Original subtitles

BEFORE, DURING, AFTER REFLECTIONS ON THE FILM

It's three days before the film '5 release...

I just came back from the Rotterdam festival, where it was well received.

I hope the same thing happens here.

In a sort ofchildish way...

I'm going around Paris to look at the posters...

trying to hold on to a memory.

For me, seeing the posters in the streets is the sign that a page has turned...

that the film is going to live its life, by itself...

and that, gradually, I will no longer constantly be at its side.

It's a nervous and anxious state...

and a sedated one as well.

A bit, I guess, like weightlessness.

I don't know how other directors handle this period...

but, anyway, that's how I feel.

Posterl Photo Shoot November 21, 2003

So, Beaujolais nouveau....

All right, say it quickly!

Thursday, November 21

the Beaujolais nouveau arrived today!

And today we're doing our photo shoot.

-Look out, it'll fall! -With Robert. End of February.

A glass of champagne!

How are you?

I was filming what you just said.

Okay, wait, it's going to go bad.

Ladies, gentlemen. We're in the middle of a photo shoot for....

Sorry. We're in the middle of a photo shoot for the Grande Ecole poster....

-What? -Yeah!

So, starting now, the camera is controlled...

well, controlled... is operated....

Hello, E|odie! Working hard!

-He smacked his bum. -No, don't!

Can we talk?

You see, for the framing, I need just the skin.

-We'll shoot it in Polar. -We take everything off?

The poster is like the film's emblem or its logo.

It was designed by Renaud Barde...

who was also in charge ofpromoting the film.

It was photographed by...

Marcel Arkman, who did a very goodjob...

and created by Christian Blondel...

who notably created the sublime poster for Ken Park...

Larry Clark's very well-known film.

Symbolically, the emphasis is on criss-crossed romance and sensuality.

This is to imply that the part about how a reputable school functions...

is going to be secondary in the film.

We insisted on the erotic aspect...

and the circulation ofdesire...

which is one of the issues in the film.

What interested me about the adaptation of the play by Jean-Marie Besset...

was both finding a subject that is conducive to talking about romantic problems...

and the loss of familiarity...

and also the fact that it's rooted in a strong social sphere...

through the development of Mécir's character.

What first attracted you to the Grande Ecole project...

maybe moved or affected you....

What made you dive into this adventure?

It's a serious adventure, because making a film like this today...

it's an independent film! Making it without a name or stars...

and therefore without money, is a big challenge.

And, as time goes on, this is increasingly rare.

Before reading the script, I met Robert. I was touched by him.

By his person. It's extremely important to make a film with someone...

who moves you.

He talked about cinema with a sort ofpassion...

and love.

The idea ofhaving a main role in a film.

I didn't think that I would be offered the kind of role...

that had such a complex range of emotions and room to play around in....

It's a real composition.

That was also a challenge.

We had characters who needed strong interpretations...

in terms ofboth subject matter and form. That's it.

It's as much the story of the beginning of their young lives...

and everything they create...

as it is about a very elegant form, very literary and theatrical texts.

It's a real challenge to make all ofthat come across.

Afterwards, it's the audience who says whether or not it's a success...

but it was anyway....

-I liked trying to-- -Was it hard?

Yes and no.

I'd say that there was so much material...

to think about, to question, to create...

that, in the end, the text and the story helped us tremendously.

After, yes. We had to be there, to give, to think. We had to nourish all that...

to make it come across.

Did you work and rehearse together in advance very much?

-You supported each other? -Definitely. We were together.

I had been working with the script already for two and a half years.

From time to time, I would dive back in a bit...

to find ideas and work on it a little.

And we did readings all together for two or three weeks...

in the studio before starting to film.

It really was a group film.

There had to be chemistry between us, otherwise we would lose a lot.

How is he as a director?

You knew him for a bit longer than the others...

you were with him since the beginning of the project.

-How is he? -As a person or professionally?

Can the two be separated?

Usually, yes.

The majority of people I've worked with, yes.

With him, the problem is that....

Robert gives no information about his private life.

He's totally secretive.

We don't know a thing about him. It's pretty weird.

