Mascarade: the best spots to

follow Nicolas Bedos on the French Riviera

Mascarade, le nouveau film de Nicolas Bedos nous livre une Côte d’Azur plus « bling bling » que jamais sous le signe des paillettes et des trahisons. Au programme, voyage en terre azuréenne avec comme toile de fond les perles de la Côte d’Azur : Nice, Cannes, Antibes, Saint-Jean Cap Ferrat et bien d’autres villes que nous transportent au frontière de la dolce vita.

All around Nice

The Niçois will be proud to see their beloved city highlighted throughout this 100% “made in Côte d’Azur” film! There are many shots where La Bella Nizza is in the spotlight. It’s full of gorgeous clichés and we just love it: the tandem Margot (Marine Vacth) and Adrien (Pierre Niney) offer us some excellent acting in spots all over Nice. Buying flowers on Cours Saleya, embracing on a bench on the Colline du Château, running after each other on the Quai des Etats-Unis, riding a scooter along the Route de la Réserve, contemplating the Baie des Anges from Cimiez, walking around the Vieux Nice and even pretending to have a lover’s tiff at the observatory! They’ve done it all and the scenes in the film will make you want to go to Nice for the weekend!

Editor’s anecdote:

On the Sentier des Douaniers towards Coco Beach, the team was locating the setting for the scene where Adrien and Margot jump off the rocks into the water. Nicolas Bedos was worried that it wouldn’t be possible to jump from there as it looked dangerous and too shallow. The location manager Etienne Ochlewsky insisted that it could be done, Nicolas asked him to prove it and Etienne jumped in! And then, well you know what happened next.

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Between St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Villefranche-sur-Mer

During the film, those of you who know the Côte d’Azur will have recognized the Hôtel Royal Riviera in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. In the film, it’s Julia’s restaurant. Julia is one of Adrien’s ex-girlfriends with whom he’s stayed in contact. She broods on her husband’s betrayal and can’t get over it! Another of the scenes that was shot there is where Margot and Adrien pretend to have a huge argument so they can run off without paying the astronomical bill! Following these events, Martha wants to conquer Adrien’s heart again and decides to whisk him off on her old wooden sloop: you can see it in the harbour in Villefranche-sur-Mer – an invitation to a day out on a boat on a sunny day! Pierre Niney, Marine Vacth, and Laura Morgante gave a truly remarkable performance in this magical setting.

… passing through Antibes?

Famous for its coast and its “sea view” landscapes, the charming town of Antibes was a must for the film. This is where the famous scene where Pierre Niney gives a performance worthy of the greatest dancers was shot. In the setting sun, Marine Vacth watches with wonder and emotion Adrien’s character dance a real ballet on the sand and a touch more poetry. The music you can hear is “Bienvenue dans nos décors” by Anne-Sophie Versnaeyen, and you can almost believe in this love story between Margot and Adrien despite the obstacles that Nicolas Bedos has carefully placed along the way.

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Take to the heights in Tourrettes-sur-loup

Under the sun of the Riviera, the cameras have captured the soul of this emblematic land that has so many holiday-makers dreaming. We go up to Tourrettes-sur-Loup where François Cluzet and Marine Vacth are wandering around the village: beautiful stone and little paved streets offer a fantastic setting.

Editor’s anecdote:

while he was locating spots to film, Nicolas Bedos knocked on the door of a gallery in the old village of Tourrettes. The team was invited to an impromptu picnic on the gallery owner’s terrace – he knew Nicolas because the house used to belong to his father, Guy Bedos. He showed him the room where his father used to write, a very moving moment! Not long after, Nicolas Bedos bought a house in Tourrettes-sur-Loup.

Maison Pierre Cardin, so Riviera

Contrary to what you are led to suppose in the film, Martha’s home is actually the Maison Pierre Cardin. Perched above Théoule-sur-Mer, it is known as the Palais Bulle and was included in the casting of Mascarade. A real architectural folly, but exactly what is needed as the home of the actress and icon Isabelle Adjani. Many scenes were shot in this gem of the Riviera. We see Martha in her everyday life: annoyed at breakfast time, falling backwards into the sumptuous swimming pool, lightly dressed in her home cinema room, in evening dress at a high society party …