Cinemania: Sandrine Bonnaire wants 'to tell a story'

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Alexandra Lamy, Jalil Mehenni, William Hurt appear in the film J?enrage de son absence, directed by Sandrine Bonnaire.

Photograph by: Cinemania , .

MONTREAL - You might think that the fine French actress Sandrine Bonnaire decided to make the move to behind the camera because she?s frustrated with her day job as an actor. But if you think that, you?d be dead wrong.

In an interview in the restaurant of a downtown hotel on Monday afternoon, shortly after her arrival on a flight from Paris, a surprisingly energetic Bonnaire said that?s not the case at all. She is here to present the North American premiere of J?enrage de son absence, her second film as a director and her first fiction feature after the documentary Elle s?appelle Sabine. It played the Cinemania festival on Tuesday and screens again Wednesday at the Imperial Cinema. That screening will be followed by a one-hour discussion with the actress about her career.

In this part of the world, it?s tough for actresses over the age of 35 to snare good roles in the movie business, but the French don?t have that problem. I guess the filmmakers there are just smarter. They?re certainly less sexist.

?I started at 15, so it?s been 30 years that I?ve been acting and I?ve probably done 50 films,? said Bonnaire. ?In France, we have plenty of older actresses who still work. Isabelle Huppert. Catherine Deneuve. Nathalie Baye. They still get great roles. So the decision to direct films has nothing to do with my acting career. I?m not afraid of aging. It?s more about wanting to tell a story.?

J?enrage de son absence (Maddened by his Absence) is just the sort of work you?d expect from an actress like Bonnaire, who?s known for her tough, visceral performances in films like Sans toit ni loi and La C?r?monie. Her new film stars American actor William Hurt ? Bonnaire?s real-life ex ? as an American who returns to Paris following the death of his father and reconnects with his former love Mado (Alexandra Lamy). They had split up after their son died in a car accident. She has since remarried and has a young son.

Hurt?s Jacques, still grieving for his lost son, begins a strange relationship with Mado?s son. It?s a dark drama anchored by a stunning performance by Hurt.

The starting point for Bonnaire?s screenplay was meeting a man who deeply loved her mother.

?He was my mother?s first love,? said Bonnaire. ?He was close to marrying my mother. And he never really got over this. He lost everything. The last time I saw him he?d become un clochard. We talked and he told me he?d never got over the love of my mother. So I wanted to pay tribute to this man. There?s something fascinating in the story, so romantic.?

But Bonnaire fictionalized the real-life tale, adding the story of the lost child and, in fact, the biggest part of the film focuses on the relationship between Mado?s son Paul (Jalil Mehenni) and this man desperately seeking a son. She picked Hurt because ?he?s an actor with a melancholic character? and she worked very closely with all the actors.

She asked them to act the way she acts ? ?I start with the principle that once an actor?s on the set, he doesn?t worry about the psychology of the character. I like acting with the body. And I wanted a very minimalist performance from William. It?s almost choreography.?

She has worked with many of France?s greatest auteurs, beginning with her first role in Maurice Pialat?s ? nos amours, a role that won her a C?sar ? the French Academy Award ? for best female newcomer. She was 16 at the time. She won a second C?sar, this time as best actress, for Agn?s Varda?s Sans toit ni loi, at the tender age of 19. She has also acted in films by Patrice Leconte, Jacques Doillon and Claude Chabrol.

But she says that when she?s directing, she tries not to think of any of those celebrated filmmakers.

?The only reference you should have is to make a film with as much emotion as possible.?

J?enrage de son absence plays at the Imperial Cinema Wednesday at 2:45 p.m. At 4:30, at the same cinema, Sandrine Bonnaire will spend an hour talking with the audience about her career. J?enrage de son absence will open in cinemas here in February.

For more on Cinemania, including a complete schedule of films, visit festivalcinemania.com

bkelly@montrealgazette.com

Twitter: @brendanshowbiz

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Source: http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/Cinemania+Sandrine+Bonnaire+wants+tell+story+director/7506752/story.html

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