It's impossible to get him to talk. And yet, I really like him...

we have a very relaxed relationship, and we're both fairly silly...

I can tell him things that are pretty...

crude sometimes, for someone who's 20 years older than me...

who I'm supposed to show respect for...

but there's a pretty friendly rapport between us...

so I can try to ask him things, but he never responds.

It's impossible to know anything about him. And with work...

he's rather unusual.

He's pretty stubborn. When he has an idea, he won't give up.

We had a tiff on the set because I didn't agree.

-He didn't either. -Does he listen?

Yeah. It takes him two days to accept something...

but sometimes he will. There are also times he won't give in...

but that's the basis between an actor and a director.

A real exchange?

It's complicated!

Relationships with Robert are complicated!

He mixes everything together.

He mixes work and private life a bit.

I remember thinking about something that I didn't agree with...

and he said to me, "Do you hate me?"

"No, Robert. Wait, I'm telling you something...."

Listen to me for two seconds.

I see you, I regain my confidence, and I say, "Are you coming to bed now?"

No way!

Hey, Bob! We're not going to make it.

-What are you doing? -Listen to what she's saying!

Isaid, we'll see what happens with the others, what comes out.

We did readings, we worked like the theater, three weeks before...

we were doing readings, rehearsing, and that's when the role came.

Through mixing with the others...

I was able to use their work in order to do mine, too.

I was inspired by what was going on around me.

For me, that was the best solution.

At the beginning, it's above all a meeting.

With Robert Salis. He had an immediate effect on me...

because he had been wanting to make this film for so long.

He had been with two of the actors on this project for four years.

I arrived at the last second, three weeks before the film was being shot.

And, Idon't know, he was excited.

He spoke about the film in a nice way.

I read it and I was a bit surprised by the writing.

It's a very theatrical style...

and the role was fairly intense. Very different than what I might portray.

But, that's what we do!

But, it's most of all...

a meeting...

with the other actors, too. I really wanted to work with them.

After, I told myself to give it a shot. It was also a challenge.

It wasn't easy to do.

I think Jocelyn, who I've known for a while, must have said.’

"I think that Elodie would be perfect as my future wife."

Because we're good friends.

After that, we met Alice.

There was a real complicity. That's really important.

Especially in the context...

that we were rich, with a lot of hopes...

so it was better to stay within that...

than to realize we were filming in a sort of abandoned studio...

and that we were pretending to be very rich.

Like some ofFassbinder's films...

I wanted the film to be very stylized...

in order to create a timeless feeling.

So that the year couldn't be specified.

For example, the apartment was decorated a bit...

like an oppressive character, with colors...

and shapes that are very rigid.

We didn't film in a studio, but rather in a shed...

where sets for the studios were made.

There were broken windows, all that.... It wasn't the same...

it was anything but comfortable. It brought us together.

I wanted the four guys to have different colored hair.

Grégori stayed blond, like I had known him.

For me, it was a sort of abstract way...

to subtly pay homage to Maurice, the superb film by James Ivory...

or, all his proportions intact of course,

to Helmut Berger in Visconti's films.

And there was also a reference to Cocteau.

But since we couldn't guarantee a regular tracking ofthe color tinting...

the nuances easily changed...

from one week to the next. And since we didn't shoot the scenes in order...

this is definitely felt...

more or less in certain shots and sequences.

Since we were watching the rushes on video, and these rushes...

have a limited range ofcolors...

I only noticed this difference...

once the film was edited and cut on film. There, the outcome of the nuances...

is much more precise and visible.

It's definitely too bad...

because the differences in color tinting...

could have been done much better.

Robert met me when I was in the musical Romeo and Juliet.

I had dyed my hair, too. I had white hair.

That must have given him an idea.

It wasn't too bad because it was a role that had really bothered me.

Every evening, when I saw my fiancee...

she said, "Something is wrong. You're sad." She thought I was depressed.

And it's true that I couldn't help getting wrapped up in my character.

I spent my days living like Paul, speaking and thinking like him.

This hair style, this cut and this color, enabled me...

the day that I decided to cut my hair, to say that it was over.

-It actually helped me. -Of course.

Of course. You know what you're talking about!

The costumes also had to reflect the characters’ expenses...

and their mismatched side.

You'll notice that Paul's outfits...

change throughout the film based on what he's feeling.

They're roles that we aren't often offered.

They're very solid and strong.

It's not only young people like me, wearing sportswear...

they're people who dress a bit more elegantly...

who tend to be part of the elite.

Big bosses, who, behind the mask ofa big smile...

a hand shake, and a pat on the back...

are able to get ridiculous amounts ofmoney out ofyou.

He's a shark. He was brought up like that.

In the mentality ofa winner.

He's one of these people who's going to become a great manipulator.

And climb the ranks ofgovernment.

It's a whole mindset, a universe...

that isn't mine, but I found it fascinating.

I think ofit now as a style.

At the same time, I think that it's the desire of the director to say: "Look...

"it's a true story, but if we just recount it, it's not interesting."

So the costumes are.... There are color codes...

there's grey but also blue.

We don't know if it's the 1970s when they're at home or outside.

They're in their world, and they realize that there is an outside world...

that doesn't work like they do. There isn't purely success.

There are human relations and romantic relationships.

You can't stay here, darling, it's evil.

They haven't redecorated since I don't know when...

-1950. -Mom, don't worry...

everything is planned for us to stay in the school as long as possible.

But that's not a reason, darling.

Don't call me that.

-Hello. -Hello.

-Louis-Arnault Real. -Paul Tabord.

-Hello. -Louis-Arnault Real.

-Bernard Choquet. -Pleasure.

Madam.

Since the film's theme is based on the notion of choice...

or, actually, the disobeying of imposed choices...

and since I purposely mix up the plot lines...

one might think that I haven't carefully chosen the mise-en-scene...

but it's quite the opposite.

I find it interesting to start with cliche situations.

What is all this mess?

A cliche situation is made up of ordinary places and has a specific social purpose.

A cliche is not harmless at all. Very often, clichés are used...

to propagate or reinforce prejudice or to redirect taboos.

-Did you learn to paint at the Kasbah? -We have to do something!

In fact, I'm hoping to slowly...

deconstruct the mechanisms of a cliché...

and to see what lies behind it.

To find out how they work and how they could be disproved.

You heard me correctly, leave it!

What did I get into here?

You are in our school and no matter what he did...

no racial slurs here.

-Who are you to be speaking like this? -As if we were digging deeper...

-to see what lies beneath. -Stop or I'll call the dean!

Moving away from a superficial stage and toward a truth.

That's why from the start of the film...

I purposely revealed themes and exaggerated characteristics.

For the symbolism, one thinks...

''It's a bit overdone! Why? What's it hiding?"

Starting with a banal or ordinary situation...

and making it complex allows me to change perspectives...

and move beyond superficiality.

Obviously, there is a risk involved because focusing exclusively...

on cliches or a superficial level...

may result in an objectionable method. But that's a risk I'm willing to take.

It's like a film with many drawers.

To use an image, it's like a dresser with drawers on top of one another.

To find out the complete contents...

you have to open the drawers separately one after another.

The film is a bit like that.

We're exchanging currency against dollars.

Everything is in the shadow of family.

They are confronted with themselves.

They're released into nature.

And that's when their true nature is revealed.

For Eme|ine's character, when she has breakfast at her in-laws‘ house...

that's her future.

Why? It's normal, for her, not to go to the apartment very often.

There's a moment when he says, "Yes, Emeline never comes."

But, for me, Emeline, I don't want to spend my weekends in their apartment.

I prefer to go to my in-laws‘ house. It's a beautiful place, so....

I find the contrast interesting.

Emeline has a predefined social context.

A future that is all mapped out.

-Did you sleep well, sweetie? -Yes.

There's a lot of appearances, but with fairly solid destinies.

The social circles that are presented in the film...

the circles ofpower and wealth...

are made up ofpeople who must always remember to put on their armor.

It's a film that deals with powerful circles.

There is an idea that behind the raising of my character, Louis-Arnault...

an eminent bourgeois who has had a huge family for generations...

there is still deep down a guy with feelings who suddenly....

Is he going to crack?

