It is a film now considered essential, which has contributed to making a city what it is today. Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez, which brought together Patrice Laffont, Michel Galabru, Michel Modo, Guy Grosso, Geneviève Grad and the indescribable Louis de Funès, among others, will soon be rebroadcast on M6. The most alert moviegoers already know it: in just a few hours, the feature film will be on their screens. See you on Friday, July 29, 2022 to find some of your favorite comedians, now missing.
The Gendarme saga, however, is not just a series of cult films or theatrical successes. It is no more the story of actors in conflict, or at least not only. It is also, in many ways, the transformation of a city and its surrounding region. The release of the Gendarme de Saint-Tropez has indeed had a significant cultural impact for the intermunicipal community and the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, explains Isabelle Demarthe, press promotion manager for Gulf of Saint-Tropez tourism. Contacted by Planet, she discusses the impacts of the film in detail.
“The Gendarme of Saint Tropez has undeniably had a cultural impact on the city and its region. It was a huge indoor success, which made Saint-Tropez one of the most visited places in the Var. Tourists do not come only from France: a significant number of them also come from Eastern Europe, where Louis de Funès is a real star”, she recalls from the start. Despite the age of the film, she says it continues to inspire a number of holidaymakers. “Even today, some continue the two-horse rides in tribute to the film. This is also true for younger individuals, because it is a very family film”, explains the specialist.
An analysis broadly similar to that of Laurence Durieux, curator of the Saint-Tropez Gendarmerie Museum since 2020. “It goes without saying, the film had an impact on the city. Its cinema outing attracted the crowds, who wanted to discover Saint-Tropez and its gendarmerie brigade. Today it is the gendarmerie building whose facade has been the most photographed in France”, she recalls.
The film, it is clear, has contributed to the notoriety of the city in France and internationally. “Today, as soon as someone comes to visit the gulf, a stop in Saint-Tropez is almost a must. It’s always pleasant to see the places where the saga was filmed”, judges Isabelle Demarthe, who also does not fail to recall that goodies bearing the image of the Gendarme were marketed even before the opening of the museum, installed in the very premises of the gendarmerie since 2016, after renovation. “However, the economic impact of the film remains difficult to measure, insofar as tourism here is multi-factorial”, she underlines.
“Naturally, the film and the saga had economic repercussions… Since it produced a certain cultural influence, it generated tourism and made trade work. Once there, people consume, which necessarily benefits local commerce”, confirms Laurence Durieux, not without recalling that the only museum of the gendarmerie will have attracted 750,000 visitors on its own… in the space of 5 years.
Of course, the city does not exist only through Louis de Funès and his unmissable Gendarme. “Saint Tropez attracts because it is a place where you meet a lot of stars, painters, intellectuals, musicians but also actors. Before the release of the Gendarme, it was Brigitte Bardot who acted as an icon for Saint-Tropez,” says Laurence Durieux. “Louis de Funès has brought back a more popular audience, who come by car and go through the national 7”, further details the curator of the Museum.
“Saint-Tropez, as we try to remind you, is much more than the image of luxury that we can have of it. It is a mythical and authentic destination, these are very well preserved coves and, depending on the places chosen to stay, it is not necessarily more expensive than the rest of the Mediterranean or the Atlantic coast. The policeman, like Brigitte Bardot where the sequins, are only one of the many entrances”, estimates for her part Isabelle Demarthe.
