At the cinema: The Man of Clay… Why you should see this movie with Emmanuelle Deveau?

What is it about?

Raphael has only one eye. He is the guardian of a palace that no one lives in anymore. Almost 60 years old, he lives with his mother in a small house located at the entrance to a large bourgeois estate. Between the mall hunts, buggies, and the postman’s trip to Canggu, the days follow each other and are similar. One stormy night, Garance, the heir, returns to the family. Nothing will ever be the same again.

Man of Clay is Anais Thelen’s first feature in theaters this Wednesday. He went through several festivals, including Venice and Saint Jean de Luz. He had previously made several short films, which allowed him to have the initial idea for this feature film: the idea of ​​shooting the actor Raphael Thierry. He claims to have been inspired by “certain aspects of his existence to create this tale”. “With one eye and an unusual physique, he learned to live with the habit of giving up, rejecting and mistrusting.”, which led him to this story not too far away… Beauty and the Beast.

3 good reasons to seduce yourself!

1 / A poetic and sensitive tale

Clay Man is loosely inspired by Beauty and the Beast. It is more precisely a re-reading. The film combines an initiation tale, burlesque comedy and drama and envisions a hybrid film that combines genres. The film also aims to be very sensory in approach, whether it’s the texture of its imagery or the texture it offers on screen. Clay takes a very sensual turn like a cult film like Ghost!

“The relationship they create together is extremely unique and no word, no label can accurately define it. This is neither a love story, nor a friendship, nor a professional collaboration. I wanted to explore and feel the nature of a unique relationship through the means of expression typical of cinema“- explains the filmmaker about the central duo of his film.

2 / A number of references

The clay man fascinates with his supposed references. Performed by Emmanuelle Devos, the artist is reminiscent of visual artists such as ORLAN, Sophie Calle or Marina Abramović. “The character of Garance was born out of my fascination with artists like Sophie Calle or Marina Abramović. I find it extraordinarily courageous to succeed in the creative subject of intimacy. Contrary to what some people think, I am absolutely not Garance. I don’t use Raphael as much as he can. I will not steal anything from him that he does not want to give“.

3 / Charming duet

Clay Man is based on the charming tandem formed by Emmanuelle DeVos and Raphael Thierry. The actor has “For a long time he divided his time between his work as a forest ranger, his theater company and a traditional music group in which he played the bagpipes, until one day Alain Guiraud revealed it to Rester vertical.“, recalls Anais Teleni in the film’s press kit.

“When I photograph Raphael Thierry, I feel passionately about the paradox he reveals: the immense tenderness in the rough human body. With her emancipation devoid of courage, her humble thirst for the absolute, her longing for love and her neurasthenic despair, I wanted to make her character the present-day Madame Bovary.”

Emmanuelle DeVos brings a lot of humanity to a character we can feel ambivalent about. One of her finest roles, coming within weeks of Joachim Lafosse’s Un silence, in which she was already outstanding.

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The Man of Clay hits theaters this Wednesday.