UN CERTAIN REGARD - Je suis un soldat (I am a Soldier), meeting with Laurent Larivière

This is a first time in Cannes for director Laurent Larivière who is in the running this year for the Caméra d’or. With several shorts behind him, Je suis un Soldat (I am a Soldier) is his first feature film. In it he brings together the actors Jean-Hugues Anglade and Louise Bourgoin, in a story about the search for identity and the role we can play in the world. The director talks to us about his influences and the shoot.

Film photo © RR

Tell us how your film began
At the beginning, I wanted to speak about social stigma. What does it mean to be 30 years old and have to go back to live with her mother because you haven’t managed to forge a life for yourself elsewhere? That seemed to me a deeply cinematic question. Then I thought of the kennels where Sandrine has to learn the ropes and face up to reality through a challenging job. She doesn’t really fit in with her family, or with the world. She can’t work out what she really wants, and so is constantly subjected to the will of others. Je suis un Soldat (I am a Soldier) portrays her mini-revolution, the way in which she discovers who she is deep down. The screenplay, and then the film are built up, layer by layer – starting from a broad social question we arrive at an intimate question which, I hope, reflects the bigger picture, too.

What was the atmosphere on the set? Any anecdotes from the shoot?
The constraints of the shoot meant that I had to do the family home scenes at the very beginning. To such an extent that the shots where Henri falls to pieces because of the ostracisation he suffers were done as early as day four. It was extremely risky, but it worked out brilliantly for the film. Jean-Hugues Anglade gave us three magnificent takes in which we see the total fragility of Henri. It’s the first time in the film that he gives himself so entirely, as if he was discovering another side to life. The power of Jean-Hugues’ acting left us speechless for a long time.

A few words about your actors?
I and my cowriter François Decodts wrote the role of Sandrine for Louise Bourgoin. I very quickly saw that she had the power needed for the role. It’s very moving to see someone who possesses the inner truth you feel to be an intimate part of a character you have created. I’m very proud of her commitment and her journey through the film. Jean-Hugues Anglade is a truly great actor. I knew this as a spectators, but here discovered it for myself as a director. The result is beyond my wildest hopes. And I want to talk also about Anne Benoît who played Sandrine’s mother – especially about the richness of her composition. A disillusioned woman, a loving mother, a sister who is blind to the truth, protective and ambiguous she-wolf… I feel a great deal of affection for her. Just like Laurent Capelutto who conjures up a dodgy vet, a possible future lover for Sandrine, in the space of just a few scenes. And of course Nina Meurisse for the mix of joy and frustration in her character, and Nathanaël Maïni who plays Tony – a fighter on the verge of exhaustion…

Who are your influences?
In general terms, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Léos Carax and James Gray. And also Arnaud Desplechin, even if that isn’t necessarily reflected in my own films cinéma.Above all, in making this film, I was influenced by the Unfinished Novel by Louis Aragon…