November 6-15, 2015
ARNAUD DESPLECHIN PRESS CONFERENCE
The French director Arnaud Desplechin gave a press conference on Friday, 13 November 2015, in the context of the 56th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, as part of this year’s tribute to his work. The director will give a masterclass on Saturday, at 11.00 a.m., at Pavlos Zannas theatre.
Yorgos Krassakopoulos, moderator of the press conference, welcomed the guest in honor, noting: “Arnaud Desplechin is an important filmmaker, known for his ability to watch the details of the world around him, the details in people’s families’ lives. He is also an auteur with very unique style, embraced by both the critics and the audience”.
Taking the floor, Arnaud Desplechin expressed his enthusiasm on the TIFF tribute to his work and stressed: “I am deeply moved. This tribute is an excellent occasion, as among other things we were able to restore many of my older films. This was an opportunity for me to go back in time, something I really enjoyed. In particular, the fact that I was able to watch a new copy of my film La Vie de Morts. It was really moving.”
The French auteur is particularly interested in the subject-matter of family in his films and over the years he has created his own family of film collaborators, by often casting the same actors in his films, such as Mathieu Amalric. “France is not such a big country, we don’t have countless actors, and therefore it is important when you come across such a talented actor. Amalric reminds me of Marcello Mastroianni in the 1960s. It is an honor for me having him in my films again and again. When I was making my debut film La Vie de Morts, I was very anxious and I couldn’t help thinking that it might as well be the last film I ever made. So, I wanted to have many actors in it. People always talk about the quality of the actors, but I wanted quantity. I like actors with varied backgrounds, coming from cinema or the theatre. I like combining them and mixing all these ‘colours’”.
Asked about the characters reappearing in his film, such as Paul Dedalus in My Sex Life... or How I Got into an Argument and My Golden Days, Arnaud Desplechin talked about how he met Mathieu Amalric at Alain Resnais’ funeral and asked him “what do you think about revisiting Paul Dedalus?” He agreed immediately and this is when I started writing the film script”.
Discussing whether there are autobiographical elements in his films, the French director said: “The issue of autobiography is a complicated one. It reappears in the film My Golden Days. Yet, you can see there are differences: my own mother is alive, while the hero’s has committed suicide, while in real life I never made the journey to the Soviet Union, which was a kind of tradition for French students in my time”.
As Mr. Desplechin explained he does not remember the moment when he first decided he would be a film director, as it was something that occurred way back in time. “I think I was eight years old when I was asked at school what I wanted to do and I mentioned the name of a film school I knew because I often heard my parents talk about it. I don’t know why there was this need in me so early. But it was always there. I think that I was always interested in all this talk about films at that time in France. I heard everyone, like my cinephile parents, discussing films and somehow I came to thinking that the seventh art was a children's art. So, I was amused by the fact that adults discussed children matters with such French seriousness”. Asked whether he nowadays enjoys shooting films, Arnaud Desplechin commented: “I am very serious while we are shooting, and so is the case now that I am preparing a new project. However, I try for the actors and technicians to have fun, because this way the audience will have fun too. I am not one of the directors that torture actors when making a film. I always approach my subject with seriousness and anxiety - the truth is that I feel anxious each time I start making a film”.
Commenting in particular on the characters of his films and the interpretations of the actors who impersonate them, he said: “When making a film, I sacrifice everything for the sake of interpretation. I may start with theoretical ideas and a rich analysis of my heroes’ characters, but on set I can sacrifice everything for the sake of interpretation. That’s why I want the interpretation to move the audience. I like what Truffaut used to say: if I write it, it won’t happen. I am eager to throw out the window all the stereotypes that I have”.
Replying to a question about whether he would be interested in making a film in Greece, the French director said: “It would be possible, but I’d have to find a Greek novel to adapt for the big screen. What makes my job so French is that in such a case I would have to make the film in Greece and not in France. If I am inspired by an English novel, I would have to work in English, and if I choose a Greek novel, I should come here and learn the language”.
Asked about the relationship between childhood, cinema, and death, the French artist said: “I could answer by referring to some films that marked me for life. All the black and white films by Alfred Hitchcock, which I saw in my grandparents’ house when I was ten years old - and among them the film Marnie, which revealed to me in a frightening way the world of adults. Also, I still remember that I had to lie about my age to be admitted to a theatre to watch one of Ingmar Bergman’s films”.
Finally, commenting on European and French cinema, Arnaud Desplechin noted: “I can’t say that I have an opinion on European cinema. I’m not even convinced it exists. It’s easier for me to identify with the cinema of Latin America. As far as French cinema is concerned, I think that currently there is great diversity. I returned from Argentina recently and I have been thinking that in French cinema the situation is similar to that of Argentina. In recent years, there has been a turn towards realism, because political discourse in France has been missing and ultimately films had to depict the undergoing social conflicts. So, this is the main feature during the past three years: realism and a return to political discourse, as the political landscape is collapsing”.
