Populaire is a 2012 romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Régis Roinsard. The film's title is taken from the name of the typewriter, Japy Populaire, used in the film. Set in the late 1950s, the film follows Rose Pamphyle (Déborah François), a secretary who is trained by her new boss, Louis Échard (Romain Duris), to win the world speed typing contest in New York City. Populaire was released in France on 28 November 2012.
Plot In 1958, Rose Pamphyle lives in Saint-Fraimbault with her father, a gruff widower who wants her to marry the son of a local mechanic. Against her father's wishes, Rose travels to Lisieux and applies for a job as a secretary for insurance agent Louis Échard. Louis is initially unimpressed, but after learning that Rose can type incredibly fast, using only two fingers, he hires her for a week on a trial basis. When Rose turns out to be a clumsy and disorganised secretary, Louis tells her that she must compete in that year's regional speed typing championship to keep her job. He makes a bet with his American best friend, Bob Taylor—who is married to Louis' former flame, Marie—that Rose can win the regional championship. While Rose makes the finals, she ultimately loses her first typing championship. Rose temporarily moves in with Louis so he can train her to become the fastest typist in the world. He teaches her to type with all 10 fingers and arranges for her to take piano lessons from Marie to strengthen her fingers. As Rose struggles to learn to type with 10 fingers, Louis encourages her by colour-coding the keys on her typewriter and teaching her better posture. Over time, she excels and the two grow close. Rose wins the 1959 regional championship, becoming the fastest typist in Lower Normandy. Since his family is visiting for Christmas, Louis sends Rose home. Not wanting to reunite with her father, Rose shows up at Bob and Marie's house that evening. Marie promptly drives Rose to Louis' doorstep and introduces her to his family as his fiancée. Louis plays along, and his parents are taken with Rose. It becomes obvious to Bob and Marie that Louis and Rose are attracted to each other, but Louis does not want to distract Rose from the championship. Louis and Rose travel to Paris together, and the night before the national championship, they confess their love for each other and have sex. Competing against the current national champion, Rose makes it to the finals but struggles under the pressure. Shortly before Rose's final match, Louis tells her that he had been lying to her, revealing that he had secretly noticed that her typing speed is regularly faster than her opponent's best record. Angered by his deceit, Rose wins. She later tells Louis she loves him, but he claims he only slept with her to help her win the championship. Heartbroken, Rose stays in Paris, where she becomes a celebrity sponsored by Japy, a major typewriter manufacturer. She becomes the spokesperson for Japy's brand-new pink typewriter, the Populaire, which she uses to prepare for the world championship, though she finds the keyboard too small. Rose still calls Louis regularly, although he never answers the phone. She becomes romantically involved with Gilbert Japy and travels to New York City for the world typing championship. Struggling with his own feelings, Louis asks Marie why she chose Bob over him. She replies that Bob proposed a life together, while Louis left for World War II. Louis explains that he could never give Rose the smile and happiness she had when she won in Paris—the same smile that he saw on Marie the day she married Bob. Marie tells Louis she was smiling because she felt loved. She encourages him to overcome his fear. Louis flies to New York with Bob to support Rose in the world championship. They arrive just before the second round of the finals ends. As the judges announce the results, Rose is behind and struggling. When Gilbert attempts to dissuade Louis from seeing Rose, Louis punches Gilbert and follows Rose, who runs backstage to retrieve her old typewriter. Louis professes his love for her, and they kiss. Rose takes the stage for the last round, seemingly energised by her love for Louis. Although her typewriter jams halfway through the match, she quickly recovers and wins the championship, being declared the world's fastest typist. On stage, Louis and Rose kiss and hold hands as the audience cheers.
Cast
Production
Casting
Roinsard was planning to cast an unknown actress in the lead role of Rose Pamphyle, but chose Belgian actress Déborah François after she impressed him in her audition. After asking her father to find a typewriter for her, François practised for a week before the audition. She told Georgia Dehn from The Daily Telegraph, "I was so fast at the audition that everyone watching asked whether I had done it much before. Of course I didn't admit to practising. I told them, 'I'm just really motivated, I really want the part, I'm ready for competition.'" François believed that she connected with Rose as soon as she finished reading the script. She loved Rose's clumsiness and thought she was a bit like herself. François underwent six months of professional typing coaching before filming commenced. She had to practice for up to three hours every day. The actress explained that as they wanted it to be real, nothing is speeded up in the film and her hands are featured in every scene. Romain Duris was cast as Louis Échard. Duris was initially concerned about whether the costumes and style would take over, causing the film to be stuck in the past. He said he needed the film to feel live and real. The actor watched several films starring Cary Grant and James Stewart as well as French classics directed by Marcel Carné and Claude Chabrol to see the differences between the provinces and Paris and the ways in which people behaved and spoke in the 1950s.
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