(Paris) It was in full confinement. While millions of people learned to make their own bread, François Ozon, a good movie buff, took the opportunity to watch old films he had never seen, including those starring Carole Lombard, an actress whom he knew little.
“A friend with whom I discussed a lot about cinema was just watching The crazy confession [True Confessions de Wesley Ruggles]a film in which she plays”, explained the filmmaker during an interview granted to The Press as part of the Unifrance Cinema Rendezvous, held earlier this year.
PHOTO JOHN MACDOUGALL, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
my crime is the 22e feature film by François Ozon.
“I found this police comedy rather average when I watched it myself, but I was intrigued by the fact that, like many American films of the 1930s, it was an adaptation of a French theater play by Georges Berr and Louis Verneuil, entitled my crime. So I re-read this forgotten work from the French repertoire – as are almost all the pieces from this period – and I chose to modernize it. »
Last part of a trilogy
To do this, François Ozon transposed the plot into the world of cinema, and, above all, completely diverted the meaning of a play which, in its original form, was in his eyes a misogyny without name. Under his leadership, my crime now recounts the journey of an apprentice actress (Nadia Tereszkiewicz) who falsely accuses herself of the murder of a lewd producer who attacked her modesty. Supported by a lawyer friend as broke as her (Rebecca Marder), the actress then becomes the symbol of the cause of women. In his abundant work, the filmmaker sees a little my crime as the last part of a trilogy begun 20 years ago with 8 Womenthen continued with Vase.
In this story, I mainly focused on the relationships of power and domination. I wanted to show how two young women from the 1930s managed to get by thanks to their intelligence and their quick-wittedness. They also gradually develop a political consciousness and become feminists somewhat unwittingly.
Francois Ozon
One of the filmmaker’s pleasures was precisely to integrate this more modern subject into a period setting. In addition to being stuffed with finely chiselled, often funny replies, thus recalling the theatrical origin of the work, my crime is breathtaking in terms of artistic direction, sets and costumes. François Ozon has put all his efforts into it.
PHOTO CAROLE BETHUEL, PROVIDED BY SPHERE FILMS
Dany Boon and Fabrice Luchini are also part of the cast of my crimea film by François Ozon.
“It’s more complicated to make a comedy than to make a drama,” he admits. It needs rhythm and it needs to be funny. It’s like serving a glass of champagne. This champagne must be good and sparkling all the time. This time I wanted lightness, to please and to make people laugh. In the life of a filmmaker, there are times when you want more drama and to make people cry, and then there are times when you just want to entertain them. »
A high-flying distribution
The adventure was all the more pleasant as François Ozon was able to bring a high-flying distribution to his playground. In addition to the two young rising stars, Nadia Tereszkiewicz and Rebecca Marder (whom the filmmaker affirms that they are the “Isabelle Huppert and Isabelle Adjani of the 2020s”), big names like, precisely, Isabelle Huppert, but also Fabrice Luchini, Dany Boon and André Dussollier have the opportunity to assert themselves in a universe evoking the spirit of comedies from another era.
“When I met them, I only knew Nadia and Rebecca by reputation, confides the one whose first feature film, Sitcom, came out 25 years ago. I did some tests and I really felt a chemistry between them. That’s what I was looking for, because it was important that they establish a real bond, without any rivalry. Then, I surrounded them with the best performers. Great actors also instinctively know that the quality of the role takes precedence, regardless of the length of their presence. »
PHOTO CAROLE BETHUEL, PROVIDED BY SPHERE FILMS
Isabelle Huppert, André Dussollier, Rebecca Marder and Nadia Tereszkiewicz in my crimea film by François Ozon
Released March 8 in France. my crime has already crossed the million-viewer mark there, becoming one of the director’s most popular films. Thanks to God.
“There is a very playful side to making this kind of cinema,” says François Ozon. It’s a bit like playing with dolls. Seeing Isabelle Huppert dressed as Sarah Bernhardt brings in itself a more childish side. When the actors are up for it, it’s very stimulating. I must admit that they were very happy to play their character because the text is still very playful, very amusing. They enjoyed it a lot, I think. »
my crime hits theaters April 7.
Travel expenses were paid by Unifrance.