Introduction

“Club Méditerranée” (nowadays known as “Club Med”) is a French travel operator headquartered in Paris, specializing in all-inclusive holidays in a worldwide network of holiday villages. In 1980 Club Méditerranée commissioned two promotional films to celebrate their 30-year anniversary: “Les Trente Soleils Du Club” and “Les G.O.”. Both films were directed by French cineast François Reichenbach, who asked Vangelis to compose original music for the films. Reichenbach and Vangelis had earlier worked together in 1975 on the film “¿No Oyes Ladrar Los Perros?”.

“Les Trente Soleils Du Club” is a 27 minute film showing the happy life in several holiday villages of Club Méditerranée, including all kinds of activities and the beautiful natural surroundings. The images are accompanied by a couple of original themes by Vangelis, which are repeated throughout the film, next to other (non-Vangelis) music.

 "Les G.O." is a 36 minute film showing the life of the ‘G.O.’ at the holiday villages of Club Méditerranée. G.O. stands for ‘Gentle Organizer’ and is a term used within Club Med to describe their staff, who are both hosts and entertainers. G.O.’s are entertaining guests, organizing activities, and creating a vibrant and welcoming atmosphere in the resorts. This film shares the same themes by Vangelis with “Les Trente Soleils Du Club”. 

Details and credits

• Title: Les Trente Soleils Du Club (27 mn) / Les G.O. (36 mn).
• Year: 1980
• Country: France
• Directed by François Reichenbach.
• Music by Vangelis Papathanassiou.
• Camera by François Reichenbach, Dominique Arrieu, Jacques Audrain, Daniel Desbois and Stéphane Zapasnik.
• Sound by Thierry Caillon, Jean-David Curtis, Jean-Louis Ducarme, Bernard Meusnier and Jean-Louis Richet.
• Montage: Delphine Desfons, Genevieve Louveau, assisted by Martine Mory.
• With help from Monique Lepeuve.
• Mix: Michel Commo
• Artistic advice: Poï Chevalier
• Produced by Cécile Jolie.
• Photography: Oliviero Toscani
• Production: Club Méditerranée
• Processed by TeleMedia and Sonopresse.
• Support by Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken N.V.

Media

Unfortunately these promotional films for Club Med were never officially released. At least one white label promo laserdisc exists of “Les Trente Soleils Du Club”. It is not clear but it is possible these films were only made for internal screenings at Club Méditerranée.

Links

• Les Trente Soleils Du Club (part 1 / 2)
• Les G.O. (part 1 / 2)

Gallery