Ren, a trans woman in her twenties, spends a few days in a house by the water with her family. An aspiring author, she has just lost her job. Sienna, her younger sister, and Guido, her father, are in on the secret, but not Mona, her mother. It is that the latter tends to worry a lot about her offspring. Besides, Sienna also has a secret that only Ren knows about. Ren who is torn between the prospect of returning to live with her parents for a while and her desire to remain independent. Written and directed by Luis De Filippis, Something You Said Last Night is both a vibrant portrait of a woman and a family.
Unveiled at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Something You Said Last Night was awarded at the festivals of Rotterdam and San Sebastian.
“My projects usually start with an idea or an image around which the story will then take shape,” says the Italian-Canadian filmmaker, who is herself a trans woman.
“What led up to this exact moment? How did this person end up in this situation? In this case I got this flash of two sisters sharing the same bed, with one telling the other to put down her phone and go to sleep. It was the first spark. I liked it, because although it was banal, I had never seen a trans woman in bed with her sister in a film. »
In this respect, it is interesting to note that the heroine’s trans identity is not the subject of the film. It’s the story of a young woman who spends a happy but stormy family vacation, and it turns out that this young woman is simply trans.
“Ren is just a young trans woman on vacation,” confirms Luis De Filippis.
“I like the principle of family holidays, because the family then becomes a closed world. Your universe shrinks and comes down, as in the film, to a few people. Normally, you would go see friends, but this is impossible: you are stuck with your loved ones. Things that normally don’t bother you suddenly become annoying… Everything is amplified; everything becomes dramatic. »
Question of complicity
The characters who populate this sunny semi-camera are all admirably defined and embodied: Ren (Carmen Madonia), Sienna (Paige Evans), Mona (Ramona Milano) and Guido (Joe Parro) form a loving and tightly knit clan to which adds, by telephone for lack of being there, an older brother.
“I was lucky: we only had 19 days of filming and a very small budget, but despite that, the four performers and I were able to get to the tourist resort where we would film 5 days before the rest of the team. More than rehearsing, we got to know each other. We did all kinds of exercises, like sharing secrets that the characters have, but only between certain family members… I was looking to create specific links between the different family members. »
Does the mother have a favorite daughter? And the father, who is he closest to? If so, are Ren and Sienna aware of this? How does this affect the family dynamics during this stay?
“We chatted and boozed a lot – he drank a lot of vodka and tequila in the evening! The bond I was hoping to establish developed naturally: everyone was in love with everyone. But the fact remains that by dint of sharing three meals a day and being together all the time, the performers, like their characters, have begun to see certain character traits appear in each other, perhaps a little more annoying. … When we reached this stage of intimacy, I told them that we were there, that this was what we needed for the film. »
Hence the impression of ambient authenticity. The tone is also always very right, between humor, nostalgia and tenderness.
“I didn’t want the tone to be serious. I prefer when it’s bittersweet and full of comedy. Often films with trans characters, trans women in particular, are serious and grounded. »
Such is not the case here. Even the spats between sisters end in giggles. These passages are enlightening as to the privileged relationship between Ren and Sienna.
“I like things to be shown rather than told,” notes the director.
Subtle but noticeable
The film has a quality, for lack of a better expression, very European. In that nothing seems to happen, when in reality a lot is happening.
Both filmed in the family car, the prologue and the epilogue are eloquent in this. The two scenes are almost identical: dad is driving, mom is at his side and sings the old hit Sarà perched ti amo (impossible not to grin from ear to ear), while Sienna and Ren are seated in the back.
However, the energy that reigns in the passenger compartment is no longer the same: a subtle but perceptible evolution has taken place. And we have witnessed it at every turn, at every nuance.
Thus this kind of heaviness which brooded at the beginning gave way to a bliss which will last as long as it lasts. Because family vacations are also for that.