En portant à l’écran le livre que Romain Gary a écrit en s’inspirant de sa propre histoire à Los Angeles, dans le tumulte de la fin des années 1960, Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette s’est avancée en terrain miné en toute connaissance de cause. La réalisatrice de La déesse des mouches à feu n’est pas ressortie tout à fait indemne de Chien blanc, mais cette prise de risque est inhérente au métier qu’elle aime.
Publié à 7h00
Quand George Floyd est mort sous le genou d’un policier devant les yeux d’une Amérique horrifiée, le scénario de Chien blanc était déjà passablement avancé. On aurait pu penser que cet évènement tragique, à la suite duquel de nombreuses manifestations du mouvement Black Lives Matter ont embrasé les rues, aurait animé Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette d’un sentiment d’urgence supplémentaire. Comme si le récit que Romain Gary a écrit il y a plus de cinq décennies trouvait une nouvelle – et déplorable – résonance. Or, il n’en fut rien. Au contraire.
« Quand c’est arrivé, j’ai eu besoin de prendre une pause, explique la cinéaste au cours d’un entretien accordé à La Presse. J’ai pris un pas de recul et je me suis beaucoup questionnée. Parce que là, tout à coup, la matière de Chien blanc devenait quelque chose de très concret, très à vif. On ne veut pas exploiter l’actualité, mais en même temps, il est impossible de faire un film comme celui-là sans y faire référence non plus. Avec Valérie Beaugrand-Champagne [coscénariste], we thought about it a lot. »
Who has the right ?
This is not the only question raised by this project to bring the autobiographical story of Romain Gary to the screen. That no ! Set in Los Angeles in 1968, the day after the assassination of Martin Luther King, the book tells the true story of the novelist (Denis Ménochet) and his wife Jean Seberg (Kacey Rohl), very committed to the cause of African Americans. The couple then takes in a stray dog, very affectionate, particularly with Diego, the couple’s son. It turns out, however, that this dog was trained to specifically attack blacks, as in the days when masters trained their dogs to chase down their runaway slaves. Hence this name: white dog.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY SPHERE FILMS
A scene from white doga film by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette
At the heart of this drama is a theme that resonates even more strongly today, with which the artisans of the film in particular were confronted: how can one take on a fight against racism when one is not oneself Afro-descendant?
“This book was written by a white man and I am white, underlines the filmmaker. These points of view interest me. What was the place of Jean and Romain in this fight and what is mine? Do I even have the right to make this film? If yes, how ? »
PHOTO PROVIDED BY SPHERE FILMS
white dog is the fourth feature film by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette.
These questions make us very fragile because we are all mixed up and everyone is afraid. However, I do not believe that fear is a good engine of reflection.
Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette
Essential consultants
The story borrows the points of view of two white protagonists, but Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette insisted that the drama experienced by African-Americans be evoked through scenes from the archives, as well as thanks to peripheral characters whose presence remains indelible. Two consultants, Will Prosper and Maryse Legagneur, were also very present during all stages of the production of the feature film, from writing to editing.
“Will and Maryse are also filmmakers,” notes Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette. It was important to me. They could point out all my blind spots and they were able to reveal them to me. Their presence confronted me with things, but it was very beneficial. This film is full of doubts and vulnerabilities. As for the use of scenes from the archives, it seemed essential to me that we remember everything that burned around and to whom this tragedy really belongs, to really situate it. »
PHOTO VIVIEN GAUMAND, PROVIDED BY SPHERE FILMS
Kacey Rohl plays Jean Seberg in white doga film by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette.
It is also worth emphasizing the special link that connects the director to her family past. Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette learned that Suzanne Meloche, her grandmother whom she never knew and whose journey she recounts in The leaky womanthe book she dedicated to him, lived in New York at the end of the 1960s and that she campaigned for the cause of blacks.
” In The leaky woman, my grandmother was told: this is not your war, leave our war to us. This phrase is also found in Insha’Allah [son deuxième long métrage] while the character played by Evelyne Brochu is told the same thing in Palestinian territory. When I went to meet Diego Gary in Barcelona to ask him for the rights to use his father’s book, he told me about his mother and we realized while talking that Jean Seberg and Suzanne Meloche probably crossed. It is very likely that they fought side by side, while wondering if they were in their place. I find it moving. »
Spark a discussion
Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette does not hide it: white dog is by far the most difficult film she has ever made. Not only because of the moral dilemma that such a subject entails, but also because the pandemic has brought its share of particular challenges at the time of filming.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY SPHERE FILMS
Denis Ménochet is the headliner of white doga film by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette.
“Cinema is my love, my devotion, and I am very lucky to do this job. Literature happened more by accident. Making a film is also a bit violent. I feel like I was in the fight and didn’t come out completely unscathed. But I love him. I can’t wait for him to travel, to disturb. And I am ready to welcome all that it can arouse as a discussion. »
white dog opens the Cinemania festival in Montreal on November 2. It will hit theaters across Quebec on November 9.