Director Matthieu Menu, curious about unravelling the mystery, approached the legend of J’adore on the occasion of Francis Kurkdjian’s first composition as Dior Perfume Creation Director. “Inside the Dream“ orchestrates a lyrical and intimate immersion in the heart of the composition and production of a fragrance, and takes up the challenge of embodying the evanescent character of a scent.
From Paris to Los Angeles, via the Château de La Colle Noire, the flower fields of Grasse and India, it is a symphonic portrait in which stars and creatives, decision-makers and expert hands all come together. Thanks to this unprecedented film narrative, a great fragrance is conveyed in beautiful and poetic images, studded with questions and revelations, suspense and sensations, powerful emotions and sudden illuminations.
“Inside the Dream“ is a captivating documentary that goes behind the scenes at the House of Dior, to the very heart of a human adventure, where the long and painstaking development of an exceptional fragrance is carried by a shared quest for Beauty.
Goddess Charlize Theron is waiting to meet Francis Kurkdjian, Dior’s new Director of perfume creation who has come to present to her, in person, his vision and his version of the legend, l’Or de J’adore. The camera zooms in on their faces, fluidly, dynamically, capturing all the febrile and graceful spirit of an exceptional moment, and seizing the energy of a fragrance creator on a conquest.
The film is rigorous in its approach, with a formal beauty that is full of generosity, as it goes on to portray a precise account of an olfactory composition and a human adventure, studded with doubts and lightbulb moments, discussions, and intuitive feelings.
A central theme of the film sees Francis Kurkdjian acting as a guide, inviting us to follow in his footsteps throughout his creative quest. A captivating dramaturgy has us “smelling” Indian jasmine sambac alongside him and feeling his inspiration as he journeys through the incredibly rich Dior perfume archives. Along the way, we come across a range of key women – including those who work in his creative studio in Paris, as well as the flower producers, who partner with Dior perfumes, and are the true Grasse heroines re-flowering Provence.
We also see the talents of a House that places visionary creativity centre stage, such as Maria Grazia Chiuri, who is at the head of the Couture and Ready-to-Wear lines, as well as Calice Becker who created J’adore in 1999, and additional decisive figures such as Véronique Courtois, President and CEO of Christian Dior Parfums.
Lastly, we recognize the artists who have contributed to the adventure, such as director Jean-Baptiste Mondino, who comments on the story-in-images that is now a part of the collective imagination. His powerful words are followed by those of Hervé Van der Straeten, designer of the curved glass amphora and the golden necklace that have crossed generations. Finally, artist Jean-Michel Othoniel movingl recounts the creation of his latest sculpture for the fragrance – a flower-case of golden beads crafted for a fragrance that has been inspiring him for many years.
A world-perfume and an entire fragrance, here l’Or de J’adore is like a celebration and a magic formula conveyed in images, so that the viewer can understand and experience the slow and mysterious birth of a fragrance. From the production sites near Orléans, where the fragrance finally emerges, to the opening of the “Dior J’adore!” exhibition in Paris, “Inside the Dream” nimbly weaves its touching way through the myriad spaces of multi-layered creation. This attentive and poetic film conveys the intimate subtlety and lyrical flights that embody the mystery of a legendary fragrance.
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