Emmanuelle Devos: “Watching a film with other people is a bit like a religion for me”
While Emmanuelle Devos has been Arnaud Desplechin’s favorite actress since his first film in 1991, she has also worked with many other French directors, including Alain Resnais, Jacques Audiard, Nicole Garcia, Xavier Giannoli or Jérôme Bonnell with whom she will be shooting Le Temps de l’aventure when she gets back from Cannes. She is a confirmed movie lover with eclectic tastes, and she takes her role in the Jury chaired by Nanni Moretti particularly to heart.
What is your first memory of the movies?
Seven Chances by Buster Keaton. My mother took us to see it, me and my sister, at the Cinémathèque at Trocadéro. I remember being impressed by that scene where he is chased by hordes of women in wedding dresses.
Why is the cinema so important for you?
Because each time the lights go down, the same magic happens. Watching a film with other people is a bit like a religion for me.
What is your favourite place to watch movies?
I’m very fortunate because it’s the Grand Théâtre Lumière at Cannes, which I think is the best movie theatre in the world, with a special audience of movie lovers.
Which film you have seen the most often?
Tess probably. But it might also be Jaws
orThe Mass Is Ended. Or Raging Bull.
Do you a favourite line of dialogue?
Audiard’s dialogues. All the lines in the Cave se rebiffe (The Counterfeiters of Paris) are outstanding.
Is there any one scene that you find especially emotional?
As a tribute to my President, there’s a scene in The Mass Is Ended where Michele comes to talk to his mother, who has committed suicide, and he asks her: “Perché hai fatto questo? Perché l’hai fatto?” And all of a sudden, he becomes a little boy, with this particular voice, as he recalls old memories: “Ti ricordi, mamma?”. It’s a very moving scene.
Is there a film you find particularly seductive?
Tess
A hero you would give up everything for?
Batman.
A film you would like to live in?
The ones that come to mind are mostly locations that aren’t easy, like the house in Fanny and Alexandre, because I think about it as an actress.
A film that you liked against all expectations?
I don’t like disaster movies, movies that frighten you, but I have a passion for Jaws.
Is there a movie ending you would like to change ?
I remember very well reading Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The end is incredibly sad. But in the film, they rescue the cat and kiss in the rain. And it is true that it makes you feel good! Otherwise, if I had been Meryl Streep, I would have left with Clint Eastwood in The Bridges of Madison County. And I would have quite liked Robert Redford not to die in Out of Africa.
What don’t you like about the cinema?
The dishonesty and the posing.
What do you do when you’re not making movies?
I go to the cinema.
Interview by B. de M.
In a video interview, filmed on 15 May during a dinner for the Feature film Jury, Emmanuelle Devos talked about her role as a jury member: