Did âAll the Light We Cannot Seeâ Really Film in Saint-Malo? - Netflix Tudum
Production designer Simon Elliott and director of photography Tobias Schliessler explain how they recreated 1940s Saint-Malo and Paris in Shawn Levy’s All the Light We Cannot See limited series, based on the Pulitzer Prizeâwinning novel by Anthony Doerr.
- Doane Gregory/NetflixPassport# Did âAll the Light We Cannot Seeâ Really Film in Saint-Malo?
Production designer Simon Elliott and director of photography Tobias Schliessler talk re-creating â40s France.By Tara BitranNov. 2, 2023
Production designer Simon Elliott and director of photography Tobias Schliessler talk re-creating â40s France.By Tara BitranNov. 2, 2023 All the Light We Cannot See wouldnât be the same story without the beautiful port city of Saint-Malo, France.
While Shawn Levyâs stirring adaptation of Anthony Doerrâs Pulitzer Prizeâwinning novel is historical fiction set during World War II, the 1944 siege and battle for control of Saint-Malo did happen. âIt was really important to me to try to make sure every little detail of Saint-Malo was right,â said Doerr, âso that somebody who lived through that siege would be persuaded that the verisimilitude of this project was real.â
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The four-episode limited series follows Marie-Laure (Aria Mia Loberti), a blind French girl, and her father, Daniel LeBlanc (Mark Ruffalo), as they flee German-occupied Paris while guarding a legendary diamond that they must keep from falling into the hands of the Nazis. Relentlessly pursued by a cruel Gestapo officer who wants the stone for his own selfish means, Marie-Laure and Daniel find refuge in Saint-Malo, where they take up residence with a reclusive uncle, Etienne (Hugh Laurie), who transmits clandestine radio broadcasts as part of the resistance. In the once-idyllic seaside city, Marie-Laureâs path collides with the unlikeliest of kindred spirits: Werner (Louis Hofmann), a brilliant teenager enlisted by Hitlerâs regime to track down illegal broadcasts. Werner finds himself sharing a secret connection to Marie-Laure, as well as her faith in humanity.
Below, production designer Simon Elliott (Black Mirror, The Book Thief) and director of photography Tobias Schliessler (The Adam Project,Ma Raineyâs Black Bottom) walk Tudum through re-creating â40s Saint-Malo.
Doane Gregory/Netflix
Did All the Light We Cannot See really film in Saint-Malo?
Oui. âEverything thatâs set in Saint-Malo, if itâs on the beach and aerial stuff, was shot in Saint-Malo,â said Elliott. âThen we found a town in Southwest France called Villefranche-de-Rouergue, which was our streets for Saint-Malo.â Elliott and his team redressed the streets of Villefranche-de-Rouergue, transforming the shops and all the local businesses to transport them back to the â40s.
The big action sequence in Episode 4 ââ where Werner runs across the wall to reach Marie-Laure the night of the bombing of Saint-Malo ââ was quite the challenge for the production team to capture, and is one Schliessler is really proud of. âWe shot a combination of an exterior sea wall set in Budapest in Hungary, and on location in Saint-Malo and Villefrance-de-Rouergue,â he said. As the scene constantly intercuts between each location, âit was crucial the ambient and interactive lighting from the bomb explosions matched seamlessly from one to another in order to make the audience believe itâs a continuous journey.â
Atsushi Nishijima/NetflixThe LeBlancâs Seaside HomeElliott noted that production was âprobably a 60-40 splitâ in terms of filming on a stage versus on location. âWe built a lot,â he said. Those sets included Etienne and his sister Madame Manecâs (Marion Bailey) home âbecause we were in it so much.â And there was one detail that Elliott fought to include, despite the difficulties it would pose for filming: a four-story spiral staircase. âI thought it was so important to just have that piece of magic from the book,â he said. âThereâs one particular description where the house is described as a conical shell upended, and that was my jumping-off point. I loved the idea.â
The staircase and parts of the attic took nine weeks to build and were made from reclaimed timber from an old barn. Elliott and Schliessler also made sure to capture every intricate detail of the house: the French antique wallpaper, Etienneâs miniature boat collection, the old wooden side table where Marie-Laureâs braille books were stored, Etienneâs record collection, and a myriad of quirky items in the attic. All of the details were an organic part of the house and its history, meant to immediately transport the actors and the audience into a â40s French attic. âShawn told me to give him texture and detail and he would film it,â said Elliott. âThis was so inspiring as a designer â I gave him all the texture and detail I could find.â
Atsushi Nishijima/NetflixThe GrottoElliottâs team also built Saint-Maloâs Hotel of Bees, the boulangerie (bakery), the back of the bakery, and the grotto. The grotto was one set Elliott had thought about filming on location, but that soon became unrealistic. âThe consideration was that Aria had to be quite sure underfoot, so we had to control the water levels,â he said. And for a set that looks quite sharp and textural, itâs actually all foam and soft, so that if Loberti did slip, she wouldnât hurt herself in any way. The only tricky part were the stairs Loberti uses to descend into the grotto, âbut Aria is phenomenal at her spatial awareness,â said Elliott. âShe only had to wander around a space, familiarize herself with it, walk down a set of stairs, and she commits it to memory and then is absolutely amazing.â
Doane Gregory/Netflix
Bonus: Did All the Light We Cannot See really film in Paris?
