LAST

SUMMER
a film by
Catherine Breillat
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a film by Catherine Breillat

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Anne, a brilliant lawyer, lives in perfect harmony
with her husband Pierre and their six and
eight‑year-old daughters, in a house on the heights
of Paris. One day, Theo, 17, Pierre’s son from a
previous marriage, moves in with them.
Anne is troubled by Theo and gradually
engages in a passionate relationship with him,
putting her career and family life in danger.
 Interview with CATHERINE BREILLAT

Last Summer is based on a danish film, queen of But Art is moral, because it makes people beautiful;
hearts. why did you want to remake it? it looks at them in a way that brings them into bloom
It was Saïd Ben Saïd’s idea. He sent me a note, re- and transfigures them.
minding me that we had met three years earlier at Contrary to popular belief, I am very romantic! I
the Belfort festival, and telling me that he had just am obsessed with purity, that’s why I can’t stand
bought the remake rights to a Danish film and the “sultry” label that is often attached to me. Or
thought I would do better than the original! when they say I make erotic films. I hate eroticism!
I was in pretty rough shape back then. I didn’t want Eroticism is men gazing at women as consumer
to make films anymore. I think I was also silently de- goods. You won’t find the slightest trace of eroticism
pressed; after all, physically, I am still in a bad place. in my films. Admittedly, my work involves harshness
Being hemiplegic is not easy. and sexuality, because I have always questioned my
I watched the film and was astounded by the lie at sexual identity. But my films are first and foremost
the heart of it. To tell such a big lie and make people poetic. I am interested in desire, love, the love drive,
believe you, it has to be true to you somehow! I guilt… in short, everything that eludes us, that has
thought it was a brilliant narrative device, worthy of to do with the unsaid, and what I call our “common
Shakespeare. place.”

Apart from this device, your film is very different At the beginning of the story, Anne has nothing
from the original, that was about a middle-class in common with Théo, we can tell he is not
woman who commits adultery in an almost completely out of childhood yet, for instance
predatory way. In Last Summer, you film the purity when he plays with his little sisters…
of desire and feelings. Théo is ill at ease in the adult world, and at first, he
On paper, it is indeed the story of a woman having finds Anne just as horrible as the other adults. And
an affair with her much too young stepson, etc. But then there is this pivotal scene, when she returns him
this is not the story I wanted to tell. I am not fond his keyring. We don’t really picture him as a potential
of realistic cinema, when it boils down to making lover at this time. He still has chubby cheeks, he
formulaic, uptight, and moralistic statements. isn’t really handsome, and he acts like an arrogant
Moralistic art constricts people and makes them ugly. teenager. Nevertheless, she reaches out to him, he
wasn’t expecting it, and this is when the film actually At some point, their relationship becomes so obvious
starts: he looks up at her, he sees her differently, that it’s not a very young man being with a mature
as if for the first time, and he too takes on another woman anymore. They’re just human beings, and it’s
dimension. The nature and temporality of their faces much more interesting that way! Each time I would
change, just like when Eli Wallach arrives in Elia bring Samuel’s face closer to Léa’s skin, he would
Kazan’s Baby Doll. eroticize her, make her younger and more beautiful.

