Nelly

Nelly (2017)

She wrote WHORE. This is her life.

A high-class prostitute by choice, Nelly Arcan’s colorful life is recreated in a multi-layered and stylish mix of make-believe and memoir, revealing Nelly’s alter egos: the neurotic writer, the vulnerable lover, the call girl and the star. Nelly shocked the literary world with her elegant writing and the lurid details of sex work in her autobiographical first novel, Whore, which became a critically acclaimed bestseller. Despite unprecedented success, Nelly’s remarkable life ended in tragedy.

Date of release
2017-01-20
TMDB
5.8 / 10 (33)
Runtime
1h 41m
Genres
Drama
Director
Anne Émond

Casting

Interesting facts

Nelly is a 2016 Canadian biographical-drama film directed by Anne Émond and starring Mylène Mackay as Nelly Arcan, an award-winning Canadian author and former sex worker who committed suicide in 2009. The film is based on some of Arcan's own writings, including her book Putain.

Production

The film is a biopic of the deceased writer Nelly Arcan, starring Mylène Mackay. Producer Nicole Robert intended to make a film adaptation of Arcan's book Putain while Arcan was still alive, and obtained the rights in 2003.

Director Anne Émond said she had re-read Arcan's books on multiple occasions, desiring to make a film adaptation. Robert recommended to her that she direct the film about Arcan. Émond spent a year writing a 102-page screenplay, then opted to rewrite it. It was finished after two years. Given the subject matter of the books, Émond said she was not reluctant to depict nudity and sexual content.

To play the part, Mylène Mackay learned to adjust her physical movements and speech, as well as her hair. She did not meet Arcan's family. For the clothing, costume designer Patricia McNeil collaborated with Simon Bélanger and José Manuel St-Jacques of UNTTLD, drawing inspiration from Marilyn Monroe. The film was shot in various locations, including an apartment in Saint-Zotique, Quebec, with two days in Paris, on a budget of $4.1 million.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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