With the 4th French Film Festival underway, acclaimed actress Juliette Binoche arrives in town to grace the screening of her latest films
You may know this classic actress with her award-winning roles as Hana in The English Patient (1996) and Elle in Certified Copy (2010), or even as Sandra Brody in Godzilla (2014). Juliette Binoche is often recognised as the face of French cinema, and she has become one of the most-demanded actresses in Europe.
This week, Binoche is in town to grace the 4th Rendezvous with French Cinema in Singapore, in line with two feature films. One is France’s selection for Festival Cannes 2014, titled Clouds of Sils Maria. Here, Binoche plays a veteran actress who must confront the unsettling younger reflection of herself. She stars alongside actresses Kristen Stewart and Chloe Grace Moretz.
Also screening at the 4th Rendezvous is the sold-out documentary Juliette Binoche: Sketches for a Portrait, directed by Binoche’s own sister Marion Stalens.
Weekender spoke to Binoche at a press conference today, and found out more about what she thinks of French films, growing up, and her co-stars Stewart and Moretz!
What’s the story behind you and the movie Sils Maria?
I was in my grandmother’s summerhouse, in her bedroom actually, where I have often made decisions on films. It just happened that I was sitting on the bed and feeling (that) we need to have a film with women! We need the feminine!
So I found (director Olivier Assayas) and… I told him a little bit about the idea I had. He called me two weeks after and he said, “Yeah, I think I have the subject, I have something there.” And then a year and a half after, he gave me the script.
How did you work together with Kristen Stewart and Chloe Moretz?
They have a way of working very differently (from other actresses). With Kristen… I really feel like that was not a cup of tea. She doesn’t like rehearsing! It’s not her method. In the morning she would read some of the lines in the scene and she would know it!
I’m not like that, I would have to work a month before and train like crazy. But we spend a lot of time (together) in real life – it was a genuine understanding of each other’s being.
And Chloe: she works a lot. She travels with her whole family, so you have a family gang coming on set. She’s very open to any kind of suggestions.
How did you prepare for your role in Sils Maria? Did you derive any muse from your personal experiences?
In (Sils Maria), Maria (Binoche’s character) doesn’t have children, and I have two kids – that changes a lot of things. And also, she lives in America, and I live in France.
But there are things that are very (similar) to me as well – Olivier took some of the details of my life and put them in the film. I said to him, “This is very vicious!” Because I did play “The Seagull” (a play by Anton Chekhov), and he put it in the film! I said, “You’re wicked! People are going to think it’s me and real!”
How I prepared – there was a lot of text, so I had to train a lot in order to be totally at ease with it… And that was hard for me because my character used to live in America, and I really wanted to have more of an American accent. But I didn’t accomplish fully what I wanted to do – I didn’t have time. But as you go in (the set), you feel the scenes come in.
You work wonderfully in both European and Hollywood cinema – how do your methods differ between the two? How do you choose your projects?
Playing in English requires more work because, when you have an accent, you have to pay more attention… English is very specific, and I enjoy that because I love languages and sounds.
The mystery of life is that (things) come to you, and you don’t know why… So when I say “yes”, it seems so obvious, but I don’t know where it comes from. There’s always a mixture of mystery as well as choice. (Also,) the relationship that I can develop with directors is really my passion.
I would say that life takes me (wherever I go). I mean I do initiate things – I feel like a producer in my mind – but I think you can call it muse. It’s about inspiring and being inspired; some directors inspire me as well.
What is your favourite work of art?
This morning I was thinking of Anish Kapoor… He’s an artist, but he’s also a scientist, and that’s why it’s so fascinating to see his work because he’s just this combination of an architect and a scientist. He’s inventing.
What’s your philosophy for ageing so gracefully?
I don’t feel time when I work – and that’s probably why I work all the time! [laughs] When you enter a creation, you’re beyond space and time. It takes you into another world – a magical world – because you forget yourself. And I think actors have to forget themselves when they’re in front of the camera.
Our body, in order to (feel) alive, has to be worked every day.
What kind of mom are you to your two kids?
Well, you’ll have to ask them! As a mother, you’ve got to give them trust, confidence, limits – and you have to nurture children. I try to cook once in a while because I think the food (prepared by) your mother has a different taste – it’s the best. Even though it can be very simple.
They’ve been my teachers, my masters. You think you’ve got to educate them, but they teach me and that’s what I learn from them… But the trust, I think, is the magical word… With the trust you make them grow in a deep and strong way.
Catch Juliette Binoche’s films at the 4th Rendezvous with French Cinema from now til 7 Dec. For more information, visit the event page here!
ADVERTISEMENTS