Suddenly, being together sublimates them. The How did you manage that?
film believes in the transformative power of That’s the miracle of casting. Léa and Samuel trusted
desire and love over beings. me completely. Samuel maybe even more, because
Yes, and I have always believed in it. Even in my first he was innocent, in the sense that he had never
films, even in Dirty Like an Angel and 36 fillette, acted before. One morning he took his high school
in which men are horrible chauvinists. There is a final exam, and in the afternoon, he had his first love
redemption that comes through love and the act of scene! They never recoiled from the camera, and the
falling in love. I believe in love, in transformation, and camera was absolutely in love with them. The beauty
in love transfiguration. And I’ve had my fair share of their relationship stems from that defencelessness
of those with this film. From the moment Anne and and incredible purity.
Théo embrace their desire, his very presence makes We worked in total abandon and symbiosis. I was
her look younger, it gives her light and grace. She them, they were me, they were mine. I always say that
relives the adolescence she was deprived of, because actors are my modeling clay
it is hinted at that this period of her life was ruined for
her. And this light between them makes the audience Anne and Théo are often filmed very closely, as if
understand that they have fallen in love. in a bubble from which their social environment
has been expelled.
We totally forget their age gap… Yes, because when two persons can’t take their eyes
When we filmed the tattoo scene, when Anne starts of each other, and hang on their partner’s every word,
reviving her youth, I said to Léa: “You don’t think it’s like they’re alone in the world. Should there be a
it through, you’re fifteen. It’s like Pauline at the deafening racket, they wouldn’t even hear it. I had
Beach. You’re not an adult anymore, you’re Pauline. shown Samuel Ivan the Terrible, with all the sidelong
Your words are only meant to express pure joy, the glances. In Last Summer, I almost made Samuel
intoxication of talking for the sake of talking, it’s all squint, because he looks at Léa out of the corner of
fun and freedom…” And this is the hardest thing his eye all the time.
to play for an actress: the sparkling eyes, the smile, I came to realise that I am a director of emotions. And
imagining you’re fifteen again! I do capture emotions in these bare faces, sidelong
glances, and shiny eyes… I am both a voyeur and The scene in the car, when they come back from
a seer. I like to contemplate the human soul in its their fun time near the water, is a moment of pure
slightest shudders, I find its ambiguity absolutely joy…
beautiful. It is my nod to the 1960’s, with the convertible car!
This scene epitomises Anne’s newfound adolescence,
You had never filmed so many tears before… but she doesn’t even realise it. And when they come
When we shot the scene on the grass, Léa almost lost home with the children in their arms, they have
it because I asked her for a single tear, neither more become the couple.
nor less. And it had to run down one cheek precisely,
and not the other, otherwise it would have ruined Two temporalities coexist in the film: the family
the frame! But she ended up doing exactly what I’d or social time, which is a bit naturalist, and the
asked, which is deeply touching. We can feel that out-of-time moments when Anne and Théo are
Anne is withdrawn, she can’t burst into tears. Her together.
eyes just get misty, and then she sheds a single tear… I like naturalist cinema, but I think it needs to be
When Théo asks her about her “first time,” he thinks shaken up by expressionism, because “good acting”
it’s just a trivial question. Especially today, since social cannot really convey the kind of tension I am looking
norms are more permissive than they used to be. And for. My films are about emotions, not daily life. It also
suddenly, he realizes that this woman he thought he stems from the film I saw when I was twelve, which
knew, and who is older than him, is beside herself was a revelation and the reason I became a director:
because of this question. He suddenly feels an Bergman’s Sawdust and Tinsel, an impression later
outpouring of tenderness for her, as if he were twenty confirmed by Persona.
years older than her, and he was the one who had Also, I always think about Hitchcock, with these
to comfort and protect her. This is the moment we enigmatic women, and painters of course. I position
realise that he loves her. actors in the frame like painters do in paintings.
