Ronny Coutteure

Montana Smith

Active member
His life remains a mystery to me, as with the reason he took his own life. For most audiences outside his native land, he will be remembered for his work in Indiana Jones. He was obviously a good character actor, but the feeling I get is that he wanted more recognition, and meatier roles. It's possible he felt neglected, finding fame only in Indy's shadow.

It's sad when anyone takes their own life, and especially so when you seem to get to know them over the course of a television series. It's poignant when he says, "Theatre pleases me very much, I will never stop. It?s contact with the public."
 
Montana Smith said:
His life remains a mystery to me, as with the reason he took his own life. For most audiences outside his native land, he will be remembered for his work in Indiana Jones. He was obviously a good character actor, but the feeling I get is that he wanted more recognition, and meatier roles. It's possible he felt neglected, finding fame only in Indy's shadow.

It's sad when anyone takes their own life, and especially so when you seem to get to know them over the course of a television series. It's poignant when he says, "Theatre pleases me very much, I will never stop. It?s contact with the public."
My initial reaction to Remy wasn't favorable, but I came around. He has a certain place and his character really added a great foil for Indy. Fighting with Indy over the correct translation of the Spanish command to kill him or not really won me over. The humor was subtile and the "drama" so to say really caught my attention.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Rocket Surgeon said:
My initial reaction to Remy wasn't favorable, but I came around.

I went through those same reactions, too. When he first appeared it was hard to adjust to his inclusion, as he seemed to be just a comic buffoon. But he earns his place as the story develops.

Rocket Surgeon said:
He has a certain place and his character really added a great foil for Indy. Fighting with Indy over the correct translation of the Spanish command to kill him or not really won me over. The humor was subtile and the "drama" so to say really caught my attention.

The high point for me was Remy punching Indy. That really added another layer to the character.
 
Montana Smith said:
I went through those same reactions, too. When he first appeared it was hard to adjust to his inclusion, as he seemed to be just a comic buffoon. But he earns his place as the story develops.
I have yet to watch them all...but while Ronny is puzzled by so many disparate facets of Remy, I'm more interested now!

Montana Smith said:
The high point for me was Remy punching Indy. That really added another layer to the character.

I had to laugh at his lechery, but then he settles down with an insta-family!
Only to leave them all in search of fortune and glory...his appetites come in phases!
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Rocket Surgeon said:
I had to laugh at his lechery, but then he settles down with an insta-family!
Only to leave them all in search of fortune and glory...his appetites come in phases!

BIG appetites!
 

Demitasse

Member
Nice to revive a 9-year old thread!

Came across a somewhat recent French documentary about the life and contributions of Ronny Coutteure. There's a short segment on Lucas and Young Indy. From what I could gather through the context and my limited French, it just talks about how he caught Lucas's eye, their relationship, his rise to international recognition on an American TV show, all the cool places he was able to go on Lucasfilm/ABC's dime, and, I think, how at the end of it he really wanted children(?).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Taw0RlECCfI&t=1807s

Stoo, could you or one of the other Francophones take a peek and see if there are any other cool details? Maybe there's something in there we didn't know already. The Young Indy bit goes from about 24:50-29:37. Merci!
 

micsteam

New member
It is really sad, I very much enjoyed Ronny's performances on Young Indy, he was an integral part of the show. His broken English really wasn't that bad and it was genuine. If I can dig up anything to contribute here I will but if Stoo and or any other Francophone members here can glean anything from Demitasse's link please share. :hat:
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Demitasse said:
Stoo, could you or one of the other Francophones...
Just to be clear, Demitasse, I'm an Anglophone. ;)

Anyway, GREAT find! (y) I've always wanted to know more about this guy and what led to his tragic end. One detail straight off the bat is that Young Indy DID NOT bring him the international stardom he was hoping for. Poor Ronny.

