Films celebrating the magic of cinema are legion. Normal, since, for the vast majority, filmmakers are passionate about it. Knowing this, there is something wonderfully incongruous about the fact that the film’s protagonist Empire of Lightwhich ran a cinema located in an English seaside town in the early 1980s, or indifferent to the 7e art. As you can imagine, said magic, combined with the gentle attentions of a colleague, will eventually produce its effect. Hilary, the lady in question, is played by Olivia Colman, who gives the reply to Michael Ward, under the direction of Sam Mendes: we had the pleasure of talking with the three.
Outside of this old Art Deco cinema which shows films she will never see and where she also runs the candy bar, Hilary, in her mid-forties, leads a dull existence. Suffering from a bipolar disorder, she has recently been taking lithium – we understand between the lines that she had an episode of psychotic decompensation shortly before. Necessary, the medication evens out his mood, but extinguishes his gaze.
“I was very nervous reading the script, because I didn’t really want to make a mistake and seeing the film, people living with [un trouble bipolaire] feel betrayed, “says the star of the series Broadchurchwinner of the Oscar for best actress for The Favorite (The favorite), and nominated again in this category for The Lost Daughter (Stolen doll).
“Fortunately, I had the immense good fortune to have Sam by my side,” she continues. Sam who saw his childhood when his mother struggled with bipolar disorder. So whenever I had an anxiety or just a doubt, for example about what actually happens when you stop taking lithium, he knew exactly what to tell me. »
Something to say
It is a new employee, Stephen, in his early twenties, who will rekindle the flame in Hilary’s eyes. Featured by Lovers Rockfavorite part of the remarkable pentalogy small axisby Steve McQueen, Michael Ward plays the gallant sire.
“I was immediately enthusiastic about playing this character, because it’s still rare, a young black character portrayed in such a positive way; only positive in fact. And it’s so important to have role models that aren’t negative. That’s what struck me first, when reading the script, ”recalls the actor.
Quickly, however, Michael Ward found himself projecting himself into the story, into this outdated universe.
“I began to imagine myself on the spot, at the edge of this deserted beach, in autumn, making ricochets in the water… And all these films projected in the cinema! I hadn’t seen any: raging bull, Chariots of Fire (chariots of fire)… This project allowed me to open up to a plethora of films from that time. It was so different! Even the texture of the image was different. It made me grow, as an artist. »
The exact year in which the action takes place is in this case 1981. And in 1981, in Thatcher’s England as alas elsewhere, a love story between a young black man and an older woman, and especially white , it hardly happened. With these uninhibited skinheads raging in the streets (sometimes in front of complacent policemen), it is above all Stephen who suffers the social repercussions of this fragile idyll.
“It’s important for me to play characters who have something to say,” argues Michael Ward in connection with the rise of far-right movements mentioned in Empire of Light.
“I like to get involved in films that have a purpose, but like this one, that is to say that do not hammer home a message. It’s subtle. And then I discovered appalling events: Sam describes the New Cross fire…”
As a reminder, the New Cross house fireis a tragedy that claimed the lives of 13 black teenagers and young adults in 1981, and which has since been considered a turning point in the then racist relationship between the British black community, the police and the media.
“It marked Sam when it happened. And I had never heard of it! How come we don’t teach that? asks Michael Ward.
A personal movie
In this regard, the frame ofEmpire of Light may be fictional, it is nonetheless very personal for the Oscar-winning director ofAmerican Beauty, Sky Fall and 1917.
“It is certainly my most personal film so far, yes, opines Sam Mendes. If only because it’s the first film I’ve written every word of. There are two or three central elements that are drawn directly from my life: my relationship with my mother and how I saw her heroically struggle against bipolarity while raising me; the beginning of the 1980s which corresponds to my discovery of cinema; the socio-political context, with this sudden rise in violence in England…”
In contrast to this murky backdrop, the filming was incredibly joyful.
“We had plenty of time to rehearse, which is a rare luxury in cinema,” explains Olivia Colman. It’s for the theatre. Besides, I find so much that Michael should do theatre! In rehearsal, he was so comfortable… Another aspect that helped me enormously was that we shot in chronological order: that too is rare. You know… When I read a script, I don’t have a vision of how I’m going to play the character. It’s more abstract; it’s something that I feel in my gut. »
“You should know that Olivia is not a “method” actress, intervenes Sam Mendes. She doesn’t analyze her game and I would even tell you that she doesn’t like to talk about it. Except that as soon as we say “Action!”, Olivia turns into a blowtorch: there is this spark, and presto! it becomes incandescent. This light which springs from her is a miraculous spectacle. »
“I like the comparison with a blowtorch,” says Olivia Colman, blushing (author’s note: it’s impossible not to swoon over this actress like no other).
Like an exorcism
When asked if one scene in particular left her with a more vivid memory than the others, she answers without hesitation:
“The one, very difficult, where my character, and without wanting to reveal too many elements of the plot, lives a moment, let’s say… very painful, in connection with his condition. In fact, we had to shoot this scene again, a week later…”
“And it was entirely my fault, specifies Sam Mendes immediately. What Olivia had to play, I had witnessed as a child, and during the initial shoot, with the camera, I kept my distance. However, by viewing the scene afterwards, I understood that I should have on the contrary approached me, been with her. So we redid the scene, and I filmed Olivia in close-up […] Making this film turned out to be a bit of an exorcism. »
And this is how, between an injunction not to repeat the hatreds of the past and a moving tribute to his mother, Sam Mendes salutes the unifying, even healing, power of cinema.
The film Empire of Light hits theaters December 9.