Interview with Agnès Jaoui, member of the Feature Films Jury

Is being a Jury member tiring or relaxing? What's your stimulant of choice?

Certainly not relaxing! My stimulant? Films, and the occasional coffee. I watch films very often: I devour whatever I can get my hands on, but to get to see all these differently worlds, directors, and quality films one after another is something that doesn't happen that often.

What's the atmosphere like in the Jury?

It's extremely friendly and respectful. I already had a lot of time for all the Jury members and now I respect them even more. I love them even more than I did before.

You belong to both the cinema and music worlds. Which aspect comes to the fore when you watch films?

When I get carried away by a film, it's every aspect. But there are films, like Billy Elliot for example, which I loved, but where I couldn't stand the music. I wanted to stick my fingers in my ears, but then I wouldn't have heard the dialogue. Sometimes I struggle with music which imposes something I don't want on me. And some musics transport me to a different place altogether. I'm very sensitive to that.

What kind of films move you?

I'm quite open. I love everything except horror films and most action films. And sex scenes too, which are just like endless waves of the same old, same old, apart from when they're inventively done of course!

You could be said to be behind choral films: a genre in which one or several protagonists play the lead role. Is that still an attractive formula for you?

Very much so. When I write with Jean-Pierre Bacri, we can't help creating a host of roles each time. We begin with the two of us in the story, then other characters quickly emerge. For the next film, there are around 60… you'll see.

So a choral film par excellence in other words!

Absolutely! The next project takes place during a festival. Jean-Pierre Bacri plays a famous TV presenter who's seen better days. As for me, I play an old leftie.

Is your approach to the cinema more intellectual or emotional? 

What I often miss in films is real meaning. I see some great directing, but which makes me want to say to the filmmaker 'Use your brain! What are you actually trying to say?' I don't expect a thesis by Hannah Arendt every time, but at least I want to know the screenplay exists! I don't want to leave saying to myself 'So what?' In short, there's often too much instinct and not enough reflection. In those cases I feel manipulated and that makes me angry.

You're the lost child of Alain Resnais. What are your memories of that period where you played in his films?

I remember our first ever meeting. I was playing in Cuisine et dépendances in a small 250-seater theatre (Théâtre La Bruyère) with Jean-Pierre Bacri.  It was all going very well and Alain Resnais called us and said he wanted to meet us. We were half-convinced it was a hoax. We invited him to our place in Bastille, and this tall young man appeared, shy as anything, you wouldn't believe. He came in carrying a pile of texts because he wanted us to do the adaptation of Smoking/No Smoking, and that was a two-hour play. Nervously, he told us about his project and I said to myself 'If I didn't know this was Alain Resnais, I'd think it was some madman with a project that'll never come to fruition!' He was the modern young man, and we were a pair of oldies (in our twenties!)

He had this delicate polite air which never left him. I remember some lovely dinners with him at the homes of Pierre Arditi, André Dussolier… A perfect blend of talent and humanity. I've met so many talented people without humanity. Alain made me realise it was possible to be just as wonderful as your work. They were extremely happy times…