“In the cinema there are few female characters that are interesting because they are funny”: interview with the Everyone Loves Jeanne team

If you don’t know Céline Devaux yet, you are about to find out one of the most exciting young directors and illustrators of French cinema. After several short films awarded at festivals (including the magnificent The Sunday meal with Vincent Macaigne), the 35-year-old director immerses us, with his first feature filmin its ultra-inventive universe, fun And intelligent.

Worn by a duo of brilliant actors (Blanche Gardin and Laurent Lafitte), Everyone loves Giovanna is a real gem. On horseback between animated cinema and live actionechoes the richness of its form the diversity of the themes addressed by the film. On the occasion of its release in cinemas this Wednesday 7 SeptemberMadmoizelle met Céline Devaux and Laurent Lafitte, to talk about it, among other things how do you make a first filmfrom Mental health and of gender norms.

To miss. Everyone loves Jeanne talks about love, mental health, ecology, motherhood, mourning … For you, what is the main theme of the film?

Celine Devaux. It’s hard to answer without being extremely pompous! When we do a first moviewe tend to want tells everything. I think it’s a movie about a woman trying to live … but no … no, that kind of answer sucks (laughs).

Laurent Lafitte. Previously, you said it was trying to stay “functional”.

Celine Devaux. Yes. This is the story of a woman who try to stay functional despite what happens to him. And all inside dealing with things that are as difficult as they are very fun.

But one really gets the impression that Jeanne has tried to be “functional” all her life… instead of living. Wouldn’t she try to stop being “functional”?

Celine Devaux. There is a difference between being “functional” in what is expected of you – which it has done so far, and on a significant scale because it is doing a job that everyone expects. Everyone hopes to do it or they hope someone does, as their job is to save the planet. And since she misses it, it means she finds herself really alone with herselfwith the fact of being right I live : waking up, breathing heavily, getting things done and going to bed … This is what’s left, and it can seem pretty silly. However, she meets a man for whom this is life. The most difficult, is to accept that it is just thatto be life.

Everyone loves Giovanna it has a wide variety of forms (live action and animation), registers (we laugh, we are moved …) it almost seems that things have added up over time. Can you tell us how the film was written and directed?

Celine Devaux. Actually ! Many things have been added because fortunately a script alone is not enough to make a film. Yeah, I didn’t take it easy working with Blanche Gardin and Laurent Lafitte because I am people who write and direct and are already established – they are very strong. I them entrusted my filmwhich has changed many things.

Next, once I finished shooting, I started drawing. It took me two or three months. I was still in a production process. Simultaneously with the drawing, I looked at the images that we edited, but which weren’t finished. In fact, I had the luxury of being able to make a film which has evolved enormously in all phases.

Did you write the characters of Jeanne and Jean for Blanche Gardin and Laurent Lafitte?

Celine Devaux. To successfully write the character, it was necessary that I think of a woman I admire. I have therefore written for Blanche, not knowing her. I didn’t think she would say yes. In the end, I was lucky that she accepted and it was when she came to the project that we met Laurent.

If this duo was missing, it was a disaster. These characters have very strong characteristics, it can be almost caricatured. So in front of Blanche, we needed someone to give something very very fine. We also had to want them to love each other and I think we feel it a lot between them in the image. It is from them that I built the rest of the cast. I consider it I was so lucky they trusted me.

Femininity is a source of concern for Jeanne. And around her revolve three male characters who embody different models of masculinity. Are you interested in gender issues?

Celine Devaux. At Cinema, we have few female characters that are interesting because they are funny. For a long time, many things in a woman’s life weren’t considered funny : female masturbation, ” it’s not funny “the rules, ” That’s disgusting “ … While the men recounted their little daily miseries, it was considered hilarious. therefore, we still have all this to tell! Myself, what makes me laugh the most in life is my friends doing dirty things, and that’s great ! A woman’s life is crazy !

Faced with this, I wanted too men who escape the representation in which they are locked up for stereotypes. It’s not interesting to have a man who is just an asshole or a man who is just plain nice, even more so when you see it leads to the idea that good men are less attractive.. That’s why the fraternity it is as important as Victor turns out to be full of surprises, or even how much Jean takes care of Jeanne. This is important to show these men.

Did you help write Jean’s character or was it already written by Céline?

Laurent Lafitte. I felt I did latitude to embellish a little small variations around what has already been written. I like to suggest it to directors in general, knowing that after editing they do what they want. But even if it is not guarded, it is part of a ownership process on the overall material.

Also, with Blanche, we get along very well. We it bounces on the same things And we like to surprise ourselves. Sometimes Blanche offers micro variations. If we really play togetheralthough receptive what the other is doing, we do not give the signal in the same way as the previous shot. It’s a way to reinvent the game every moment. And if we push it, of course, we come to the end of what is written.

Jean is a very surprising character, who is both impulsive and lighthearted, but who we also see thinks a lot. What did you care about him?

Laurent Lafitte. What I like about Jean is that we all have the impression that there is a Jean in us. I, I know there is something in me, but I also know that he is difficult to integrate because a little anti-social, anti-capitalist. Everything is a bit poetic with him and I like that a lot. Madness becomes more poetic even if it is concrete, anticapitalism and the Politics become poetic. At the same time, it’s completely realand the opposite of negation.

I think it can be absolutely overwhelming to meet someone who has this strength. It can be complicated, it can be a story (laughs), but it is a story to live. Either way, that’s just what Jeanne needs right now. It will take her some time to realize this about her, but she will result in a stellar alignment.

Featured image credit: © Les Films du Worso – O som ea furia