In recent years, the literary universe of Annie Ernaux has found its rightful place in the cinema. The event, by Audrey Diwan, devoted to Venice in 2021, was he not adapting one of his autobiographical novels? A true X-ray of human and romantic relationships, the entire work of this Frenchwoman constitutes a dive without complacency or bias into tormented psyches.
Danielle Arbid (A lost man, Afraid of nothing), marked by the reading of easy passion, d’Ernaux, in 1991, also brought this story to the big screen, with the same absence of shame and judgment as the writer faced with mad love. And to refer to it, the filmmaker relied on the voice-over of the heroine. “From September last year, I did nothing but wait for a man,” she says.
The woman at the center of the action: Hélène, a teacher (Laetitia Dosch) who falls into the arms of a handsome Russian, Alexandre (the star dancer, also an actor, Sergei Polounine), married and pro-Putin, in the service of oligarchs, a thousand leagues from his own positions. When the dark stranger is in France, she lives only for his embraces and even goes to find him in Moscow.
She is uninhibited and has a vision of women different from those of native French women. Being a photographer first, Danielle also thinks in terms of frame and light. His desire to say unexpected things is coupled with an aesthetic quest.
“As soon as it came out, I gave the book to many friends,” says the filmmaker. I saw in it an inventory, an inventory of amorous passion, where one loses ground. At the time, the book sparked controversy because it was written by a left-wing woman claiming her sexuality outside of the framework.
Laetitia Dosch, actress of Young women and of The Battle of Solferino, thrown headlong into this adventure, recalls: “In the book, there were no erotic scenes, but above all expectations. Danielle Arbid placed eight of them, shot in a precise way, here in a just sexual way, there with love, elsewhere showing him colder than her. It was choreographed. Luckily I was working with a dancer. And a dancer so respectful of his partner. »
In the eyes of the interpreter, the origins of Danielle Arbid, born in Lebanon, serve the purpose and the climate of easy passion. “She is uninhibited and has a vision of women different from those of native French women. Being a photographer first, Danielle also thinks in terms of frame and light. His desire to say unexpected things is coupled with an aesthetic quest. She turned easy passion in film (16 mm). Which is very rare in France. »
The filmmaker was delighted by her duo of interpreters capable of abandoning themselves, while anchoring themselves in the rigor of the role. But she first salutes the courage of the writer, who had been able without affects to describe the submission of a woman in love. Danielle Arbid appropriated her story. “Annie Ernaux said to me: ‘Break the book. Tear him to pieces.” It got me excited. The important thing was to make a good film. Looking for a counterpart to Hélène’s passion, I invented a son for her. And I needed scenes of carnal love, where they were lacking. When you read a book, you can fantasize. Then, I scripted the whole thing in six months blindly, forgetting the story at its source. »
But the game was not won. This film, she could not finance it and it did not receive the support of French television. easy passion was designed on a very meager budget. This did not prevent it from landing in the Official Selection at Cannes in 2021. “It had to be placed today by showing that falling in love is universal and timeless. Alexandre tries to flee and, in the end, Hélène has the courage to confront him. We marry her point of view, but the mystery of the feeling of love remains, ”says Danielle Arbid.
She had started writing the screenplay in 2016, before the advent of the #MeToo movement, which was redefining romantic prospects and power relations between the sexes. “But what is feminism? asks the filmmaker. A world of women who hold their heads high and show their weaknesses. If we can’t vibrate and forget ourselves, what’s the point of living? In many literary works, the loss of control unleashes mad passions. But there are very few carnal films. And we are going through a wave of puritanism. Coming out of this also health crisis, we will measure our chance of being able to kiss and hug each other. I think there will be more touch movies after easy passion. »
The film easy passion hits theaters August 19 across Quebec.