What's going to happen? Will he change?

Will he come back to the thing that has always been his destiny?

That's what is interesting.

There was also the challenge of creating a character who...

at first glance could be just an insensitive idiot...

but I wanted to give him a bit of humanity, so that we could find him nice...

and say, "That guy has everything...

"but, at the same time, he really has something."

When he arrives at the school, he is fascinated by this person...

who is so easy going...

full of charisma. He ends up saying that he'd like to be like that.

Then he realizes that he wouldn't want to be like that at all.

My character changes his tune mostly...

because he expected to find people full ofhumanity...

who want to change the world but he realizes they couldn't care less.

Theyjust want to become ruthless, egotistical, money-grubbing people.

That's what they are forced to learn.

Everyone wants to have influence...

that's auto-suggestion.

These people want to succeed, they have a goal in life...

and ifthat doesn't work, everything is lost.

If one day their school can't run anymore, what would happen to them?

The school isn't important, but the title is...

and the human relations, things are going to happen.

Ofcourse, a well-known school allows for the appearance ofprotagonists...

who come from far away to live on campus, be isolated...

and experience slightly unusual things.

It's a facade. It's a well-known school...

so it attracts, not exclusively the elite...

but those who want to join the elite, who say that they want only the best.

When Paul abandons his main objective...

which is the success of this school...

he's no longer interested. He says: "A takeover bid? What's that?

''I don't care about the stock market! What I want is to really feel things."

Some people have feelings about takeover bids, but not him.

Chouquet manages to say that they have to work.

-What do you do? -I'm trying to "de-bourgeois" myself.

-I'm trying to "de-bourgeois" myself. -We say "disembourgeois", I think.

It's true that the other characters hide a lot...

behind the school, culture, knowledge...

behind preconceived things...

while Mecir is living life...

experiencing and undergoing things, while being at the source of other things.

The challenge that I wanted to meet...

was how to play a character like that, while being sensitive and gentle....

-Paul, which stocks do you have? -None.

Excuse me?

At the same time, the fact that he is a laborer...

means he's the only one who works and earns a salary.

What a bad match!

So, he's the only one managing his life, even if he's only a laborer.

Guys?

At the same time, he's aware ofreality...

and he feels deeply.

He's a brave person. He takes responsibility for his whole life.

Once again, I'm the black sheep in the film.

In fact, he's troubled. He doesn't really know if these are sexual urges.

For the moment, at the beginning, he's just fascinated by this character.

Little by little, as Jocelyn 's character...

becomes aware of that, he plays with him.

He thinks it's a way to have some fun, so he teases him, brushes past him....

Finally, Paul thinks he might be attracted to men...

so he's going to have his own experience.

You'll have to start to understand. That's friendship, right?

It's a film about desire. It's not a film about homosexuality.

It's about desire. We're not talking about romances between two guys...

or a guy and a girl, but between people who meet...

energies that cross and attractions. I find that amazing about this film.

That's a real love scene.

I've already done them, but it was always very innocent or the end of something.

Robert wanted it to be really beautiful, really fi|med....

Not in the details, but a real love scene...

because he didn't want any misunderstandings.

The public should think it's normal that...

this guy plays around, seeing how he is with....

He wanted it to be very beautiful.

So, Grégori and I spoke...

very casually, we didn't know each other, but we talked.

We said what we wanted and didn't want, complexes we had or didn't have....

It was all very simple.

I don't know if it's the same for everyone.

It's better that it happens in a relaxed way, with laughter and that's it.

-What are you doing? -Come!

-We're getting a room. -Not here!

Yes, here! At his house! Come on.

-So, complicity was essential. -In this case, yes.

Without complicity it would've been really hard.

That brought us even closer together.

It was a human meeting at first, and at the end, too.

It was really a beautiful experience.

-That's what matters in the field? -It's what matters most.

It's really what matters most.

Imade sure to film...

the male and female love scenes in the same way.

Both tender and romantic, so as not to show any difference...

in the journey of desire.

That's what I call the circulation of desire from one being to another...

from one body to another, and a desire that doesn't know...

the boundaries of gender.

