In her third feature film, Jeanne Herry focuses on restorative justice, introduced in France in 2014. Powerful choral film, I will always see your faces features victims and aggressors who dialogue in order to find reparation.
After Pupil (2018), drama where she tackled the adoption of an infant born under X, Jeanne Herry (She loves him, 2014) was looking for a subject for his next film. Fascinated since childhood by the legal world, during her research she came across a Radio France podcast on restorative justice.
“I found this topic incredibly interesting and fascinating. I knew that there was cinema everywhere, that it was a promise of cinema, of characters, of intense situations. As I was looking for intensity, it was perfect for me,” recalls the French director, who was in Montreal to present her film at Cinemania earlier this month.
Dans Je verrai toujours vos visages, Jeanne Herry présente deux types de dispositifs sécurisés de justice réparatrice. D’un côté, Chloé (Adèle Exarchopoulos), avec l’aide d’une médiatrice, Judith (Élodie Bouchez), se prépare à annoncer à son demi-frère qui l’a violée durant toute son enfance qu’elle ne veut plus le voir.
« J’avais envie de comprendre les mécanismes de l’inceste. C’était traditionnel de faire corps autour de l’agresseur. Il y a un truc anachronique dans le déroulement des faits ; la famille n’explose pas quand le crime a lieu, mais quand la victime parle. »
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, LA PRESSE
La réalisatrice Jeanne Herry, qui était récemment à Montréal dans le cadre de Cinemania
Pendant des décennies, voire plus, des lois régulaient ce qui se passait à l’extérieur des maisons, mais à l’intérieur des maisons, on faisait bien ce qu’on voulait. Maintenant, on commence un petit peu à passer par l’extérieur, et c’est tant mieux. Derrière tout ça, il y a un problème de santé publique, car il y a une multiplication d’addictions, de problèmes psychiatriques, de comportements à risques.
Jeanne Herry
De l’autre côté, deux animateurs, Fanny (Suliane Brahim) et Michel (Jean-Pierre Darroussin), supervisent des rencontres entre trois victimes de vols avec violence, Nawelle (Leïla Bekhti), seul personnage inspiré d’une femme que la réalisatrice a rencontrée, Grégoire (Gilles Lellouche) et Sabine (Miou-Miou), et trois agresseurs qu purgent leur peine en prison, Nassim (Dali Benssalah), Issa (Birane Ba) et Thomas (Fred Testot).
PHOTO CHRISTOPHE BRACHET, FOURNIE PAR AZ FILMS
Adèle Exarchopoulos dans le rôle de Chloé
« Je n’ai pas épluché les faits divers ; j’ai rencontré plein d’animateurs et des encadrants du côté de la justice restaurative, qui m’ont bien expliqué les protocoles. Quand on connaît bien les protocoles, on peut y adosser une dramaturgie. Ensuite, j’ai choisi des typologies de crimes. Je trouvais intéressant qu’il y ait une variété d’agressions : des vols avec violence, des braquages, des vols à la tire, des home jackings [violations de domicile avec agression]. »
Quebec training
Unable to attend meetings between victims and attackers since these are confidential and secure systems, Jeanne Herry was able to follow training during which she also participated in scenarios such as in the opening scene of the film.
“That was great and it was the only thing that I was able to feel a little from the inside. I thought it would make a good opening scene, a little funny, a little clever. In addition to training in France, I was able to follow training in Quebec through Zoom. Overall, people are satisfied because, humanly, we are all made the same. Basically, we all need to unpack our bags and feel listened to, understood, respected, a little less alone. The other is not entirely other; we project ourselves, we find little echoes. »
PHOTO CHRISTOPHE BRACHET, PROVIDED BY AZ FILMS
Scene from I will always see your faces
After recalling that restorative justice had played an important role during the trial of the Bataclan attacks, which was held from September 2021 to June 2022, she added: “Does it prevent people from reoffending? No, because recidivism is multifactorial and hypercomplex. Does it provide lasting reparation for all victims? No, it’s impossible, but often it doesn’t revictimize people, which is mainly everyone’s fear. »
In addition to the simulation scene, the filmmaker, who admits to enjoying a good laugh in life, included moments where the participants unwind over a drink and joke with each other.
“In reality and in the scenario, these are still devices that carry a lot of suffering, anger, trauma. However, the supervisors that I interviewed as part of my documentation resemble their justice. They are energetic, open, friendly, very human, very funny, full of vitality. It’s a job that fascinates them where they experience strong and intense things. I just wanted to show that there was a lot of friendship, companionship, complicity in these restorative justice teams. »
For both types of encounters, the director opted for sobriety: no soundtrack, very few flashbacks and close-ups to capture all the emotions that the different characters experience during the process. “I like watching people talk and tell stories. I find that it is already very spectacular to see the emotions come out. There is nothing that upsets me more than seeing someone who understands, who thinks, who changes their mind. For me, it’s an action film,” concludes Jeanne Herry.
In theaters November 17