I'll try my best to translate the whole segment but certain bits are a little difficult to understand (especially his 1st wife). Stay tuned...

micsteam said:
His broken English really wasn't that bad and it was genuine.
Genuine, indeed, and it really adds to the realism of the series. One of my favourite instances of his accent is in "Phantom Train" when he pronounces the word 'disguises' as 'disqueezes'! The show even makes a joke about it, too. Ha! :D
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Thanks to Demitasse's bump of the other Ronny Coutteure thread, it just dawned on me that I never translated the 4th page of Sakis' article. If anyone cares, I'll finish it off.

Mods: Could the two topics be merged? They discuss the same thing.
 

micsteam

New member
That would be GREAT Stoo !! I can't believe I missed this thread before, this is the most I've read about Ronny and I don't believe I've ever read an interview with him. Bravo !! :hat:
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Ronny Coutteure Interview Translated ? Page 4 of 4

*7* years later, here's my translation for the final part of the interview (from Sakis' magazine collection). Better late than never, eh? :D


----
- What do you think about the episodes written by Frank Darabont?

Well, they?re the best! All of the best episodes are written by him. Even before looking at who wrote it, I knew when the episode was written by Frank Darabont.

- Why don?t we ever see your character in the episodes that take place in the United States?

Effectively, one day I asked this question to George and, in fact, it?s explained in an episode which was part of the ?movies of the week? but which, alas, will never be filmed. In this episode, Indy and Remy meet a Hindu soldier who gets killed and on whom they find a treasure map. Remy keeps the map with him. After the war, Indy is going to see Miss Seymour who has died; he then tries to find his first love who has left to the United States. Remy returns to his home where Indy joins him. Remy shows him the map. They leave together in search of this treasure that proves impossible to find. Indy returns to the United States but Remy, he is completely obsessed by this quest and continues to search alone. This is how the series ends, by the separation of these two friends. In a future story that has been written but not rmade, Indy, taken by remorse ends up rejoining Remy and they go together in search of the treasure until the moment where Remy, exhausted, dies in the Indian desert. Indy then returns to the US, which gives us the episodes we saw with jazz and all the rest.

- What is the second ?movie of the week? which you filmed?

The episode with the Red Baron directed by Ben Burtt, who was the great ?sound designer? that we know from Star Wars and Indiana Jones and who, on Young Indy, was often second unit director. He was hired because he is a big airplane expert.

- Was the last episode not too hard to shoot?

No, it was very enjoyable. That last shoot was a real pleasure, we had made it all such a habit, everything was so ground-in. For me, it?s a beautiful series and it was a marvelous adventure.

- Tell us about Rick McCallum.

He lives for nothing but his job, he is a very nice guy. He has a high level of standards and wants his passion to be a driving force for the whole crew. What is incredible is that he knows how to do everything. He won?t hesitate to carry the spotlights, to pull cables, he really puts his hand into the dough. He sometimes happened to make plans for the second unit when they were needed and even plans for the 3rd unit when we were late. He even happened to take a camera, leave with 3 technicians and go film what was missing. He is, like George Lucas, someone of great simplicity.

- What are your plans?

I filmed a ?Maigret? for France 2 with Bruno Cremer which will air in the fall season and I also filmed ?Les Chagrins des Belges?. And I?m preparing a TV movie as writer and director but I don?t want to tell you more about it as there?s nothing certain.

----
Interviewed by Partrice Girod
Translated by Stoo
 

Demitasse

Member
Stoo said:
Remy returns to his home where Indy joins him. Remy shows him the map. They leave together in search of this treasure that proves impossible to find. Indy returns to the United States but Remy, he is completely obsessed by this quest and continues to search alone. This is how the series ends, by the separation of these two friends. In a future story that has been written but not rmade, Indy, taken by remorse ends up rejoining Remy and they go together in search of the treasure until the moment where Remy, exhausted, dies in the Indian desert.


Thanks Stoo. Wow, we always knew about the unfilmed episode where Remy dies in India, but damn. This would have been hard to watch!! :eek: Knowing that (in the chronology) he's left his best pal behind forever should add a darker tone to Mystery of the Blues.
 
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