PRESS CONFERENCE – Guillaume Canet : “Blood Ties immersed me in the type of cinema that really inspires me”

Guillaume Canet, Clive Owen, Marion Cotillard, and the rest of the team of Blood Ties, presented Out of Competition, answered the journalists’ questions. Selected extracts.

Guillaume Canet talking about how his film came about:
When Tell No One came out, I received various offers to make a film in English. I was tempted, but it just didn’t feel right to me to have to work under pressure from a studio. So I rejected the offers to focus on taking forward my own personal project. I remembered the wonderful script of the film, Rivals, which I acted in. I wanted to recreate the type of cinema that really inspires me, that of the 1970s, and Blood Ties took me right back there.

Guillaume Canet on the role of James Gray in making the film adaptation:
He asked to meet up and have lunch with me after Tell No One.  Then I met him again when he was a member of the Jury here at Cannes. I told him I was looking for a co-author to help me adapt the story, to which he replied: “Look no further!”

Guillaume Canet on the difficulties of shooting in the United States:
I couldn’t come over with all of my usual team of people, so I had to gain the confidence of American technicians. It’s a totally different ball game over there: you can’t shoot wherever you feel like without prior authorisation; you can’t direct the extras. But the fact that it was possible to develop a really great relationship with the actors more than made up for all those constraints.

Guillaume Canet on his portrayal of New York in the film:
I wanted to recreate the New York of the 1970s. I did a lot of research and I discovered just how very different the city was back then compared to today. There was rubbish all over the place then. There’s something about the atmosphere back then that really drew me. I wanted everything – the costumes, lighting and sets – to have a faded, washed out look to them.

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