PRESS CONFERENCE – ABDELLATIF KECHICHE: “I have started to imagine new chapters”

There were a lot of questions for Abdellatif Kechiche and his team at the press conference for Blue is the Warmest Colour (La Vie d’Adèle – chapitre 1 & 2). The filmmaker was accompanied by his two actresses, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux, and his producers Brahim Chioua and Vincent Maraval.

Abdellatif Kechiche on the graphic novel
I was very affected by the story of an encounter that turns the character’s life upside down and makes her discover who she is. Then there is the work involved in adaptation. The story takes places in the 1990s, in a militant context that I preferred to avoid in order to concentrate on the encounter, the difficulty of living together and separation.

Abdellatif Kechiche on his use of close-ups
It is not something that you think about, really, but close-ups allow you to capture very subtle expressions that you don’t always see in real life.

Abdellatif Kechiche on the heat and intimacy of the sex scenes
Sensuality is more difficult to film in meal scenes. Even if it’s not easy in sex scenes, you already have the sculpture of the bodies, the lights and the beauty of the faces.

On working with Abdellatif Kechiche

Léa Seydoux: What is so exciting with Abdel is that the process is continuous, there are millions of possibilites, and with the rushes, he can can make a completely different film. He has a totally unique way of making a film, he makes it in the moment.

Adèle Exarchopoulos: He has a way of directing without directing. You don’t even know when you are being filmed or not.

Abdellatif Kechiche on a possible sequel
Since Games of Love and Chance (L’esquive), have had trouble leaving my characters behind. Now I have ideas for so many things that could happen in Adèle’s life that I have started imagining new chapters. I don’t know if they’ll ever become a reality but I get excited thinking about them.

Quotes collected by B. de M.