When Théo asks Anne all these questions, I wasn’t Painters make endless studies to place a head, an
sure having them flat on their stomachs on the arm, or a sidelong glance, with absolutely artificial
grass was the best option. I hesitated a lot, I thought yet natural precision. We must fight naturalism to let
maybe a fifty-year-old woman would look ridiculous emotions enter the frame.
lying like that next to a very young man. But I really For Romance, I thought about Georges de La Tour’s
wanted to see their shoulders graze, to have that transparency. For Bluebeard, it was Cranach… And
innocent, youthful moment, with these two people for Last Summer, it was Caravaggio. He helped me a
abandoning themselves to the summer. great deal, especially for the love scene…
Why Caravaggio? “It’s ecstatic love, you stretch and arch your neck, and
Caravaggio caused an upheaval in the world of art you rest on the top of your head.” For that scene to
when he painted Mary Magdalen in Ecstasy. He be beautiful, there could be nothing crude about it,
dared adding sensuality and flesh to divine ecstasy… and movements needed to be choreographed. Love
Sex is a power issue, looks nothing like porn. It is the transparent body, the
which religions fight against because it competes carnal fusion, the evanescence, the ecstasy, the “no
with religion. Too often, we want to reduce the flesh body.”
to dirty pleasures, sometimes a little charming, but
always trivial. As for me, I want to film this divine The scene ends on her, in very pale tones, so that
ecstasy, when we reach the transparent body. we don’t know if it’s death or eternity when the
shot starts lasting unusually long.
Each love scene is directed much differently… Yes indeed, because I wanted to reach rapture,
Each love scene tells something different. They are to be enthralled. This is when I remembered that
not only saying: they’re making love. In the first love Mary Magdalen in Ecstasy was once thought to
scene between Théo and Anne, for instance, there is be Mary Magdalen on her Tomb. So I pointed my
no counter-shot of Anne, because Théo is wrapped- finger at Léa and shouted: “Die, Léa, die right now!
up in his own pleasure. Stop breathing!” She stopped breathing. And I told
During the shooting, I would sleep on set, in the Samuel: “Leave, stay away from the frame!” And
bed shown in the film. At night, I would get up and there she was, completely alone.
think about the next sequences! So my directing was
probably more precise and sophisticated than usual. I had never seen a kiss filmed that way before, in
Especially for the second love scene, in which I didn’t such an extreme close-up. This kiss is so sexual it
want counter-shots either, because for me a love ends up becoming abstract…
scene must be clear, flowing, and gracious until the Again, I came up with this idea at night, on set. I
end. wasn’t happy with what we had planned, and I got
up several times to see where I could put the camera.
In this second love scene, not only do you stay on That’s when I imagined this radical close-up, with Léa
her, but it is also one of those moments when you and Samuel slowly turning towards each other, as if
stray the most from naturalism. attracted, magnetised by each other. I wanted their
In this scene, I didn’t know how to film Léa. This is mouths to meet in a real kiss, deep, wet, entwined,
when Mary Magdalen in Ecstasy was so helpful. when mouths are drawn together. Not your typical
I looked at the painting again and I saw that Mary movie kiss!
Magdalen – whose nostrils and aquiline nose look
very much like Léa’s – placed her head a very special
way, and I asked Léa to draw her inspiration from it:
You take the issue of abuse out of the equation, but lines like scars. Also, he has that heavy, beautiful
without denying that it exists, especially through look, this massive, almost bulky body, this stature…
Anne’s work as a lawyer… I was sure he would look good without a shirt on. I
The character was already a lawyer in the Danish film, wanted Anne’s husband to be really handsome. And
but I chose to give it another dimension, especially really gentle and humane.
by opening the film with the young girl who has been
raped, who is played by an extraordinary actress… We often see the two little girls as well.
I didn’t want them to be just a pretext, I wanted
The camera lingers on her, and on her intense, them to be full of grace. One is totally feminine
slightly stubborn, at once cheeky and shy look, and charming, while the other is more restrained. I
which reminds us of other young heroines in your wanted the audience to fall in love with this family,
