“The Rise and Fall of Pathé Lumière: Anecdotes from the Last Cinema in Downtown Caen”

Par Lilian Fermin

April 23, 2023 at 12:00 p.m.

The last cinema located in the city center of Caen, the Pathé Lumière, closed its doors almost ten years ago. Yves Lecesne, the former director with a thousand anecdotes, and customers of the time testify.

Saturday, May 11, 2013 was the last session. The last of the cinemas in downtown Caen closed its doors for good after the screening ofIron Man 3. Formerly the Majestic, in 1979 it became Gaumont, before becoming a Pathé. The only cinema complex in the sector before the arrival of the UGC in Mondeville, it will have, in 34 years, accumulated around 15 million admissions, according to Yves Lecesne, director from the beginning of the 2000s until the end of the clap. Pathé Lumière was a member of the “golden triangle”, with Printemps and Galeries Lafayette, seven rooms, with 1,500 then 1,200 seats and a spectacular staircase, which was “the big black spot, because people with reduced mobility could not get there”. An aspect that led to its closure, which could have happened much earlier… “From the beginning of the 2000s, I went back and forth to Paris to convince the management not to close the cinema, when the construction of a multiplex was already in the pipeline. To save the Lumière, I I had to close the Pathé Malherbe in 2004, of which I was also the director. I had six months to straighten things out, and I was even offered a job in Toulon. I spent a week there, and I came back saying to myself ‘whatever happens, I’m staying in Caen and we’ll see!'”recalls Yves Lecesne.

The Pathé Lumière, the time when film posters were displayed in large in the center of Caen. –

SDF, hublot, Ch’tis and rabbit

Anecdotes about this cinema, he could tell you dozens. Like that of this homeless nicknamed “the crutch”. “He was hanging out in front of the cinema, extorting the spectators… One day, I took him on a tour of the premises, and our relations calmed down. He had fun playing the security guard in front of the checkouts as soon as he there was a problem”, smiles the now retired. Another anecdote, this one related to technology: “In 2009, we went digital. Problem, the porthole was too small for the new camera. So, I had to hire a member of my family who worked in construction to break it down and build a new one. “ All this at the time of the film’s release Avatar, “complete delirium”swears the former director, who was sold out for three months, with a queue that sometimes reached Galeries Lafayette.

Other films have left their mark on the Lumière cinema. This is the case of La Boomremained on display for a year, “a colossal trick”. During the preview, Sophie Marceau, star in the making, and Claude Pinoteau had gone to Caen. “I also remember the arrival of Eric and Ramzy, a nice joke, or that of the actors of Welcome to the Ch’tis. Dany Boon and his clique began to sing military songs. A general giggle in the four rooms reserved for the occasion.

Yves Lecesne all smiles with Eric and Ramzy. –

If a rabbit posed by Jean Dujardin still remains across Yves Lecesne’s throat, he gives us one last anecdote for the road. “I’m going to pick up Gérard Jugnot at Carpiquet airport to take him to town. He’s such a fan of my car that he asks me if he can drive it. It’s finally the actor who came back alone from the airport, with me as a passenger!”