Among our memories of childhood, adolescence and all our references, a key element first marked our minds and our screens… the sofa! Whether it is at the very heart of the title or a place of reunion. The most cult scenes therefore take place around these famous sofas... Let's shine the spotlight on these extras who have accompanied our favorite actors and presenters for a long time!
The Top 10 famous sofas start in 1961
From the 60s to today, here are the most cult sofas on our screens by chronology:
1. Diamonds on a sofa:
This American film directed by Black Edwards was released in 1961. Diamonds on a Couch (originally "Breakfast at Tiffany's") is a romantic comedy-drama known for its casting and its famous song Moon River which won it two Oscars. The story takes place in New York where a young, kept writer, Paul Varjak (George Peppard) also called Fred, meets his neighbor Holly Goligthly (Audrey Hepburn), a woman looking for marriage to find shelter. of need. From this meeting will therefore be born more than a simple friendship...
The beautiful intriguer played by Audrey Hepburn displays a sophisticated side to seduce men. Thanks to her looks, her jewelry and numerous accessories like her sofa which is none other than half a bathtub filled with pastel cushions.
2. The Couch:
TV show born in 1987, Divan, presented by Henry Chapier, used the principle of an analytical consultation for 25 minutes. The famous couch welcoming stars and political figures will have received more than 300 guests for 7 consecutive years.
This concept has been renewed since 2015 by host Marc-Olivier Fogiel. The yellow Italian sofa that initially received these famous patients has been put up for auction. It was thus sold for the sum of €65,000 to a businessman. Consequently, presenter Henry Chapier expressed the wish that the profits from this sale be donated to an association and the entire amount was granted to Reporters Without Borders.
3. James Bond: Killing is not Playing:
The range of gadgets of the famous agent James Bond has many surprises. We therefore discover in the episode “Killing is not Playing”, a new item of its kind, a sofa with multiple functions. To see in the extract below... This film directed in 1987 by John Glen offers us a 125-minute James Bond (played by actor Thimoty Dalton) which will receive 3 awards!
4. Dangerous Liaisons:
Famous film directed by Stephen Frears released in 1988, directly inspired by the epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. The film Dangerous Liaisons reveals the correspondence between the Marquise de Merteuil (Glenn Close) and the Viscount de Valmont (John Malkovich), two intriguing manipulators of the aristocracy in the 18th century.
These two characters therefore hatch their plots and read their letters on the sofa of the Marquise de Merteuil. A piece of furniture first used to sheltering salon conversations, that of the marquise is the perfect crime scene to manipulate everyone she desires...
5. The Simpsons:
An animated series created in 1989, The Simpsons features a typically middle-class American family in a sitcom parody. 28 seasons, more than 600 episodes, and in each of them or almost the same figure appears: the famous brown sofa of the Simpsons is an institution in itself, with the famous “couch gag”, small passages at the end of the credits of the series where all the characters gather in their living room to watch the episode, in a different way each time.
6. Sofa promotion:
French comedy with an evocative title released in 1990, featuring two young women who go to Paris to join a famous French administration: the post office! In this new job they therefore discover that republican institutions hide a very separate management process. Both will make their way by accepting the rules of this universe where professional development often first takes shape on one's superior's couch... This film, known for its theme, offers an impressive cast: Thierry Lhermitte, Claude Rich, Zabou...
7. Friends:
It's impossible to miss the sitcom Friends, the series with 10 seasons and global success broadcast since 1994. The 6 actors of the Friends series have therefore found themselves throughout the seasons in an emblematic place which has become a symbol of conviviality, their bar and real HQ called “Le Central Perk”.
The most illustrious moments and dialogues of this series took place on the brown velvet sofa of Central Perk, the sofa in front of which Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) performed her most creative songs, where Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) served numerous coffees , where Ross, Chandler and Joey (David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry and Matt Leblanc) confided about their intimate and professional lives and it was on this same sofa that Monica (Courteney Cox) exposed her rarely flexible points of view on almost everything...
Central Perk and its iconic sofa have inspired the decoration of a large number of bars around the world since 1994.
8. Titanic:
James Cameron's huge hit released in 1997, whose main characters Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) and Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) meet aboard the infamous liner, would not have been the same without the sofa that home to the world-famous drawing scene. Indeed, this part of the film refers to Parisian painting and designers of the early 20th century. This made it possible to immortalize a jewel which will give full meaning to the film and its plot.
9. The Big Bang Theory:
Sheldon and Leonard's Sofa in The Big Bang Theory: "In winter, this place is close enough to the radiator, so it is very warm without causing any sweating. And in summer it is practical because it is in the axis of a small breeze caused by the opening of our windows.
She is facing the television without being at quite a right angle, which discourages conversation but does not cause parallax error. » Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory describes his place on the couch in his apartment this way. So, if his possessiveness towards his place is a running gag that comes up often. The sofa as a whole is a central element of the series since the characters are very often seated on or around this old brown leather model, to share a meal or a big debate.
10. Household scenes:
This French television series, broadcast on the M6 channel since 2009, is a catalog of several couples. Of different ages as well as from different backgrounds, they perform domestic scenes... The main couple, two septuagenarians, Raymond and Huguette (Gérard Hernandez and Marion Game), married since 1965, have the main attraction of being gratuitously naughty and delight in it and when they are not playing with a guest sitting on their plum-colored sofa covered with a lace throw, they exchange tasty reflections with the aim of ruining the moment of relaxation of the 'other…
To conclude, this Top is not exhaustive. The world of cinema and television has new projects, and for some of them, with new sofas... story of sofas to follow!
