November 6-15, 2015
ARNAUD DESPLECHIN MASTERCLASS
In the shadow of the attacks in Paris, French director Arnaud Desplechin presented a particularly interesting masterclass, in the context of the 56th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, on Saturday, November 14, 2015, at Pavlos Zannas theatre. The masterclass, accompanied by an open discussion with the audience, was organized in the context of this year’s Festival tribute to Arnaud Desplechin’s work. During the masterclass and discussion, moderated by Yorgos Krassakopoulos, Arnaud Desplechin introduced the audience in his film universe and shared his views on issues related to cinema, his connection with the actors, the role of art and the attempt to capture reality. In his opening remarks, Yorgos Krassakopoulos reminded the audience that “Arnaud Desplechin lives in Paris, the city where as we all know last night’s tragic events took place”.
Taking the floor, the French director said: “The attacks were just yesterday and it feels awkward for me to be here. Not long ago I was thinking about the film Hannah and Her Sisters by Woody Allen. One of the characters, played by Allen himself, is depressed and asks questions about life, faith, God and suicide. At some point while planning to kill himself, he walks into a movie theater, sees the Marx brothers dancing on the screen, wearing ridiculous hats, and he thinks that this is the meaning of life. There is something burlesque, completely absurd, something ephemeral which I think is ultimately the most essential to our lives. Entertainment is essential, as an appetite for love and sexuality and this is something that terrorists loathe”.
Referring to entertainment as a concept opposed to intellectuality in cinema, especially in his films, he said: “There is no such contradiction. I think of my films primarily as entertainment, perhaps a complicated one. But I always have in mind to surprise the audience, sweep them away. There is this ability inherent to cinema, turning reality into an idea. The process of filmmaking resembles philosophy. When the Lumiere brothers filmed a train entering the station, suddenly reality is given mythical dimension. This dimension does not frighten me, it’s part of the entertaining element in my films”.
Desplechin admitted that he is disappointed each time the audience recognizes in his new films his personal style: “Each time we make a film we think that it will be different, better than the previous one, and that the audience will not recognize us. Each time I have the feeling that I am doing something completely new and different from before, but then comes the moment, as here at the festival that I realize it is impossible to disguise. Everybody says that’s a film Desplechin made”.
As for recasting specific actors, such as Mathieu Amalric, he noted: “I often work with the same actors. They are dear to me. I do it in this sense of love. It is not a matter of faith; it is a pleasure, a kind of recognition of their talent. Usually, however, I am writing the characters and then proceed to casting the parts”. Asked about his collaboration with young actors, as in his last film My Golden Days, Mr. Desplechin said: “I was stressing over it a lot. When I saw Wes Anderson’s film Moonrise Kingdom, starring two teenagers, I thought it was a bold choice. I felt that perhaps I was also experienced enough to write a film about youth. So I looked for actors who would accept my temperament and feel free in what I’ve written”. Regarding his strategy in directing his actors, Arnaud Desplechin stressed that he is not at all strict towards them and he added: “I am rather relaxed; I mainly try to entertain them. I was involved in filmmaking from a very young age, I was an electrician when I was 17, I know the pace of a day of filming and therefore I make sure that the actors don’t get bored. This way the audience is not going to get bored either. It is part of my job. Also, when I ask them to act in a scene that makes them feel uncomfortable, I do it myself first. I am the first to dive in the pool to see if the water is cold or warm”.
Last September Arnaud Desplechin directed a theatre play for the first time, bringing on stage August Strindberg’s The Father with Comedie-Francaise. When asked why it took him so long to start directing for the theater, he replied: “One becomes a cinephile almost in childhood. Theatre is an art for grownups. As a child you are protected when you go watch a film. This is not the case in theatre. When I was invited to stage Strindberg I accepted because I knew it would be a great experience”. However, the director does not accept the term "theatrical" when it comes to his films. “It’s something I don’t think about,” he added and stressed: “I am a cinephile and French. I love American cinema. All the great American directors except Hitchcock started in the theatre. All the filmmakers who influenced me also come from the theatre, at least the classic ones. I am French and I believe that among the most revolutionary figures were Marcel Pagnol and Marguerite Duras, they all were theatre people. This interaction between theatre and cinema has always fascinated me”.
Although his films are often reminiscent of novels in terms of structure and language, Arnaud Desplechin stresses that he is not interested in writing prose. On this issue he noted: “The decision to work as a filmmaker was a commitment for me, a pledge. When I was 12 years old I decided that I wanted to study, to live a bohemian life and cinema is a bohemian art, it has this wild side. In my family there was a ritual: at around 18 we started reading Proust. I was the only one of my brothers who did not read Proust. Philippe Garrel once told me that he is a failed painter and I am a failed novelist, but I have no problem with that”.
Commenting on the many references to the work of other filmmakers in his own films, the French director said: “I like to think that cinema is like a democracy, where all films are equal – it is a pleasure to walk among them. It is necessary to watch films made by other directors, to be able to work in a different way and advance in filmmaking. Otherwise, we only reproduce television mass culture. I believe that cinema is an art like painting; you can find solutions for your own painting through the paintings made by others. I have an almost Talmudic approach towards the films that preceded me”.
On his relationship with documentary, Arnaud Desplechin pointed out: “I question the term documentary. My life changed through a film by Claude Lanzmann. Lanzmann’s cinema is the cinema of reality. Yet his film was filled with references and filmic images. Whether there are actors or not, a film is always cinema. I find few differences between documentary and cinema of the real and fiction. Please excuse me if I sound too theoretical, but I am passionate about films”.
Desplechin is not prone to identifying his films with a particular genre: “I like to think that each belongs to a different genre. I had to describe my first film as a western. I had just watched a western by John Ford and it was this image that interested me. My latest film is a teenage movie. It belongs to the type of films that Coppola makes, which I really like”.
Regarding the political references in his films, he noted: "In my country I am politically active, particularly on the issue of immigration and the recent events in Calais. This does not mean that artists have an advantage over others, such as doctors or firefighters. Being a filmmaker does not mean that I understand society better than others. I don’t want to lecture the audience; I have an opinion on everything as a citizen, but as a director I have to remain silent”.
Asked by the audience about the attacks in France and if he feels that there is a way he could change things as a director, Arnaud Desplechin replied: “I think that there are people in other professions who can bring about more change. The profession of a director is a more humble one. The military, politicians and doctors can change things. If you are a surgeon you hold someone’s life in your hands. When you are making a film, your role is a more humble one. We artists are not the first among citizens; we too are just citizens among other citizens”.
