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Christophe Berthonneau, 37, is a man who would set the world on fire. As France's hottest pyrotechnician, he set the Eiffel Tower ablaze for the millennium, he staged the scintillating celebration of the French victory in the 1998 World Cup and, for this week's Bastille Day (July 14), he has six displays planned all over the country, including Paris's Trocadero. His company, Groupe F, has worked with musicians, artists, governments and monuments, from Bjork to the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao. NEWSWEEK's Antonia Francis recently spoke to him about his flair for theatrics. Excerpts:
FRANCIS: How did you first become a pyrotechnician?
BERTHONNEAU: I discovered fire in an enormous metal foundry in southern France where I was working to earn some cash. Seeing the fire produced when the metals fused started a lifelong fascination. It had such dramatic potential, it was so intense.
How would you describe your creative style?
I work with very few colors. I am not interested in creating prettiness; what interests me is the light that fire creates. Like Christo [the artist who wrapped the Pont Neuf in canvas], I like to use monuments to create an image with my own materials. I try to make a theater of fire. The images are often similar to natural phenomena--storms, rivers... images that link the eye to the gut. Fire is not intellectual, it is sensual.
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How do music and theater influence your work?
I was born in a family of musicians. In our company, Groupe F, we have composers, architects, engineers, actors, even sociologists. We all love fire and use our different talents to interpret it. It is never just a pyrotechnics show; we use music, actors, images and so on to make a monumental spectacle.
Your company has staged shows in spectacular locations--Lake Geneva, London's Millennium Bridge. Which show do you view as your greatest achievement?
The 1998 finale of the Lisbon Universal Exhibition. We made a huge wave of fire 2.5 kilometers long. We used blue, white and gold fireworks--the colors of the ocean--and set them off from the beach into the sky above the Atlantic. It was more than just a show, it was more like a miracle.
The Eiffel Tower display at midnight Dec. 31 lasted seven minutes. How long did it take to organize?
It took six months to plan and then a further three months to assemble.
How much did it cost?
The fireworks cost 4 million francs [$600,000]--one of the cheapest in the world that night. The London display [done by another company] cost 16 million francs [$2.4 million]. Money isn't always necessary to do big things. It's more a matter of the idea you want and the image or place you have to work with. The Eiffel Tower was an amazing place, totally original.
Technologically, how do you approach a new project?
We design everything ourselves. The displays are all computer generated, so first we design the software. Then we engineer the systems that ignite the fireworks, then we design the fireworks themselves. For instance, we have created a system of ignition that is so fast that the fireworks give the illusion of constant light. The number of explosions per second is more than the eye's retina can perceive. Technology allows us to create illusions, to create magic.
Have you ever had any big mistakes?
No, no, never. But I start with the assumption that pyrotechnology is not an exact science. So at every stage of our production we include emergency measures that can terminate the whole display immediately. When hundreds of thousands of people have come to see a display--you have to understand the responsibility that entails in terms of safety and politics. For example, for the millennium celebrations at the Eiffel Tower, nothing could go wrong. And we made sure that was the case. We had nine separate backup systems for the whole display. As a pyrotechnician, faulty systems are a permanent worry.
After the recent explosion in a fireworks depot in Holland and a Spanish fireworks factory, do you think there should be more regulation of fireworks and explosives?
If there is an accident, it's usually because the rules haven't been respected. The key words in all pyrotechnology are "calm" and "methodical."
Why haven't you worked in the United States?
We've worked in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. But we've never been invited to the United States. I would only go if an interesting project was proposed. For the Fourth of July, that would have to be the Statue of Liberty. You know, a fireworks display lasts no more than an hour, or maybe only two minutes, but it is part of history.
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