The idea was to find out how desire...

passes from the stage ofsuppression to gratification...

and avoids the difficulty ofperforming the act.

Hold me tight!

I wanted to make a film about the journeys ofdesire...

and the refusal of imposed choices.

We're going to take a ride.

Hold me in your arms!

The mirror scene with Paul and Mecir...

is a way of returning to the feeling of vertigo.

The vertigo oflove, but also ofchildhood...

when the permitted and forbidden pleasures are ingrained in us.

Yes, I was good!

It's a mirror game, in the style of Cocteau...

imaginary, out ofsync...

when frustrations will finally be fulfilled.

Plus, there's a resurgence of auditory memories...

that operate like a brake and an accelerator for pleasure.

-Your papers. -Why us? We didn't do anything.

-It's not fair. We were born here. -But you're Arab?

Check out my package!

-What does he want from him? -That was my Dutchman's room.

Robert reassured us by telling us that he wasn't making a porn.

He wanted to make something very poetic and artistic, so we trusted him.

Whether it was with Alice or Salim, it was pretty cool.

The most delicate was the evening...

the two or three days when we shot those scenes with Salim...

because, oddly, I had his smell on me...

it was the first time that I smelled the odor of another man.

When I'm with my girlfriend, or with others, or with girls...

the odor, or the girl's perfume, stays.

Smelling a man's perfume was very bizarre.

I was completely destabilized.

I had been well trained because I had done a lot of theater...

and I had often been asked to undress on stage.

When you've undressed in front of 1,000 people on set...

40 people in a studio doesn't bother you at all.

-Wh y this desire to see you naked? -I don't know.

-Where does it come from? -I don't know. Also....

I'm not my type of guy!

The hardest thing for me wasn't the nudity...

because I don't have too many problems with my body, so that was fine.

There's a sense of intimacy. It's a smaller crew...

there's not too many people watching.

An intimacy is created on the set.

The nervousness was very hard because we're thinking...

"We're going to have to kiss and touch each other...."

We spoke a bit before but it isn't really possible either...

because we all have barriers...

that mean we don't talk about it. It's a taboo.

But after, while shooting the scenes...

with Grégori, we were shy. It's normal, we're not used to it...

and, in any event, it would've been like that even with a girl...

because it's someone you don't know who you have to kiss, etc.

We don't know one other, whether boy or girl...

and then it has to be believable.

We tried to make it believable, even if we weren't perfect...

because we're not professionals in that area!

At the same time, it made sense since the characters were also beginners.

For me, the hardest thing was making those feelings believable...

in the acting, the dialogues, the different looks...

the gentleness in the voice or the tone of voice.

As long as you wear it, I will protect you.

What'|| you tell her?

That you lost it? That you gave it to someone?

It's hard to make feelings credible...

and to make them come out through looks, and ways of speaking.

For me, for an actor, it's harder to make feelings believable...

like that, with nothing. Here, we have help, we can touch....

In the image, we see that there's love, that it's sensual, etc....

So it's not too complicated. What's complicated is talking to someone...

and convincing the audience that the two people love each other.

That's more complicated.

Cut!

I think an actor must be able to do everything.

It's more than physical prudishness.

The hardest is to make feelings credible and the most complicated...

is what's deepest down, the fragile feelings, saying I love you...

or making someone understand that we love them just through a Iook....

That's deeper and more intimate than getting totally naked.

When we get naked on the inside, it's more complicated.

That can be harder and it makes you think more.

Cut! Thanks.

In relation to Paul, Louis-Arnault and Mecir act...

a bit like two angels.

Louis-Arnault is like a destructive angel...

because he tries to push him back into his pitfalls.

And Mecir is a revelatory angel, who awakens Paul's desire.

Together, they hinder the role...

ofguardian angel that Agnes plays for him.

-We'll rehearse, to see? -Okay. Silence!

-Rehearsal break! -Over here.

All that forms a mixture ofsentimental cruelty and naive candor.

Homosexuality is a notion that needs to progress.

In the sense that it is still too often a grounds for reproach...

and alienation.

Because under the pretext of designating a...

romantic and sexual preference...

it still is used all too frequently...

to perpetuate discrimination, taunting and violence.

