‘Chaplin’s Baby Overwhelmed’: The US Cinema Seen by Rebecca Marder at the 2023 Deauville Festival

Fourteen feature films in competition. And nine juries will decide between them at the end of this 49th Deauville American Film Festival, which runs from September 1st to the 10th.

Under the chairmanship of Guillaume Canet, Yodelis, Marina Hands, Alexandre Aya, Stéphane Buck and Rebecca Marder, who were nominated last February for the César nomination for the most promising actress, for the film “The Young Girl Who Is Well” gathered. and was recently seen in Simone ou Mon crime by François Ozon.

Franco-American actor, former member of the Comédie-Française, talks to us about this experience as a juror from the stage. and his taste in American cinema, beginning with his love of musicals.

Deauville Festival

We have been watching movies for two days and it is quite an experience. It is a luxury to spend ten days watching movies (laughs) I can’t say too much about the movies, but it’s interesting to be there. And what is also very nice is that Guillaume Canet suggested that we meet every day and talk about the films we see. without doing anything. But it is interesting to argue.

And to talk about cinema with people we admire and who have different opinions. We all come from different backgrounds and that is quite interesting. When we come to a festival to present a film, we don’t see any film. Sometimes we don’t have time to see ours because we are there to talk about it. So it’s very nice. The jury experience is a very different spectator experience.

I go to the movies a lot every day, but I go to see the movies I choose to see. There is an opportunity to discover films that we would not have chosen, this renews another desire of the audience.

When we come to a festival to present a film, we don’t see any film. Sometimes we don’t have time to see ours because we are there to talk about it.

The charm of festivals is watching films without knowing what they are talking about.

Exactly! And in genres you wouldn’t necessarily go for.

As a Franco-American, the Deauville festival should be important to you because it brings together the cinematographies of your two nationalities.

But yes, it’s true! quite ! And I’m even happier for it.

Filmed in English

This is something I really want to do. Definitely. Benefiting from this dual culture would be a dream come true. But when I was at the Comédie-Française for seven years in my convent, from the age of 20 until my 27th birthday, and since I left last year, I was quite attached to Colette Square. Which prevented me from traveling or even dreaming of crossing the ocean (laughs)

But now, yes. I even have a manager in the US, but strikes are more difficult at the moment. Fewer things prepare – or retreat. I really want to take advantage of this dual culture, and since I have both passports, it’s easier to work.

“Simon’s” influence should help further.

Yes, it just came out . But with the strike, I really came at the right time (laughs)

They saw the first American film

So the first one… we’ve been exposed to American movies since we were kids, so it was really Beethoven or Hello Daddy Here Baby, which are more kid comedies. There are also Charlie Chaplin movies, of course. As a child, it was the first kind of shocking movies, for example: The Kid, Modern Times… and I saw it on the big screen, on MK2: they released it and I must have been 5-6 years old. . I was shocked by this.

A cult film

It is always difficult to choose one. Here I am thinking of Twilight Boulevard. And also for screwball comedies . Dulga Sirk’s films. He and Billy Wilder must be something big.

And it is true, with the desire to do this work and enter this world, when I think “Cinema Dream”I think of musicals like West Side Story, Hairspray.

Especially since you recently filmed two musicals in very different registers.

French style (laughs) But American musicals are one of my dreams as a viewer.

I have the impression that this genre connects us with the golden age of Hollywood, with its colors, music, and performances.

quite. I also love obviously all John Cassavetes movies. Tootsie by Sydney Pollack. Or, today, the work of Sam Mendes and Noah Baumbach. It’s a bit of a mess, so to speak. (laughs) I also really like John Requa and Glenn Ficarra who did Crazy Stupid Love. I think it’s great.

American musicals are one of my dreams as a viewer

It’s not a bad step from Cassavetes to musicals.

Yes. But all this is a dream in American cinema. And it’s great to see independent films here. It gives hope for other ways of making movies. Meanwhile, back to the question, I’d also like to add Tim Burton and Beetlejuice.

Isn’t the musical, at the same time, the most cinematic genre and the most challenging for an actor, given what it involves in terms of singing and dancing?

Probably in France. I get the impression that this is part of an actor’s training in the United States. I trained in France, I went to TNS school , but I want to be more than just a talking head. I find it great, and not just in musicals, when the actor’s performance is physical. I always admire the body.

But I don’t think that one genre is more difficult than the other. After that, it’s sure to be more difficult to make a successful musical (laughs) In France, we are not professionals.

A fetish actor or actress

It sounds cliché, but Genna Rowlands really is. Maybe Faye Dunaway too. As far as actors go, Leonardo DiCaprio is a pure monster. But there are too many. Dustin Hoffman is the king of everything for me. But I think my two favorite actors are Christopher Walken and Steve Buscemi.

Is there an actor who is a role model for you?

So trying to compare is impossible eh (laughs) But Meryl Streep. And then Kate Winslet, who I think is incredible. Especially in the mini-series Mare of Easttown, which everyone should see. This actor is crazy. I would also add Bette Davis.

Last American movie seen

So I went to see it… I’m serious. Forgiveness. It’s a summer brainwash, especially since I saw Anatomy of the Fall and Yannick live when I got back to Paris. But I would say it’s Mission: Impossible 7. And I found it to be good in the genre. How are you. I almost laughed.

I also had the chance to see Indiana Jones in Cannes and I came back like that. And no, the last American movie I saw was actually Barbie.

A new American favorite

I discovered Kramer vs. Kramer, which I hadn’t seen before. I saw it last week. And there, a real sweetheart. I also discovered Minnie and Moskowitz with Gena Rowlands and it’s so beautiful.

expectation

I look forward to seeing Joaquin Phoenix in Napoleon. I really want to see it. And Dune, obviously, which we’re all waiting for. But passion for Joaquin Phoenix, who I also adored in Walk the Line. He’s crazy about it.

Comments collected by Maximilien Pierret in Deauville on September 3, 2023