Consent at the movies: How was this adaptation of the shocking book with Jean-Paul Ruves as Gabriel Matznefi born?

Consent is primarily this book, published in January 2020, in which Vanessa Springora recounts her controlling relationship with writer Gabriel Matznef in the late 80s. He was only 14 when he turned 50.

A shocking story that evokes both pedophilia and the literary world’s complacency on the subject. And this producer, Marc Missonier, gave Vanessa Philo a reading for the adaptation.

“I’m very afraid of adaptation”explains the director and screenwriter when he returns to the opportunity that was offered to him. “I’m always afraid of betrayal, and in life in general, my imagination saves me and allows me to deal with the cruelty of the world.

But reading the book changed everything: “I couldn’t stop. I was in constant apnea while reading the book. (…) I was driven by a very, very strong feeling of anger. And helplessness. (…) I wanted to make this film. It became immediate. It was visceral to me.”

It must be said that Le Consentement, like Gueule d’ange, his first feature film, revolves around a theme dear to him: “Protection of minors is very important to me and if I didn’t work in cinema, that’s what I would do as a career.

And this is how he started in this enterprise, despite the reluctance of the environment, the cinema, which is characterized by Covid and does not want to finance this story.

Vanessa Philo finally made it, with the help of Vanessa Springora. The film, directed by Jean-Paul Rouve and Kim Higuelin, opens in theaters this Wednesday, October 11. On this occasion, the director spoke with us to discuss the challenges and obstacles he had to overcome for this adaptation.

Comments collected by Maximilien Pierret in Paris on October 2, 2023 – Editing by Chanel Morvan