I've always wanted you!

I can't take it anymore!

Now he sticks out his tongue.

That's good.

It's a socially instilled notion for subjugating desire...

and discriminating against its multiple facets.

Mecir doesn't want to define himself or categorize himself as a homosexual...

not because he's afraid of admitting his desire...

but rather so that he doesn't have to play the social games...

represented by the oppositions.’ heterosexuality and...

homosexuality.

For him, it doesn't matter if the loved one is a woman or a man...

from the moment that love blossoms and stirs inside of him.

It's a call for love, just like a call for air.

-Quick, stop! -What?

It's important.

Humans would no longer be arbitrarily differentiated based on their attractions.

What is it?

Do we ask a heterosexual to assume his identity?

It's romantic.

See, that was important.

You wouldn't like it sometimes?

Tell me....

Yes?

-It's been so long that you are-- -That I'm what?

Gay?

You don't get it at all.

Hetero, homo, all that's finished. It's outdated and it doesn't matter.

It's just because it's you. That's all.

It's possible at any age.

I think and hope that this film...

will maybe help people to feel a little better, to dare to be proud of who they are...

in many aspects. Professionally, personally, or sentimentally.

I think that in some regions....

In big cities we have so much...

but we're only a fraction ofthe population.

In some regions it must be difficult to stand up for oneself...

against upbringing and many other things.

Of course.

Agnes's character...

was intended to create a nice portrait ofa woman in love.

Feeling that she might lose him, she proposes this seduction bet.

The idea being to see how far one will go for love...

and what we are capable of when faced with the fear oflosing this love.

And also fears ofbeing alone...

of unrequited loves...

and disappointing loves.

But she doesn't know that Mecir exists.

She doesn't know that Mecir will steer Paul toward the act.

Otherwise, she would've acted completely differently.

Action.

The French language is so beautiful and can express so many nuances...

it would have been a shame to restructure and simplify the dialogue.

I was interested by the challenge of the language...

to show young people who, for as long as they can remember...

have been surrounded by a mastery ofspeech, a verbal dexterity...

and a skillful manipulation ofknowledge and words that gives them...

power over others.

An influence on others.

And I also wanted to show...

how social pressures would force them to evolve...

or leave them in flux in terms of their objectives.

That's good.

Plus, the dialogues in the film...

are used more to express exchanges ofideas or states ofmind...

than as a simple vehicle for information.

For them, the expression of feelings happens first through speech...

before being experienced in action.

So, are you sleeping or dreaming?

-What? -"And sleeper...

"while dreaming, works with brotherhood...

"to create the world."

That's quoted from Heraclitus.

A Greek poet from the fifth century B.C.

Greek? What's that good for? For mass?

It awakens the senses.

Did you study philosophy?

But in any story, all the combinations are possible.

We could very well imagine...

that Paul and Louis-ArnauIt's roles were played by...

a young Arab and that the young laborer be played...

by a young French actor.

Or even that Agnes could fall in love with a young girl...

and that Paul proposes the seduction bet to her.

But, at thatpoint, it'd be a totally different film...

and it doesn't correspond with the spirit of the play.

I wanted to stay faithful to the dialogue for a specific reason...

which is that I wanted to see...

how the language challenge would work.

And that was something inherent to the play...

that I could not...

leave out.

You know, there's so much I would like to say.

Parents.... It's always too late...

when we realize we didn't love them enough...

and we didn't say enough.

My mother, the poor woman....

I know that I'll never earn enough for her to stop working.

To buy her a trip. She's never left here except to go to Algeria.

She breaks her back so that you can sit on clean chairs.

For along time, language was used to divide social classes.

But there's another language that's interwoven throughout the film...

and reveals all of its power.

-Carnal language. -You don't know my father.

The language of feelings.

-...and they're Arabs too. -So?

-I come from a well-known school, too. -Really? Which one?

Robert said that it was an actors’ film, so it's a film...

that is carried by the actors.

You must grow into the character.

You're thinking of an ingrown nail, that's painful.

An ingrown nail, it's true. It's stupid, but it's true.

To grow into someone...

if there are painful parts of this role, it's going to be painful for us, too.

