Filmmaker Danielle Arbid has chosen Lætitia Dosch to embody on the big screen the incandescent heroine of a novel that Annie Ernaux published three decades ago. The two women shared a beautiful community of spirit to tell easy passiona film whose story is orchestrated around a carnal and epidermal connection.
Posted at 6:00 a.m.
Danielle Arbid (A lost man, Afraid of nothing) had long wanted to tell a love story in the cinema. It turns out that producers, believing that the filmmaker knew how to film the more carnal scenes magnificently, offered her the production of a feature film at the heart of which would be a passionate bond between two beings.
“I really like directing sex scenes, launches the director from the outset during a videoconference interview granted to The Press. In my eyes, it’s like sculpture, dance, impressionist painting, desire, it’s all of that at the same time. I have more difficulty shooting a scene between two people talking to each other in a café! »
The purity of a love story
The director looked for a story to tell by reading novels where there is love and sex. Surprisingly, they are quite rare. Either love is evoked in a disembodied way (“it’s as if people don’t fuck!”, she says) or, on the contrary, we fall into the works where sex is described there in all its lust with , very often, Sadian accents.
It’s as if love for two, more classic, regardless of the orientation of the lovers, was not told very much. Or else, we always add a social aspect to it. But the fact is that the purity of a two-person love story is rare in literature. I found it in Annie Ernaux’s book.
Danielle Arbid, director
Published in 1992, easy passion recounts the desperate relationship between a young woman, divorced and mother, whose life will now revolve entirely around the appointments given to her – or not – by a married lover from abroad. Autobiographical novel by an author who was recently at the heart of cinematographic news thanks to The eventan adaptation of another autobiographical novel (Audrey Diwan’s film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival last year), easy passion is the story of a love and sexual vertigo.
PHOTO JULIEN ROCHE, PROVIDED BY FUNFILM DISTRIBUTION
Laetitia Dosch in easy passiona film by Danielle Arbid
“I do not see this woman as being submissive, not at all, warns the filmmaker. I would never have borne to tell the story of a woman victim. Annie Ernaux is very brave in her book because no one wants to admit to crawling in front of love. Feminism is also about holding your head high by accepting that you have been hurt by a romantic relationship. That said, the book was rejected upon release. Annie sent me the press review of the time, as if to discourage me from making this film. But it motivated me to do it even more! »
The most supreme of elegance
Finding the actress to embody the heroine, however, was not an easy task. After four years of research, the filmmaker came very close to abandoning the project. A meeting with Lætitia Dosch, celebrated thanks to her performance in Young woman (Léonor Serraille), changed the situation.
“Ten minutes and it was done! recalls the director. Lætitia has an inner modesty which, in my opinion, is the most supreme of elegance. Both have it, actually. »
PHOTO MAGALI BRAGARD, PROVIDED BY FUNFILM DISTRIBUTION
Lætitia Dosch and Sergei Polunin in easy passiona film by Danielle Arbid
The other actor to whom Danielle Arbid refers is Sergei Polunin. Renowned bad boy from the world of classical dance (he resigned from the Royal Ballet in London, where he was a principal dancer, at the age of 21!), sometimes in trouble because of untimely statements on social networks, the Russian dancer perfectly assumed his role as the object man in this story.
Sergei is a very mysterious man. A real punk. His reputation is a bit sulphurous, but everything went extraordinarily well during the shooting. He was very respectful and did exactly what I asked of him.
Danielle Arbid
For her part, Lætitia Dosch evokes a role that she would not have wanted to miss for anything in the world. And says she is happy with her experience.
“I was already a big reader of Annie Ernaux, she says. When we met, Danielle and I, it clicked right away. I see in her a real poet of images and I really liked how she spoke to me about the sex scenes. I think she wanted to scare me first because this role has scared other actresses before, which I can understand. Me, I found it beautiful and fantastic! »
easy passion hits the big screen on August 19. This feature film is also available on Apple TV+, Google Play and YouTube.