filmography… and these girls… I like to film children, because they
I had put an ad on the internet, and when she do things out of love, you should never be bossy with
answered, I was immediately drawn to that girl with them.
hair all over her face and opaque eyes, like Marie
Trintignant’s. And when we shot the scene and her Why did you choose Léa Drucker?
chin started quivering, it was an amazing thing to As I said, at first it was Saïd’s idea. I wouldn’t have
see. thought about Léa if it were not for him. On the face
of it, she’s not my type of actress… Yet, when I met
In the love scene with her husband, unlike when her, I thought she was terrific. And above all, I saw
she’s with Théo, Anne talks all the time… her as the actress I would film, not as she had already
This conjugal love is genuine love, yet it is also a been filmed. Suddenly, she became my actress, right
routine in a way. In this scene, Anne also tilts her there in my home, as I was looking at her in the eye
head back, but a lot less. For this I was inspired by the while she was talking to me about the script, how she
painting of a naked woman hanging above their bed! wanted to make the film, how she trusted me – even
though I have an outrageous reputation, which isn’t
The husband is also a beautiful character. me, but I have it.
Yes, and I think that Olivier Rabourdin is very sexy! Léa has both a Bergmanian and a Hitchcockian
As for Léa and Clotilde, Saïd is the one who thought look. She can seem impassive and yet have those
about Olivier – he definitely has a flair for casting! As surreal movements, which makes her even more
soon as I met Olivier, I was hooked. I think he looks troubling. For instance, when she climbs the stairs
like an American actor, with his all-vertical wrinkles – while screaming at her husband, I asked her to do it
not horrible horizontal lines that mess up your face, backwards wearing stilettos!
Actually, her body had never been so present in the set inspired her to play the role a bit like Arletty.
a film. Dressed in a flashy pink, half-transparent nylon
Yes, right from the first shot or almost, when we see blouse, Nina is not a jealous sister, or some vague
her wearing a bra designed by Dita Von Teese, who family member. She has her own temperament. .
is second to none when it comes to underwear, like
1960s-looking push-up bras. Straightaway, Anne is a At some point, it feels like the film could become
body. a kind of bourgeois drama in the style of Claude
Léa wears the same dresses as Isabelle Renaud in Chabrol, but its expressionism can never be
Perfect Love, or Arsinée Khanjian in Fat Girl. They are repressed…
1950s sheath dresses in different colours, including When Anne argues with her husband, the register
white. And she wears high heels. Not the straight does become more naturalist, but I didn’t want
kind they make now, but those from the 1960s, with to dwell on that turmoil, I wanted Léa to become
the soft curve. 1960s heels are the most beautiful in Hitchcockian, like Tippi Hedren in Marnie!
the world… When Anne is about to lie to her husband, I asked Léa
I wanted Léa to look like Ava Gardner or Rita Hayworth, to stop moving, to look at Olivier out of the corner of
these eternal stars whose elegance make films seem her eye, then to turn her head very slowly. Cinema, at
untouched by time. I have always chosen costumes least mine, is about slowness, not speed. And in this
and hairstyles carefully in my films, because they can scene, it is Léa’s eye that makes her stand up slowly,
make a film look old. And I want to make timeless as if she were gliding through space. Directing means
films! inventing the right movements for the film, even if it
is not true to life.
And how did you find Samuel Kircher?
I met Samuel thanks to his brother, Paul, and I just The film cannot squelch its sentimental side
fell for him. He’s got absolute charm, absolute either…
grace. Samuel is totally graceful, radiant, but at the When Théo knocks at Anne and her father’s door
same time mysterious and opaque. He gives his all at the end, he is completely driven by his feelings. I
to the camera, he doesn’t fear it, he lets himself be didn’t shy away from filming tears, mucus and saliva
devoured by it without a single muscle twitching. And mixing when Théo kisses Anne. Théo looks like a lost
Samuel has this amazing smile. There are not many child, miserable and madly in love, inconsolable,
men who smile on screen. tormented by the kind of heartache that can be
deadly.
And what about Clotilde Courau? In Nina’s flashy In the script and in the first version we shot, the scene
