Jean-Pierre Jeunet - Director of Amélie and A Very Long Engagement A Conversation with Terrance Gelenter:
Sebastien Laprisot’s 1991 novel, A Very Long Engagement, was a runaway bestseller in France and winner of the Prix Interalllié. It is reminiscent of Kubrick’s Paths of Glory in the way that it exposes the atrocities not just of the enemy but also of the aristocratic officer corps of the French Army during the First World War. As punishment for a perceived act of dishonor, often not true, they cavalierly sacrificed the lives of young soldiers by tossing them into the no-man’s land between the warring French and German trenches.
Unwilling to accept the report that her fiancée is one of five soldiers who failed to survive that cruel fate Mathilde spends years pursuing his trail-convinced that he did not perish.
While hop-scotching America to promote the film acclaimed director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen, Amélie) met me in San Francisco to discuss his latest and most ambitious film. Generally speaking, when I interview a French director, I’ll conduct it in French to allow them to take a break from a day of intense interviews in a second language. Jean-Pierre appreciated the offer but chose to speak English except for those moments when my English failed us, and I had to reconstruct a thought in French for clarity. As the Mexican-American author, Daniel Reveles, once said to me: “Translations are like women. The faithful are never beautiful and beautiful are never faithful,” but I stand behind the sincerity of our effort!
TG: There are still numerous survivors to give first-hand accounts of the Second World War but few survivors of the First World War. Did you have any relatives who fought in the war and did you have conversations with them?
JPJ: I had a great uncle but he didn’t speak about his experiences. But I read everything from the time I was very little – Le Crois du Bois, La Peur, Le Feu, Orage d’Acier.TG: Was it a school assignment.
JPJ: No, no. I was fascinated by that period. I don’t know why.TG: Were you influenced by Tavernier’s La Vie et Rien d’Autre?
JPJ: Yes, yes, but there were very few films about this war: Paths of Glory, All Quiet on the Western Front. It’s suddenly become a phenomenon in France to learn about this war. Perhaps, because the few remaining survivors will die soon and there is worry that it will be forgotten. The only pictures we have are stock footage that were shot at 16 frames per second and they are too fast, almost like a silent film comedy. Last week in France (November 11) we had the commemoration with the very old men who fought in that war. It was a terrible war. We lost 1 1/2 million people (France) - over ten million people in all died in the war (20 million wounded.) And do you now how many Americans died? Fifty-two thousand!TG: No. It didn’t affect us in the same way as it did you.
JPJ: And I’m not sure how the American people will react to this film. I really don’t know but I’ve wanted to make this film for fourteen years. Ever since I read the book.TG: I read somewhere that the look of the film was influenced by Gordon Willis’ photography on The Godfather.
JPJ: My DP (Bruno Delbonnel) and I were looking for a way to show the early part of the century in a way that looked historically accurate. We were shooting in color and most of what we’ve seen was in black and white or sepia. We decided to make the film pretty brown, like sepia, but now with computer processes we could add some small pieces of different color within the same frame-something very subtle.TG: I particularly liked the way you used CGI (computer generated imaging) to insert iconic images of the Paris of yesteryear – the Eiffel Tower, Gare D’Orsay (now the Musée D’Orsay), Opéra Guarnier and most especially Les Halles where you even had a passing fort des halles (strongmen capable of lifting and carrying a basket containing 450 pounds of stone) with his enormous hat resembling a mushroom cap. Were they selected for their value as establishing shots or did they have personal resonance?
JPJ: I was fascinated by the market (Les Halles)– “the belly of Paris.” I didn’t see it when I was little because it had been torn down but I had seen many, many photographs.TG: I also read A Very Long Engagement 14 years ago and was very moved by it, but just like Cold Mountain, it is essentially an interior monologue. How do you go about capturing a sensibility where the narrator can engage you for six or seven pages with a thought and onscreen you have seconds to communicate that same thought to an audience?
JPJ: When you really love a book it is very easy to stay true to the spirit. What made it difficult was that much of the narrative was propelled by letters that Mathilde received. It is definitely work to adapt a book like this but is nothing compared to writing an original story.TG: Audrey (Tatou) is the central voice and figure in the film. Did you cast her and then start the film or did you decide to make the film and then cast her?
JPJ: When I met Audrey I knew I could make this film. I initially considered Juliette Bimoche but when I met Audrey I knew she was Mathilde. On the set of Amélie, I gave her the book and if she didn’t want the role I would not have made the movie but she said yes.TG: What did you see in her that told you she could be Mathilde?
JPJ: Maybe because she was so determined. On the set of Amélie, she could be tough. She can do comedy or tragedy. She’s always on the razor’s edge. She cries, she almost cries, she doesn’t cry.TG: Your cast included several prominent French actors: André Dussolier, Tcheky Karyo, Jean-Pierre Darrousin. In America it is very difficult to assemble an ensemble of high-quality, well-known actors. It is easier in France?
JPJ: I think so. It was an opportunity to participate in a big film. I had only a few nos.TG: How did you land Jodie Foster?
JPJ: She called me in Paris and said that she would like to act in my film. I told her that it was too late to be the star, but I sent her the script and suggested three possibilities. And she chose to be Elodie Gordes. She speaks French beautifully.TG: How was the film received in France?
JPJ: Generally, very good. I got a very favorable, three-page review in Libération.TG: And finally, what do you hope that Americans will get from the film?
JPJ: I hope that they will be touched by Mathilde’s willpower, her determination to find her lover.A Very Long Engagement opens in many American cities on December 17. Check your local listings for time and theater
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for information on the December Tour with John Baxter Author and Terrance Gelenter Managing Director of P.T.E.E.
