictive: there was so much to say! So Marc embarked on transforming the story into a novel. The idea of bringing the script to the big screen, however, had not left him.
Initially, Marc planned to direct it himself. But being a realist, he knows well that being a film director is a career, not a hobby. And for the time being, he is not ready to abandon his writing (and his readers!) to devote himself to film.
Marc’s sister, Lorraine Levy, is an accomplished screenwriter and a film director. Lorraine went on to adapt the novel and co-write the screenplay with Philippe Guez and Marc, who are both still very involved in the project. It is Lorraine who directed London Mon Amour.
At the beginning of September 2007, Vincent Lindon (Mathias), Pascal Elbé (Antoine), Virginie Ledoyen (Audrey), Florence Foresti (Sophie) and Bernadette Laffont (Yvonne) found themselves in London for four weeks of filming, all under the careful eye of Marc, who was delighted to take his morning coffee in Yvonne’s bistro, which features in the film.
Dominique Farrugia, the producer, (F.E.W.) made several round-trips to London for the filming, where he found great entente cordiale between the French and the English. He can now attest that it does not always rain in London… Let’s see if he returns!
In October 2007, the shoot moved to the outskirts of Paris, to finish filming . The film was released in France, on July 2nd 2008.