beauty salon, the tone is clearly more brash. was less sentimental. But when I shot the last love
I wanted a set in the style of Almodóvar, in orange scene, I managed to capture my absolute dream:
and purple tones. Clotilde is quite eccentric herself, this surreal purity, when she climaxes with her fists
clenched, it has nothing to do with trivial pleasure. How was your collaboration with director of
When I thought about how I had filmed the previous photography Jeanne Lapoirie?
scene on the front steps, with him as a teenager With Jeanne, it was extraordinary, there were no
who just wants her to confess that she did love him, power games, it was just work. I had brought my
so that he can go back to his life and start shaping usual bed to rest between the shots, but there was no
his adult self, I realised that something was missing time for resting, because she prepared the lightning
between this scene and the ecstatic love scene I had incredibly fast, without saying a word.
just shot, which I loved so much. I didn’t want a naturalist kind of lightning either. I
So I asked that we shot the scene again, this time with wanted to see Léa’s steel blue eyes even when she
emotions reaching their height. I thought: it needs had her back to the light. I didn’t want contrasts
to be passionate love, let’s be bold and make Gone either, only radiant faces. I am obsessed with
With the Wind again, let’s dare indulging in absolute brightness. My words are quite violent, there’s no
romanticism! need to emphasise this harshness on screen. On the
contrary, it needs to be bright, like in a Hitchcock film.
Why is Anne gripping a key in her hand in the Jeanne was sometimes baffled by my requests, but
final love scene? she always managed to meet them!
I wanted the audience to keep guessing! Anne comes
with her fists clenched, and when Théo says: “Say How did the editing process go?
that you’re not in love with me!”, she opens her hand I worked with François Quiqueré, a wonderful editor.
slowly, and there is this key. It is the key to her heart, The film was like a rough diamond that needed to be
the key of origins... It’s completely symbolic, like in a chiselled and polished to make it shine and achieve
painting. absolute purity… Saïd was extremely demanding at
this stage. When we showed him a version of the film
Why did you completely renew your film crew? I was more than satisfied with, he said: “Yes, there is
Saïd didn’t want me to work with the people I enough material to make a great film. You need to
usually collaborate with. So I ended up making a figure out a way to make it great, you must cut half an
new film, nine years after my previous one, without hour.” He also made impressively precise suggestions
any point of reference! I directed the film step by as to which scenes needed to be permuted or cut.
step, like when I made A Real Young Girl, as if I were In the end, I accelerated the succession of scenes to
discovering cinema. There was a general sense of give the film a gripping thriller feel, while keeping the
endless concentration and humility on set. slow pace of some scenes.
And what about the music It seems to me that, as a director, you keep
There are no scores in my films, only songs. I was told ploughing your own furrow, but you are now
that when she was asked “What would you take on doing it in a simpler, brighter way…
a desert island?”, Kim Gordon answered: Douglas The film is called Last Summer for a reason! I wanted
Keesey’s book on Catherine Breillat. I had no money, a clear title, and I wanted to make a film full of light,
but I love rock, so I decided to contact her. She to smash the distorted image people have of me and
answered right away and graciously composed with my work.
her band a telluric rock song for the accident scene And it was also my comeback as a director, at the age
and the end credits. of seventy-five. It was a huge challenge… A shooting
means youth, but youth at heart, and through faith
And why did you choose Léo Ferré’s song 20 ans? in cinema. And I don’t need to be young because
In my opinion, the crazy love aspect makes Anne my actors are young. I may be old, but my cinema is
completely sympathetic. Nevertheless, one may young. I am disabled, but my films aren’t!
still find this woman cold and mean, and think that
she destroys this boy… Léo Ferré’s song puts this
judgement into perspective: “Love is like cigarettes,
you take one then you throw it away, you often die
and then…” Of course, feelings are intense, they are
extremely painful, but thank God, even after the worst
Interview by Claire Vassé
heartache, we all get back on our feet eventually.
 Interview with LÉA DRUCKER

