People identify with this movie and interpret the story in a way
that is completely separated from what I wanted to do.
And it's really shocking
because people tell me a lot about their lives.
People tell me about their whole life, all the time,
saying, “It's my life.”
There was someone who said to me recently
“I sent my ex to see the movie to explain to him why I left”
and so I said “OK”.
There is something that necessarily goes beyond
the ambition of the film and the desire to make this film originally,
because we did not imagine that it would have such a reception.
It was unreal. I really had a very special time
because although I was very critical of myself,
I enjoyed it very much.
The reception, of course, at the end.
It is so exceptional to experience this.
I am so happy that this has happened.
I will remember it for the rest of my life.
I don't think I'm going to go through something this crazy again,
so I want to keep those memories with me
because it won't happen again.
I think I understand my films a lot better some years later.
There is an element of blindness, I think, in making movies.
That's what I felt in all of my movies.
And it happened again with this one.
That is to say, I spent too much time writing it,
doing it, et cetera to really see it very clearly.
But yes, it's a pretty happy story too,
because I think it's quite rare to feel the spectator's love
for the actors at this point, and especially for the actress
and the actors around.
I sense something quite exceptional in fact, of true identification,
of true love or dislike, but at least of a feeling that it really
has to do with them at some point of their own lives.
And that's something that I can't project at all
when I'm writing a movie,
really, because the opposite happened as well.
I've made movies that didn't touch people at all.
We think we're going to touch them
but people don't tell us anything.
So it's something you can't estimate at all.
I think I used the court system
to watch this couple and this woman especially.
I used that.
It's all about society and justice. It is society that watches,
that projects its fantasies, its anxieties, its moral problems.
I think that I really used that
to get into the soul of these people, how they live, etc.
Indeed, it is not the happiest story,
because we see the life of a couple
who are struggling and which ends up badly.
But, in any case, it was done somewhat concurrently.
I really wanted to do a trial movie again.
And at the same time, I really wanted to go much further
than what I had done in 'Sibyl'.
I wanted to explore the character, to know who that woman is.
And it also went through the prism
of the child to know who his mother is.
And that, I think, was something that was very strong for me,
the idea of positioning this child,
who is looking for the truth like everyone else,
who is in the same position
and who must choose between his father and his mother.
This idea of saying to yourself, well, I am in the worst situation
and I am like everyone else,
except that I am in a public place and people are going to rave
about the story of my life and my parents.
So it was very powerful from the start, this idea,
which came to me quite simply by looking at my daughter
who was ten at the time.
I very quickly projected this idea of
“what would happen to this child who is resting there?”
And then, what really underlies the film
is really this couple who,
in a search for perfect balance, the man wants to do the same job
as the woman, but he can't.
There is the accident of the child in the middle who
is a source of trouble.
Every couple goes through crises, but there's something
pretty strong to lug around anyway.
And finally, this inverted situation,
completely opposite of what we are used to seeing,
this unusual couple where the woman is quite dominant,
and the man stays at home
but he can't bear it like many women can't bear it anymore,
and really trying to build on this couple.
I am not saying that the woman is right, or the man is right,
the idea is much more than saying
but “how do we create this life together?”,
“How do we live together?”,
“How do we reinvent the codes of living together?”.
It could be a same-sex couple, it could be two brothers, two sisters.
It's not necessarily a man/woman couple.
That's really the question, that's what's behind the movie.
It is the romantic negotiation, that is to say,
finally the scene of the argument that embodies the key moment,
the most intense moment of the film,
which would be the moment of negotiation
and discord between the two of them,
and the attempt to understand each other
and finally the failure of that.
But I think that' really the heart of the film, it's really the pulse.
It's not just any couple,
it's really an exceptional couple who are two creators
and one of them feels devalued compared to the other
and all that triggers jealousy, et cetera.
That's the real surprise of the movie.
I was worried that the movie might be associated
with something more intellectual, or artist couples, et cetera.
And that's what surprised me the most,
and also other people on the film crew.
It's because we realised that the film touched people
who had nothing to do with that world
and who actually recognized themselves somewhere.
It was also quite interesting to realize
that society asks a lot of questions.
People ask a lot of questions about it.
There are plenty of people who decide to live together more
and they are right.
There are lots of people who decide not to live together anymore,
and they are right.
There are lots of structures,
I mean. There is not just one by and large.
And I think these questions are quite current right now.
I realized this,
and even more so when we saw how people had received the film.
Yes, I think Sandra brings something special.
It's like she assumes totally the way she is.
She does not apologize for anything,
nor for having free sex and being bisexual.
There is something that does seem to be threatening.
And so I think, what you said at the beginning,
that there's this idea that she is a woman
who's not a good victim, that she can be a threat
or would seem to be able to manipulate us.
In addition, she speaks several languages, so
there is a feeling that there is a filter between her and reality
and that she could deceive us eventually.
Also because she seems to be strong, to be solid.
That's an interesting thing, I think.
In fact that's underlying in the movie.
She is not just any woman,
she is a woman who is not a good victim.
And that's a very interesting secondary plot
because we don't protect powerful women.
In fact, we protect good victims, women who keep quiet
and who basically made me go to trial.
And the women who are basically going to seem to have
rhetorical power, a defense force, a way...
They may be a bit more of a concern,
not only for men, but also for women.
Society is going to feel more doubtful about this type of women.
And I find that interesting.
But I've built this type of woman in several films.
It's always a bit like the same woman.
She is even more assertive in this movie,
but they are still quite identical women.
Thank you.
71SSIFF | Kafea - Pedágio
08:45
71SSIFF | Kafea - Beyond the Fog
13:02
71SSIFF | Kafea - Grace
21:08
71SSIFF | Kafea - El juicio
02:46
71SSIFF | Kafea - Les rayons gamma
22:18
71SSIFF | Kafea - The New Boy
18:51
71SSIFF | Kafea - Los delincuentes
24:55
71SSIFF | Kafea - Los impactados
16:26
71SSIFF | Kafea - We Are the Hollow Men
13:25
71SSIFF | Kafea - Bauryna salu
18:28
71SSIFF | Kafea - Contadores
15:35
71SSIFF | Kafea - Single Light
17:24
71SSIFF | Kafea - Alemania
19:30
71SSIFF | Kafea - Camping du lac
15:16
71SSIFF | Kafea - Short Story
26:58
71SSIFF | Kafea - Aunque es de noche
21:22