For them, it was difficult to pull everything off..

to pull off the text, which is extremely literary...

and to pull it off as if it were real life.

That's their daily life and they speak like that everyday.

I take my hat off to them. Idon't think it was an easy act to pull off.

-No? -It has nothing to do with it.

I knew Agnes wanted Louis-Arnault.

I put them in order.

No!

The real Louis-Arnault...

the one you dreamt of, you lost him the other night.

No, you don't know him.

You don't understand.

What? Your reconciliation?

How he took you in his arms? How he was tender?

How he was touching? What he promised you? Swore?

Almost cried?

-I understand, Emeline. I do. -But you talk about him as if....

When Robert rewrote...

he developed roles in their social context...

and he saved the theatricality for the dialogue.

He almost...

when we're all in the same scenes, acted as our choreographer.

Like you need to do on stage.

I'm spending a few days at my parents‘. I'm leaving.

And I'm leaving. I glance at him with a smile.

And then, you take the suitcase.

I wondered what you were doing.

We all have to know where to go.

It was hard but interesting to do.

It's about listening.

The more you listen, the better your response, the more you're in character.

I think he has a very particular film in his mind.

-I looked for you at the school party. -We weren't in good shape.

Especially when Robert pointed out things that were anti-theater...

"We aren't in the theater!" But our text was very theatrical.

It was very difficult. It required a lot of concentration.

So as not to fall into the projection of...

the theatrical voice. We really wanted to because of the text.

Really? Fine.

If you don't want to show, or admit anything...

I guess you are more naive than I thought.

Let's stay in the uncertainty.

In parts of the film, the mise-en-scene is entirely justified.

In scenes that have a lot ofdialogue...

I opted for a frontal mise-en-scene inspired by the theater...

which plays with theatrical convention.

If you want it, take it. Why did you come?

This way the text has priority...

and the spectator is in the optimal position for listening.

You're making fun of me.

In English, to describe total nudity...

we use the expression "frontal nudity."

For me, these frontal scenes are used to show naked feelings...

to make this nakedness understood through verbal disputes...

that are going on between the characters.

These heavily dialogued sequences are counterbalanced...

in contrast, using lyrical or dream sequences...

such as the dream, the station...

where desire and awareness take on the utmost importance.

Obviously, Emeline is an added obstacle.

Stop, please!

I wanted to mix the benefits of theater and film together...

by making theatrical convention cinematic.

-I don't want to do it. -One all-nighter won't kill you.

I spent Sunday at the movies.

-Next to me, a couple was making love. -Good.

Actually, you know...

you said you couldn't.

The one you're dreaming about.

I'm not sure she's very admirable...

or very virile either.

-What did he say? -I think he's talking to you.

I may have an ancient, outdated code of chivalry but....

-A code of chivalry? -What's he talking about?

-The Crusades, definitely. -That's what it's about, right?

To be strong in finance, in financial law...

distrust marketing, or the opposite.

That's all a bit simplistic, isn't it?

Didn't you mention virile?

Before, we understood and breathed life into each other.

When Isaw your eyes shine for your Nabisco cookies...

-Paul, explain "viriIe" to us. -Investor...

business lawyer in an international firm...

food, contracts, seminaries, executive lunches, call girls...

sound-proof hotel rooms with champagne in the minibar.

Life! Life!

And now, I'll have a seat.

That was the only day ofshooting that we had access to a crane.

Since it takes a lot of time to set up...

I was torn between the wish to take several shots...

or to ensure only one or two that would synthesize the sequence.

This is when the monitor is important...

because it's used to instantly see how the shot will look...

the precision of the frame and the camera movements.

Otherwise, it's much better to be closer to the actors.

Often, in these cases, I think about the Marguerite Duras quote...

"One must calculate the economics of a cinematic desire."

And she referred both to an artistic calculation...

and a monetary one as well.

This is a lesson...

that is always good to keep in mind when shooting a film.

Ican't thank France 2 Cinema enough...

for having supported this project since its inception.

Without France 2 Cinema, the film wouldn't exist, at least not in its present form.

Good evening. Where to?

Drive along the marina and then we'll see.