How did you enter the universe of director challenged me. So I was excited about making this
Catherine Breillat? one and entering Catherine’s world. Of course, I was
Our producer, Saïd Ben Saïd, came up with the idea. also quite nervous, but this is why I do this job, you
I think Catherine was not familiar with my work. At can’t control everything, quite the opposite, you
first, I wasn’t sure I would fit in, I thought it would need to walk into the unknown.
depend on our meeting, which first happened on the Catherine has clear opinions and a unique vision – I
phone. wouldn’t call it radical, but it is really coherent and
Then we met in person. I could feel her watching precise. It is wonderful to work with directors who are
me while I was telling her how much I loved the ambitious and brilliant, and who have such a strong
script. I didn’t talk much, I mostly listened as she aesthetic universe.
explained how she wanted to shoot some scenes,
and talked about her views on cinema and her love When you read the script, what did you make of
for Caravaggio and 17th century paintings. She really Théo and Anna’s connection?
shared her whole vision of cinema with me, and her They bond over the fact that they both feel trapped.
vision for the film. And then it all fell into place rather He thinks he needs to let loose and enjoy his youth.
simply. She gets bored within her bourgeois bounds, and
suddenly she wants to smash them all to pieces.
Were you familiar with her work? But just like in real life, what stood out the most in
I remember watching 36 Fillette when it came the scenario was the complexity and mystery of
out. I also watched Perfect Love, Fat Girl, Abuse chaotic relationships that could go terribly wrong.
of Weakness… I loved those films, because they There is something tragic, dangerous, and dizzying
about that story. I couldn’t find all the answers, and Samuel! I let myself get carried away by the situation,
that uncertainty intrigued me. I agree with the idea by this youthful energy..
that we cannot always define love, and the element
of destruction it might hold. I felt a calling when We never get the feeling that Anne is sexually
I read the script. Sometimes it seems to stray from assaulting Théo…
realism. One could indeed say that the story is only One might think that she is a predator on paper, but
happening inside this woman’s mind. Catherine in my opinion, the film is not about a case of abuse at
reinforced that impression through her directing, all. If Anne were a predator, it would be obvious, we
editing, and mixing. could check all the boxes, only it is a lot more complex
than that: there are feelings involved on both sides…
The intimacy between Anne and Théo is based on So, what do we do when this happens? Morality does
a form of lie: they hide Théo’s theft from his father. not really apply to these kinds of “love stories.” I use
It marks the beginning of a pact, even though Anne inverted commas, because it is hard to really define
isn’t really aware of it. Through this pact, she is saying: their story. Some might say this is not love, that it is
“Now you’re going to stop wallowing in that teenage, incest, because it happens within the family unit. This
tormented and rebellious world of yours that we all story could very well shatter Anne’s professional life,
find so annoying. I offer you another role.” devastate her family life, and destroy the relationship
She spends all day at work with young girls who are between the father and his son. But then again, once
victims of sexual assaults. A part of her can easily we’ve said that, what do we make of that story?
connect with teenagers. It is this very part that I also wanted to make that film to challenge received
encourages her to sign that pact; yet, unbeknownst wisdom, as intelligently, or at least as sensitively
to her, it will get them involved in a perilous love story. as possible. Ideology cannot have an answer for
everything, we are human beings first and foremost,
Despite their age gap, Anne does not treat Théo with twisted souls – not “twisted” as “messed up,”
as a child and Théo is not searching for a mother but rather as “nonlinear.” And I think that the film
figure, it is an equal relationship… does a great job at exposing these opaque human
Sometimes Théo is even more adult than she is! souls, without giving us answers or imposing some
Anne’s traumatic experience when she was young is truths on us.
not thoroughly explored in the film, but it probably I also like that Catherine ends the film with Léo Ferré’s
informs their affair and her fling with that young man. song 20 ans. It is even more intriguing as we do not
It is a new beginning for her, and maybe a part of her forget the complexity of the situation. Catherine has
wants to reenact what went wrong when she was just a sharp vision of things, she is a free thinker, in the
a girl. In any case, the shooting rekindled reactions sense that she doesn’t yield to the latest ideology
and attitudes from my own teenage years. It felt like in trend, she has her own, unapologetic way of
I was fifteen again when I was riding a scooter with thinking…
Anne and Théo are mostly filmed as if they were in painting and I tried to respond to it emotionally, and
a bubble, oblivious of the outside world. to meet Catherine’s high expectations. And when she
I could tell that the camera was always on us, and kept the shot going, I didn’t wonder about the result,
really close to what was happening within our I just let myself get carried away by the image. It is so
characters. It required constant focus and real great to be directed with a painting by Caravaggio!
intimacy on our part. Even in apparently mundane
scenes, nothing was insignificant. Anne and Théo And generally speaking, how would you describe
are always connected, within each other’s eyes. It is a Catherine Breillat’s direction?
dizzying thing to play. I didn’t always understand where she was taking me,
but I tried to just go with the flow. Catherine uses her
Catherine Breillat often focuses on one character, voice a lot to direct, she talks all the time, drawing on
