Isabelle Hooper: She returns to cinema in Joan, a strange and poetic film

In her films, Isabelle Hooper is an actress who travels across genres, eras and languages ​​- she knows how to act in English, Italian and even Russian. About Laurent Lariviere’s Joan, she does all of these things at once. She melts into the skin of a successful editor, who finds the first love of her youth at the corner of the street. He will announce in front of her that a son was born from their idyll.

A feature film built like a puzzle depicts the life of this woman. Between past and present, drama and comedy, Laurent Lariviere’s work – co-written with François Decodes – tells the story of everyone’s need to reinvent their destiny to escape reality. sensitive and unique About Joan It also takes the form of a fairy tale, which, even if it fights death head-on, celebrates life.

“I was tempted by this suggestion of a somewhat fragmented narrativeexplains Isabelle Huppert, who met the director at the Angoulême Francophonie Film Festival. We finally understand that there is something that is not apparent to us at first.” A mystery that then gives way to suspense and confusion.

“Obviously, throughout the film, we don’t know what is created and what is real.” It is the multiplicity of genres that createsAbout Joan A separate sentence. In this sense, a feature film has a thousand faces. “This is not a melodrama and not a real comedy, it is a constellation of sensations and feelings“- adds the actor. So how do you write a movie that refuses to fit into a pre-defined box?

“We wanted to portray women in different countries and different eras, but we didn’t know what the film would be about.admits Laurent Lariviere. By working on this material, by writing burlesque, comic, melodramatic scenes, we came to a kind of portrait of the character, from which an idea suddenly arose..” The writing process, which the filmmaker describes as “amazing“, “organic“and”unconscious“.

You don’t need to know everything about the movie.

He follows: “When you’re a director, the film has to run away from you. If you don’t miss it, if you’re in absolute control, there’s a sort of dryness, a harshness. I think, on the contrary, he should open himself up to cross reality.” About Joan plays with the audience. He does not hesitate to rush her to find a better one.

Isabelle Huppert is official: “dIn the film, OYou don’t need to know everything“. “Actors often ask questions, but the feature film gives the answer step by step. But not knowing implies a lot of confidence. It is an agreement between the director and his actors. And every question we ask breaks a little of the trust we should have.”

The son’s character is central in this story. He is played by two actors: Dimitri Dore – revealed in Bruno Reidal, Vincent Le Fort – for the past scenes and Swan Arlo for the present. Isabelle Hooper is full of praise for her two partners. “Swann Arlaud is a great actor and there is something very childish about Dimitri and more grown up than you might think. He was perfect for confusing that memory.”

Joan breaks the fourth wall several times. He addresses himself, looks at the camera, at the audience. A way of rediscovering the idea of ​​a fairy tale and this storyteller, which this time seems obvious. Only the end marks. The heroine doesn’t speak anymore, just a look is enough. “We are told a lot about other sections, rarely about thissays the actor. It establishes a rather strange agreement between the character and the audience. This is a loop shape. There is nothing more to say. We can do without words.”

Interview by Thomas Desroches, Angoulême, 26 August 2022.

About Joan by Laurent Lariviere, in theaters September 14.