“The film tells how you can get up after being arrested mid-flight. ” With In body, Cédric Klapisch retraces the journey of Élise, 26, a classical dancer who sees her life turned upside down after a serious injury. From disappointments to misfortunes, between Paris and Brittany, she must radically change her approach to dance as well as her way of life. Supported by new friendships and new learnings, Élise must tame her artistic and personal rebirth.
This singular story, the French filmmaker imagined and built it according to his meetings, in particular with the choreographer of Israeli origin based in London Hofesh Shechter, but also, and above all, with Marion Barbeau, first dancer of the ballet of the Paris Opera, who for the first time dons the outfit of an actress. “I didn’t want to find actors who danced to take the roles in the film, and Marion Barbeau imposed herself. For me, it was obvious that she was going to play the main character,” he recalls.
” With In body, I wanted to share what I knew about the magical world of dance, often unknown to the general public”, continues Cédric Klapisch. After signing several documentaries, including Aurelie Dupont, for a moment in 2010 and the short video Say thank you in 2020, the time has finally come for him to devote a fiction to dance, which he has been seeing since adolescence. “I have never been a dancer, but since I was 14-15 years old, I like to attend shows and ballets. Throughout my career, I have also been able to have access to the backstage of dance, whether classical or contemporary, which has allowed me to have a culture and knowledge of this activity”, explains the director. , who readily admits to having been captivated and enlightened by people like the illustrious German dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch, who were true guides in his creative life.
I have never been a dancer, but since I was 14-15 years old, I like to attend shows and ballets. Throughout my career, I have also been able to have access to behind the scenes of dance, whether classical or contemporary, which has allowed me to have a culture and knowledge of this activity.
And dancing absolutely shines every facet ofIn body. “With the director of photography, Alexis Kavyrchine, we wanted to play with the concept of movement, that everything, every moment, dance in the film, even a car that parks, and not just the dancers on stage, says Cédric Klapisch. The simple act of peeling carrots had to become a dance. This is how they managed to transform the most banal and everyday things with a certain idea of choreography.
Arabesques
If he talks about the reality of dance today, In body also tries to paint a portrait of our time. “I grew up during the birth of feminism, in the 1970s, and I find that at the moment women manage to appropriate what escaped them until now”, observes Cédric Klapisch. An evolution that he confronts and transposes elsewhere in the film when Élise’s friend, Sabrina, wonderfully interpreted by Souheila Yacoub, takes a photographer to task for his vision of the objectification of women. “This scene serves to manufacture comedy and allows me to make fun of myself, of the male gauze, because I am a man of more than fifty years and I like to film the women, underlines it. With the voyeur side of cinema, there are questions that we can no longer avoid today. »
Large gap between the generations represented in In bodyit is also a question. “I wouldn’t say it’s an opposition, but a conflict, especially between Élise and her father. [joué par Denis Podalydès]. It’s not that he doesn’t want his daughter to dance, but he doesn’t really understand what his daughter does. It is out of step,” adds Cédric Klapisch, who sees it as a driving force to make people smile.
Finally, when we ask him how youth inspires and influences him – remember in this regard that the filmmaker has particularly marked generations X and Y with feature films such as The young peril and The Spanish inn —, Cédric Klapisch evokes rather a desire to work with novice actors. “Those who start have a passion for the game, unlike people my age,” he concludes with still-intact wonder.
En corps hits theaters
the 15th of July.