The 87-year-old New York director was the guest of the Institut Lumière this Sunday, September 10, to present a preview of his 50th feature film shot entirely in France. Entitled “Coup de chance” the film is released on September 27, it could mark the end of the filmmaker’s career.
On the occasion of his concert in the Lyon region with the New Orleans Jazz Band, Woody Allen visited the Institut Lumière in Lyon to preview his 50th feature film.
Titled Stroke of luck, this new film was entirely shot in France with French actors Lou de Laagence, Melvil Poupaud, Niels Schneider and Valérie Lemercier. It promises to be a thriller tinged with vaudeville, around an extramarital affair in the Parisian upscale neighborhoods.
“I’m not a fetishist, I make films”
20 years after his first visit, this is the second time that Woody Allen returns to Lyon to the city which saw the birth of cinema in 1896 under the cameras of the Lumière brothers. For the director, who uses the setting and the urban atmosphere as a character, this memory is pleasant but he does not seem more moved than that. “I’m not very sensitive to that sort of thing. But I remember really liking Lyon and taking a nice tour of the hangar from the first film, but I’m not a fetishistic movie buff, I just make films hoping that they are the best they can be, the rest doesn’t matter much to me.” he confides.
A very French film
Particularity of Stroke of luck : this is Woody Allen’s first feature film entirely shot in Paris in French and performed by French actors.
A difficulty for the American director? Not necessarily.”That was actually very simple. I have always been influenced by French directors like Truffaut, Godard and Renoir. They had a very great importance for the filmmakers of my generation. I like the idea that ‘Coup de chance’ could have been directed by a French filmmaker”, he said.
Lou de Laage, Melvil Poupaud, Niels Schneider and Valérie Lemercier share the stage in a love labyrinth. Like jazz musicians, Woody Allen let them freely interpret their score. “I trusted the actors. They seemed to understand the scenes well, the scenario, the emotions were right”, he reveals.
Last movie ? “Cinema is no longer glamorous”
Author of a long filmography and awarded four Oscars, Stroke of luck could mark the end of Woody Allen’s career. “I want to quit for two reasons. The first is that it’s getting harder and harder to find money to make films. That’s the most boring part of this job. The second is that I don’t like what cinema has become today with streaming platforms. Before, it was very exciting to see your film on the big screen, to see people filling a room and to live a common experience, assures the 87-year-old filmmaker, before adding “If someone decided to finance me, I would probably succumb to the temptation of making another film, but I will try to ensure that my film stays in theaters as long as possible.
I find that today, cinema has lost its glamor and its appeal
Music for pleasure
Alongside the cinema, Woody Allen practices the clarinet with the musicians of the New Orleans Jazz Band. A passion that they have shared on stage with the public for years. They perform regularly in New York and around the world.
For the filmmaker, performing live on stage is a refreshing pleasure. “When you shoot a film you have to make decisions all the time, choose your costumes, your sets, watch over the acting, it’s a constant job. But when I make music, I just have to get on stage. I find the musicians with whom I have been playing in my living room for years, we just have fun, and obviously, the public too,” he rejoices.
Interview conducted by Julien Sauvadon, journalist at France 3 Lyon.
The “Coup de chance” file
Gender : Drama
Director :Woody Allen
Actors and actress: Lou de Laage, Melvil Poupaud, Niels Schneider, Valérie Lemercier, Elsa Zilberstein
Country : UNITED STATES
Duration : 1h33
Exit : September 27, 2023
Distributer : Metropolitan FilmExport
Synopsis: