“I clung to the obsession with my character”

The French-Tunisian actor plays Hamid, a man seeking justice after being incarcerated in Syrian jails. Adam Bessa brings a new nuance to a dramatic register in which he has often plunged. Interview.

The ghosts, in theaters since July 3, is Jonathan Millet’s first fiction. The feature film is inspired by the hunt former war criminals of the Bashar regime hasL–Assad, in Syria, led by cells of Syrian exiles. HASWith his usual game economy, Adam Bessa plays Hamid, a member of one of these groups. On the trail of his tormentor in Strasbourg, France, Hamid becomes a spy and gradually lets his traumas show through.

Franceinfo Culture: What attracted you to the character of Hamid, who has a rather particular approach to revenge?

Adam Bessa: The geopolitical plot – the story spans several countries – and the spy film. Just like the quality of the screenplay: the story of a revenge carried out by someone who does not fall into the law of retaliation. Besides the fact that he does not decide alone, he weighs the pros and cons of his approach.

What did you do to prepare to play this character?

A lot of research on YouTube, on the darknet… I watched videos that we are not used to seeing: testimonies, amateur videos that tell the story of prison in Syria. I approached this role through personal experiences. The political details did not really interest me because they did not help me build the character.

It is a sensory film because it is based on the experience of Hamid, imprisoned for two years in the dark. How do you integrate this dimension into your acting?

I had four to five months of preparation to transcribe this exit from the dark. With Jonathan, we had time. A period during which I also learned the Syrian language. I had time to find the best entry point to best embody Hamid and find this very particular sensitivity that is his.

The torture and violence suffered by Hamid are not shown. He himself does not display his scars or his trauma. What did you focus on to highlight this aspect of the character?

I clung to his quest and his obsession. His obsessive side, very strong, held me from beginning to end. I have a bit of the Actors Studio method: when I am in a character, I stay there for the entire shoot. It lasted a month. Hamid’s state of nervousness is particular. He is always on a wire. We don’t know if he is going to tip into sadness or into rage. It was always necessary to be in this in-between. Hamid is literally at the end of his rope because of fatigue, lack of sleep, his personal injuries. This state characterizes the character and it requires a certain endurance to embody him.

Harka, The Price of Passage and now The ghosts are films in which your characters are serious and silent. There is a real ease in you to interpret this type of role. It is a register that you master…

I don’t think of my characters in these terms, namely whether they are silent or not, whether it is a register that I master or not. These are mainly stories that I like. In this case Harka, which is the story of Mohamed Bouhazizi, whose self-immolation [en Tunisie] triggered the Arab Spring. This story is a must-read for me as a Tunisian. Same for Hamid’s: it’s an extraordinary story, no matter the character’s personality. If he had been more expressive, I would have played him too.

It turns out that all these characters are silent. I think that economy of words is sometimes necessary. I tend to cut dialogues in films. There are silences that say a lot. Cinema is also used for that, It’s an art of images. If you can convey something without words, it’s better.

This role, like the one in Harkais inspired by people’s lives. This puts a certain responsibility on your shoulders as an actor. Is this an additional pressure for you?

Yes, I have to be up to the task. The first people I have to convince are those who have experienced this story. If they are not convinced by what I do, the bet is missed. The pressure lies in telling this story as best as possible, as accurately as possible, without caricaturing, without falling into sentimentality, without judging… This adds a difficulty, but it is a challenge that I like. These subjects speak to me. I like giving a voice to people who do not have one. It gives meaning to my job, to what I do.

From The Blessed by Sofia Djama in 2007, your first feature film, the news is rather good. You were among the 2023 revelations at the Césars with Harkaa film for which you won the Best Performance Award at Un Certain Regard in 2022. Two of your films were presented at Cannes. This is another form of pressure…

It’s rather comforting. When you are knighted by your peers, it gives you the strength to continue, the courage to continue exploring, to work, to try to surprise again. It’s a form of support that gives you confidence in yourself, that confirms that you are on the right track. I don’t feel any pressure. On the contrary, it’s motivation. It’s interesting to hook a person who knows nothing about a subject, to arouse emotion in them, it means that you achieve a form of universality in your art. I take the example of someone who doesn’t particularly like painting, who finds himself in front of a Picasso or a Basquiat and exclaims: “It’s beautiful, it’s cool. I’d like to put it in my house “. It’s like with Zidane. My mother or friends, who didn’t particularly like football, liked to watch him play.

I work hard to reach out to the public, those who would find this subject heavy, a little depressing, for example, in order to offer them a gripping film. It is important to take people by the hand while offering demanding cinema that encourages reflection. I am not interested in turning their stomachs upside down by showing them all the misery in the world. To do that, you just have to watch the news. I prefer this more powerful dimension, that is to say doing good by seeking out the universality of a person with an extraordinary background and infusing it with something that makes people want to. Well-made art allows you to learn effortlessly. You can learn by having a good time and I think that is where you learn best.

Is this what made you want to make films?

Yes, that’s a bit like it. It’s also the love of films, immersing myself in them was a parenthesis in my life. Joaquin Phoenix in Two Lovers, It was a turning point. It was in 2008 and I was 16 years. Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis are actors who have also left their mark on me.

Gender : Drama
Director: Jonathan Millet
Actors: Adam Bessa, Tawkeek Barhom, Julia Franz Richter
Country : France
Duration : 1h45
Exit : July 3, 2024