The French filmmaker Claire Denis adapts this time a short story by the American writer Denis Johnson, at the heart of which is a passionate affair between two foreigners stuck in Nicaragua. Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn star in this sentimental drama which won the grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
Claire Denis discovered the short story that Denis Johnson wrote in 1986 about ten years ago. Set at a time when Nicaragua was plunged into a civil war, the story, largely autobiographical, chronicled the difficulties of an American journalist in the field.
“It was first of all the style, the spirit of Denis Johnson that seduced and fascinated me”, underlines Claire Denis during an interview granted to The Press by videoconference from the New York Film Festival. “I liked the way he told his story with a form of irony, as if there were always doubts about the power of the romantic relationship. I let myself be carried away by his style, his dialogues. »
PHOTO PETROS GIANNAKOURIS, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
four years later High LifeClaire Denis proposes Stars at Noon (stars at noon), his second English-language feature film.
The filmmaker was however forced to transpose the story of the news to our time, a shoot in Nicaragua proving impossible because of the pandemic. The political situation also made the project unrealizable in this form.
“I regretted it because Nicaragua is a beautiful country. I went there three times in location scouting before the pandemic and I tried to translate a little bit what remained of it, but we had to echo the country of today, which has become a forbidden zone, in Panamá . That said, I evoke in this film more the spirit of Denis Johnson rather than that of Nicaragua, a country apart in Central America, which does not resemble any other. »
Meet the writer
As soon as she had the desire to bring to the screen Stars at Noon, Claire Denis contacted the author, with whom she was able to build a fruitful relationship, even if the latter clearly informed her of his intention to move away from any rewriting process for a screenplay.
“I first wrote to Denis and we met, explains the filmmaker. He immediately told me that he never, ever, ever wanted to write a screenplay. In addition, it is his first short story and he tells his own story. That said, he immediately gave me his agreement. When we saw each other, we fell in love right away. His wife saw the movie a month ago. She was very touched. »
PHOTO PROVIDED BY SPHERE FILMS
Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn in Stars at Noon
When Denis Johnson died in 2017, Claire Denis was filming High Life with Robert Pattinson. This disappearance prompted the filmmaker to put forward her adaptation project.
“I liked the writer a lot, but the man a lot too. Denis’ death saddened me greatly. I then told Robert [Pattinson] that Stars at Noon would be my next film and that if he wanted to play the role of the British businessman that the journalist meets, that would be good. Immediately after, Robert shot tenetthen the pandemic arrived, Batman too. As Margaret Qualley was waiting, I had to bring in another actor, Joe Alwyn, in this case. Anyway, I didn’t write the screenplay based on the actors, but rather with Denis Johnson in mind. Denis also finds himself in the two characters. »
The same motivation
Revealed in 1988 thanks to ChocolateClaire Denis is now offering her 15e fiction feature film. His work is punctuated with strong proposals, from which emerge works with a more personal resonance such as, in addition to Chocolate, 35 rums Where Good work.
“My motivation is always the same,” she says. Sometimes, I’m surprised to see how it hasn’t changed for 35 years, despite the fact that the film industry is not necessarily the same, nor is the world. »
PHOTO PETROS GIANNAKOURIS, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
At the most recent Cannes Film Festival, Stars at Noon earned Claire Denis the grand prize.
The filmmaker also found herself in an unusual position this year. With love and determination, a feature film she shot quickly during the pandemic with Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon, won the Silver Bear for directing at the Berlinale. Three months later, Stars at Noon won the grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival, tied with Closeby Lukas Dhont.
“The price of the staging in Berlin was completely unexpected, comments Claire Denis. When they gave it to me, I realized at that moment that in this violent film, shot in a few days, the staging was very physical, as if coming naturally from my body. I liked that it was pointed out to me thanks to this award. A grand prize is more abstract. But that’s great too! »
Stars at Noon (stars at noon in French version) hits theaters October 14.