No. Actually, the streets of Budapest, Hungary, doubled as â40s Paris for the series. Elliottâs team also built the vaults of the Natural History Museum, where Daniel works in the flashbacks.
And letâs not forget that, in the words of Doerr, âthe series is absolutely gorgeous to look at â from the opening, with all the leaflets falling from the sky, to the montage of Marie-Laureâs father building her a scale model of Saint-Malo, it repeatedly took my breath away.â
Immerse yourself in the world of All the Light We Cannot See now, only on Netflix.
Additional reporting by Phillipe Thao.
Shawn Levy and Anthony Doerr Discuss the All the Light We Cannot See SeriesOui. âEverything thatâs set in Saint-Malo, if itâs on the beach and aerial stuff, was shot in Saint-Malo,â said Elliott. âThen we found a town in Southwest France called Villefranche-de-Rouergue, which was our streets for Saint-Malo.â Elliott and his team redressed the streets of Villefranche-de-Rouergue, transforming the shops and all the local businesses to transport them back to the â40s.
The big action sequence in Episode 4 ââ where Werner runs across the wall to reach Marie-Laure the night of the bombing of Saint-Malo ââ was quite the challenge for the production team to capture, and is one Schliessler is really proud of. âWe shot a combination of an exterior sea wall set in Budapest in Hungary, and on location in Saint-Malo and Villefrance-de-Rouergue,â he said. As the scene constantly intercuts between each location, âit was crucial the ambient and interactive lighting from the bomb explosions matched seamlessly from one to another in order to make the audience believe itâs a continuous journey.â
Atsushi Nishijima/Netflix The LeBlancâs Seaside Home Elliott noted that production was âprobably a 60-40 splitâ in terms of filming on a stage versus on location. âWe built a lot,â he said. Those sets included Etienne and his sister Madame Manecâs (Marion Bailey) home âbecause we were in it so much.â And there was one detail that Elliott fought to include, despite the difficulties it would pose for filming: a four-story spiral staircase. âI thought it was so important to just have that piece of magic from the book,â he said. âThereâs one particular description where the house is described as a conical shell upended, and that was my jumping-off point. I loved the idea.â
The staircase and parts of the attic took nine weeks to build and were made from reclaimed timber from an old barn. Elliott and Schliessler also made sure to capture every intricate detail of the house: the French antique wallpaper, Etienneâs miniature boat collection, the old wooden side table where Marie-Laureâs braille books were stored, Etienneâs record collection, and a myriad of quirky items in the attic. All of the details were an organic part of the house and its history, meant to immediately transport the actors and the audience into a â40s French attic. âShawn told me to give him texture and detail and he would film it,â said Elliott. âThis was so inspiring as a designer â I gave him all the texture and detail I could find.â
Atsushi Nishijima/Netflix The Grotto Elliottâs team also built Saint-Maloâs Hotel of Bees, the boulangerie (bakery), the back of the bakery, and the grotto. The grotto was one set Elliott had thought about filming on location, but that soon became unrealistic. âThe consideration was that Aria had to be quite sure underfoot, so we had to control the water levels,â he said. And for a set that looks quite sharp and textural, itâs actually all foam and soft, so that if Loberti did slip, she wouldnât hurt herself in any way. The only tricky part were the stairs Loberti uses to descend into the grotto, âbut Aria is phenomenal at her spatial awareness,â said Elliott. âShe only had to wander around a space, familiarize herself with it, walk down a set of stairs, and she commits it to memory and then is absolutely amazing.â
Doane Gregory/Netflix
Bonus: Did All the Light We Cannot See really film in Paris?
No. Actually, the streets of Budapest, Hungary, doubled as â40s Paris for the series. Elliottâs team also built the vaults of the Natural History Museum, where Daniel works in the flashbacks.
And letâs not forget that, in the words of Doerr, âthe series is absolutely gorgeous to look at â from the opening, with all the leaflets falling from the sky, to the montage of Marie-Laureâs father building her a scale model of Saint-Malo, it repeatedly took my breath away.â
Immerse yourself in the world of All the Light We Cannot See now, only on Netflix.
Additional reporting by Phillipe Thao.
Shawn Levy and Anthony Doerr Discuss the All the Light We Cannot See Series- Based on a Book
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