Many films have been shot partly or entirely in Cotentin.
The landscapes of Cotentin inspired the filmmakers.
Find a selection of feature films set in Cotentin, recent or older films.
CHERBOURG and its surroundings
Cherbourg is known throughout the world thanks to the musical film by Jacques Demy The Umbrellas of Cherbourg filmed in 1963, Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Louis Delluc Prize in 1964. Set to music by the recently deceased composer, Michel Legrand, the film was a huge success upon its release and left its mark on the city forever. It will launch the career of Catherine Deneuve.
In the footsteps of the filming
Follow in the footsteps of the emblematic sites of the film entirely shot in Cherbourg, traveling through the city in 10 key stops, such as the Alexander III quays on which Geneviève and Guy experience strong moments in their history, the Marie courtyard, where they live, or even the store.
Click on the picture below
The city has also served as a setting for other feature films such as The Mary of Port (The Harbour District), Marcel Carné, with Jean Gabin, in 1950, as well as other filming sites in Cotentin.
If you want to immerse yourself in a local tragedy, you can see scenes filmed at the Ravalet castle in 2015, when Valérie Donzelli directed the film Marguerite and Julien with Jérémie Elkaïm and Anaïs Demoustier.
More recently, in Océans, Film Jacques Perrin, we can admire the Great Hall of La Cité de La Mer and its majestic staircase. In the feature film, Mile, RESPONSIVEmade by Valerie Massadian (2018) and awarded at the Locarno International Film Festival (Switzerland, 2017), Special Prize of the Ciné+ jury, we can hear a poem by Marie Ravenel, entitled The Tempest, about which the director specifies: “ She was a miller and poet, born in the 19th century. She ground grain all her life, and wrote a thick collection of poems. One of the many little-known proletarian poets, born in Fermanville, where the first shot of the film is shot."
She was a miller and poet, born in the 19th century. She ground grain all her life, and wrote a thick collection of poems. One of the many little-known proletarian poets, born in Fermanville, where the first shot of the film is shot.
In summer 2021, the feature film will be filmed “The Cadors” which delighted cinema fans. Starring this film directed by Julien Guetta, we find : Michel Blanc, Jean-Paul Rouve, Marie Gillain and Grégoire Ludig, for this story of two brothers in conflict after the death of their father. From Cherbourg to Valognes via Crasville, the film will give pride of place to Cotentin (almost all of which takes place there), a region dear to the producer, Maxime Delaunay, originally from Carentan. Note the presence of François Dourlen who makes the making-of of the film les Cadors
THE HAGUE
The writer, screenwriter Didier Decoin, president of the Goncourt Academy since 2020, describes “ La Hague as a great actress ". Its very photogenic landscapes have inspired many directors. Thus, the wearing ofOmonville-la-Rogue made an appearance in « The Hunt« , action thriller, directed by Leo Zhang in 2019, with José Garcia, Olivier Rabourdin...
A stone's throw from the port of Omonville, the Tourp manor served as a setting for the film “TESS” de Roman Polanski, released in 1979, with Nastassja Kinski et Peter firth, thus restoring in the Cotentin the romantic atmosphere of the English Dorset countryside of the 19th century.
More recently, " The summer passenger "To Florence Moncorgé-Gabin, brought to the screen in 2006, was filmed in the towns ofOmonville-la-Rogue which has Auderville, Saint-Germain-des-Vaux or, Joburg, with, as main actors Laura Smet, François Berléand, Catherine Frot and Grégori Derangère. The latter, Joseph in the film, a young agricultural worker from the 1950s, goes from farm to farm and offers his services to Monique (Catherine Frot), a widow since the 2nd World War who runs the family farm alone. But his presence does not take long to sow trouble in the peaceful family and village organization.
THE COAST OF ISLES
The Côte des Isles has hosted several film shoots. In 2007, the director Jean becker filmed a few scenes in Sortosville-en-Beaumont, Barneville-Carteret, Portbail and Cherbourg for his film Two days to kill with Albert Dupotel. In 2021, certain scenes from the feature film Storm de Christian Duguay were filmed on the beaches of Utah Beach, on those of Cap de Carteret (Barneville-Carteret) and in the dunes of Hatainville (Les Moitiers-d'Allonne).
And in 2022, two films were filmed in the sector:
- A serious job de Thomas Lilti on Surtainville beach with Vincent Lacoste, François Cluzet, Adèle Exarchopoulos, William Leghil, Bouli Lanners…
- On the black paths de Denis Imbert with Jean Dujardin in Barneville-Carteret, and in La Hague
CLOS DU COTENTIN
Valognes and Clos du Cotentin, are linked to the events of June 6, 1944, and were immortalized by Steven Spielberg, in the movie « We have to save the soldier Ryan« , with Ryan Hurst, Tom Hanks, which notably mentions Merderet and its surroundings, which were the scene of numerous battles between American and German troops.
THE VAL DE SAIRE
To The Kings of the Track de Thierry Klifa, Fanny Ardant, Mathieu Kassovitz, Laetitia Dosch, Nicolas Duvauchelle et Ben Attal met in Barfleur, Barneville-Carteret, Réville, the “Les Schistes Bleus” bookstore in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, the Gatteville lighthouse and Quinéville beach. The film tells the story of Rachel, a sort of Ma Dalton, who raised her sons Sam and Jeremy, and her grandson, Nathan, in the cult of scam. From lame plans to petty thefts, this friendly family of broken arms is always chasing the big deal. Chance or fate, during a burglary, they steal without knowing its value, a painting by Tamara de Lempicka. Céleste, a cunning and charming detective, and Gauthier, her faithful sidekick, set out in pursuit…
THE BAY OF COTENTIN
In Cotentin Bay, in Sainte-Mère-Eglise, the bell tower and the square around the church are immortalized in the film made in 1962 “ The longest day", recounting the landing of June 6, 1944 in Normandy and depicting the collision of the American paratrooper John Steele on the church tower, the shooting in the square, the burning of a house at the end of the square and the human chain to help put out the flames.
The meeting place for film buffs and curious Normans: it’s the Norman film festival The Equalizers in Carentan. Maxime Delauney, Emmanuel Bellamy, Pierre-Olivier Madelaine and Sébastien Pillet, the organizers, wish to share their passion for cinema and make the region a welcoming land for many films.
To find out more, visit the Égaluantes website.