instead of going from one to the other. some fascinating vocabulary – even in everyday life,
I was surprised when I read the script, surprised she has a unique way of speaking.
during the shooting, and even more surprised Sometimes, Catherine says brutal or radical things,
when I watched the film, which has taken another she seems possessed when she films, but it is only to
dimension through editing. We can feel the gaze of push you in an almost mystical and surreal direction,
the character who is off-screen. I think it’s amazing, to take you out of your own self.
because it really says a lot about what is going on
between Anne and Théo, what happens when they How did your meeting with Samuel Kircher go?
are in each other’s presence, how the way they look We didn’t meet before the shooting; Catherine didn’t
at each other influences who they are. want us to!
More broadly speaking, it falls in line with my work Samuel is amazing. He is a delicate, sensitive,
as an actress, which isn’t only about preparing and generous, and honest young man. He really threw
building a character. Acting also means embracing himself into it.
whatever influence another actor might have on Since I was much older than him, I was careful not to
you, and the influence you might have on them, not overwhelm him with explanations and advice. If he
rationally or intellectually, but irrationally. Catherine wanted to talk to me, to ask me questions, my door
really highlights this irrational element in her film. was always open, but I realized straight away that he
had a tremendous instinct, and that he understood
During the second love scene between Anne and perfectly well what we were aiming at. And the
Théo, time stands still in a dreamlike way. We commitment the film required.
switch to a form or death, or is it eternity? Samuel was also in a joyful disposition. He loved
For the scene, Catherine came to set with Caravaggio’s Catherine. Our scenes together weren’t easy, but we
painting Mary Magdalen in Ecstasy, and she told both trusted her completely. Even more so as there
me: “You see, this is what I want.” So, I looked at the were no blurred lines. Catherine was very methodical,
she tackled those scenes as if they were stunts, with The shot showing Anne’s face when she decides
a technical and precise approach regarding frames to lie to her husband is so eerie it looks like a
and camera moves. scene from a horror film…
It reassured me to know in advance how she planned Anne suddenly becomes a character out of a film noir
to shoot those scenes, what she wanted to see or from the 1950s. Before the shooting, I contemplated
not. She was very clear right from the start: “I am not that scene with my usual acting tools, mostly
interested in flesh. I am interested in faces.” At first, psychological stuff. As an actress I move a lot, I am
I thought it would be easier that way, but actually, it quite expressive, I always think that I need to go
is a hundred times harder than being filmed from a all out, to expose my guts, but Catherine told me:
distance! The face is such an intimate thing. “No, no, nothing, zero.” Once again, she was very
precise, and she wanted to keep it all within. It almost
Regardless of that focus on your face, it seems looked like Noh theatre, or at least how I picture it.
like you have never been so physically involved I had rarely explored that form of stillness; it brings
in a role… about a kind of monstrous shift in the character, not
Yes, and it is new to me. It started right from the unlike possession. Annes almost ends up believing in
costume fittings. Catherine is incredibly specific her own lie, she is in fierce denial, on the verge of
about fabrics, the slightest seam, shoes… When I madness.
saw the tight dress and the high heels, I wondered
if I would be able to move about properly! But in Denial?
the end, it helped me get into character. Having my Anne feels that she risks being punished socially, that
hair always perfectly styled, being that desired and her life might get ruined, especially her family life,
desiring woman prevented me from hiding myself, which she wants to preserve at all costs. Therein lies
it made me move a certain way in intimate scenes, her inner revolution, the driving force of her madness
and it helped me to accept to be a sexual character, a that pushes her further into denial as a woman. Yet,
woman who is comfortable with her own body. as a criminal lawyer, she is perfectly aware of what
Catherine brought me to a particular state and she is doing, she sees that kind of stories every day.
guided me towards something I had never done
before, unless maybe on the stage. With Catherine, Catherine Breillat does not usually show her
you can tell you are being looked at in a different way. characters crying…
And she does so with all the actors. She made us look Yes, this time she does so, albeit tactfully. I love how
wonderful. I remember she wanted Olivier Rabourdin she orchestrated emotion, and how she edited the
to look like an American actor. film. Each character has his or her own emotional
journey. The film is neither cynical nor mean, it is just There is noticeable mimicry between you and
hopelessly human, with all the complexity it entails. Catherine Breillat, especially in your intense gaze.
I must have borrowed things from her without
The last love scene is part of the storyline, yet one necessarily realizing it. Only when I watched the film
could also say that Anne dreams it. Especially with again recently did I notice that I had absorbed a little
the mysterious key she is holding… bit of her stubbornness, her intensity, and the way
Catherine would never explain to me what it meant! her inner child suddenly pops up from time to time. It
So I imagined many possibilities: is it a key from a is astonishing. Catherine is funny. She told me: “You
fairy-tale, the key to dreams, the key to open a are like me, you are crazy about films, and that’s why
prison door? Anne is happy with her husband, she you could stand me!”
has chosen her life with him, but with Théo, she also
chooses to escape this cage and to follow her desires.

