‘Devoted mother, demanding lover, inspired lover’: After Lost Illusions, this Cesar-winning actress stars in Let Me

A journey into the heart of female intimacy

Concealed under an immaculate tunic, as if under iron armor, her gaze invisible behind opaque glasses, Claudine follows the same route every Tuesday: she takes a seat in the bus, next to the window, from which she observes the panorama, passing through the desert. dam, finally reached the mountain hotel, where he invites himself every week. There, in the company of a young butler (Adrienne Sauvin), she arranges to meet passing men, seducing them for an afternoon before leaving them.

What these men don’t know is that behind his facade as a serial seducer, this humble tailor is raising his disabled son Baptiste (Pierre-Antoine Dubey) alone. And Claudine has no idea that it will take just one Tuesday, one meeting to change everything in her life…

“Leave Me is the emancipation story of a devoted mother, a demanding lover, an inspired lover, a woman who transports us into her world in summer.“- explains Maxim Rapazi, the director of this first feature film. But beyond the latter’s writing, Claudine’s character also owes much to her translator, Jean Balibar.

“Devoted mother, demanding lover, inspired lover”

A skilled seamstress, Claudine’s character is a needle-and-measure woman whose every part of her life is hidden behind a thick hem. This woman with many hidden lives, mother and lover at the same time, still reveals herself when the layers of fabric around her seem to unravel.

This delicate work of revealing the character is, above all, the actor chosen for his role. In 2018, she was awarded the César for the best actress for Barbara, nominated five times for her performance in the films I Hate Love, Sagan and Lost Illusions, the actress no longer has to prove herself. However, her role as Claudine in Allez moi allows her to push her acting boundaries more than ever before to achieve a level of sophistication she has never achieved before, including Maxim Rapaz Admits admiration.

“I already thought about it Zhanna Balibar For my latest short film, already mesmerized by its appeal, distinctiveness, eloquence like no other. I asked him to read the script of Let Me, which convinced him. I was looking for a woman who could play the role of mother, lover, lover. Who knows how to play on several registers, everyday life, sewing, her son and escape to the heights, where she reveals herself as a more expansive woman when she provokes meetings with strangers at the hotel.”

“An elegant and mysterious woman who exudes a kind of sadness that is simply moving. The strength of Jeanne Balibar’s interpretation brought a lot of nuance and ambivalence, which was crucial to the character of Claudine..”

Because if the director focuses primarily on showing Claudine’s exact daily life, it only serves to better deconstruct her apparent toughness when the unexpected comes into the equation. Then the sewing machine cracks and the fabric falls apart, allowing Jean Balibar, at the head of his art, to reveal himself beneath the missing fabric.

Let Me, with Jeanne Balibar, can be seen in theaters from March 20.