-Are you sure? -Yes.

Ihad the good fortune to find brilliant and talented young actors...

who fully invested in their characters...

and who aren't afraid of taking a risk...

by playing on the edge of the blade.

They really knew how to enrich their characters.

I will be forever indebted to them for not hesitating to follow me.

Even though often I was purposely vague about my intentions...

because their roles had to develop...

under the control of their inhibitions and the progressive loss of this control.

So, often, willingly...

I left them in trouble...

so that this trouble they felt would emanate from them, too.

It's a question ofintuition, talent...

and a lot of work for them.

They were so concentrated on their text...

that after, between the takes, they needed a release...

and they'd carry on like children at recess.

-Yes, Grégori? -Hello.

-A problem? -Am I bothering you?

We're complete idiots.

Stop, I want to rehearse the text!

Okay, let's rehearse now.

This scene has comic elements...

because it's based on a comic situation.

It's the situation where the bourgeois theater trio...

are caught red-handed in adultery.

But since we're expecting the usual settling of the score...

between two rivals for the same man, the direction of the scene...

is immediately thrown off balance by the dialogue.

The direction of the scene changes right away.

Agnes says that sex is a separate universe and Emeline says that she's just acting.

Emphasis in placed on the representation of love and its role.

Agnes could also very well say that art is a separate universe.

Cinema and theater are worlds apart.

Right away, it turns to another shot.

You haven't always ignored my desire for you.

Plus, the codes of bourgeois theater...

are immediately changed in the following scene...

due to the entrance of the trio ofthree guys...

that is actually closer to a trio from ancient theater...

when the conclusion is approaching.

Iemphasized this even more by putting on the opera Tosca...

that announces the climax of the tragedy, the rupture.

That works a bit like an alarm.

Before concluding...

I would like to add something...

and take advantage of the moment to specify a point about this scene.

While we were filming, the weather was changing...

these are the uncertainties of outdoor filming...

but in the morning, it was raining and then it was foggy and then sunny.

That made the lighting set-up very difficult.

IcouIdn't film it like I wanted to.

I had planned a shot where the brother has words with Louis-Arnault...

and hesitates before running away...

like a good paranoiac, as he was described in the preceding scene.

I do masonry work.

Without intending to, the brother sets off the conclusion.

Once Louis-Arnault subtly understands...

that Paul has had an affair with Mecir, and this idea is unbearable for him...

he immediately thinks of taking advantage of his brother's arrival...

to turn him into a scapegoat by blaming him for his aggression.

As much in the hopes ofshort circuiting this relationship as for testing Paul's desire.

My aggression! It's him!

What? I didn't do anything!

Stop! That's my brother!

In order to cover the end of the action...

I originally filmed a wide shot where we saw all four of them...

when the brother escapes, I always regretted...

not filming the brother's hesitation.

It's not him!

This hesitation was used to not introduce any doubt...

about the identity of the real aggressor, who's a student in a suit.

To make up for this lack, Ihad imagined...

putting at the end of the film, in voice over, a short scene...

where two brothers exchange the following lines.

Tell me the truth. I'm your brother.

Iswear. Inever saw it. Ididn't do a thing.

-The stabbing wasn't me. -Why did you run away?

I didn't want any problems. Prejudice always comes back to haunt you.

I can tell them there's no reason for me to be here.

It's not worth it.

Ifl walk with my head toward the sky now...

it's to stop my tears from falling.

Iended up removing them because I was scared of a heavy ending.

I just kept Mécir's last line.

Everyone feels on his own that there is no substitute for love.

There's only love...

and the lack of love.

And desire naturally goes hand in hand with the lack...

and nourishes itself

I want to be able to choose to not have to choose.

Ireally like that the end of the film is open...

and you're free to make your own interpretation.

That's why there is no moral but only the question.’

What becomes of us after we've been pushed into pitfalls?

It's a modest invitation to look differently at our surroundings...

to not remain frozen in first impressions and to develop our perspectives.

Seeing and listening so as to make way for loving...

and letting yourself be swept by waves of emotion.

Ifl walk with my head toward the sky now...

it's to stop my tears from falling.