Interview by Claire Vassé

CATHERINE BREILLAT’s filmography
AS DIRECTOR

2013 ABUSE OF WEAKNESS

2010 THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
Venice Film Festival 2010 - Orizzonti

2007 AN OLD MISTRESS

Cannes Film Festival 2007 - Official Selection - Competition

2002 ANATOMY OF HELL

AS SCRIPTWRITER Berlinale 2004 - Forum

2000 TO MATTHEW by Xavier Beauvois 2001 BRIEF CROSSING

Venice Film Festival 2000 - Official Competition Venice Film Festival 2001 - Nuovi Territori

1993 COUPLES AND LOVERS by John Lvoff 2001 SEX IS COMEDY

Directors’ Fortnight 2002
1992 THE NIGHT OF THE OCEAN by Antoine Perset
2000 FAT GIRL
1991 MONEY by Philippe Galland Berlinale 2001 - Official Selection - Competition

1990 CATHERINE C. by Pierre Beuchot 1999 ROMANCE

1989 ZANZIBAR by Christine Pascal 1996 PERFECT LOVE
Directors’ Fortnight 1996
1988 MILAN NOIR by Ronald Chammah
1995 AUX NIÇOIS QUI MAL Y PENSENT
1985 POLICE by Maurice Pialat
1991 DIRTY LIKE AN ANGEL
1981 THE SKIN by Liliana Cavani
Cannes Film Festival 1981 - Official Selection - Competition 1987 36 FILLETTE
1977 BILITIS by David Hamilton 1979 TAPAGE NOCTURNE
1975 CATHERINE & CO by Michel Boisrond 1976 A REAL YOUNG GIRL
 Anne LÉA DRUCKER

Théo SAMUEL KIRCHER

Pierre OLIVIER RABOURDIN

Mina CLOTILDE COURAU

Serena SERENA HU

Angela ANGELA CHEN

 Direction CATHERINE BREILLAT
Produced by SAÏD BEN SAÏD
Associate producer KEVIN CHNEIWEISS
Executive producers RENÉ EZRA, CAROLINE BLANCO, CLIFFORD WERBER
Script and Dialogues CATHERINE BREILLAT with the collaboration of PASCAL BONITZER
Based on the film QUEEN OF HEARTS
written by Maren Louise Kaëhne and May El-Toukhy, directed by May El-Thoukhy
Image JEANNE LAPOIRIE AFC
Editing FRANÇOIS QUIQUERÉ LMA
1st AD GABRIÈLE ROUX
Sound DAMIEN LUQUET, LOÏC PRIAN, KATIA BOUTIN, CYRIL HOLTZ
Costumes KHADIJA ZEGGAÏ
Production Design SÉBASTIEN DANOS
Make-Up DELPHINE JAFFART
Hair ANTONIA SILBERTI
Unit Production Manager LAZIZ BELKAÏ
Posproduction Director CHRISTINE DUCHIER
Music Collaboration KIM GORDON

A production by SBS
With the support of CANAL +
With the participation of CINÉ +
With the support of CNC
In association with PYRAMIDE, NORDISK FILM PRODUCTION,
GLOBALGATE ENTERTAINMENT, CINECAP 6
French Distribution PYRAMIDE DISTRIBUTION
International Sales PYRAMIDE INTERNATIONAL

FRANCE | 2023 | 1H44 | 1.85 | DCP | 5.1 | COLOR