Lunch with Le sens des choses
Interview with Frédéric Radepont, director of Le sens des choses
Where did you get the idea for this unusual encounter?
Le sens des choses is a story that stayed in a drawer for nearly five years. I wrote it during a very active and experimental period, when I often worked with a friend, Pierre Guibert. We made over thirty short films in a span of 4 years, in very different genres, and sometimes quite radical. Most often, I was the actor and he directed. This story was written in that context. Pierre was moving house. His apartment was empty for a few days. I saw it, and I started writing. He would play the man, and I would play the role of the burglar. See, the female thief was originally written as a man’s part. It all started with that image of an empty apartment. A small, empty place with decrepit walls, without identity, but recalling ghosts from the past. An open door to the imagination. The shoot couldn’t happen and the screenplay just sat there like a dead letter. That was until April 2016, when things changed, and I decided to direct the film.
What interested you in the solitary quality of each of the characters?
I wanted two worlds to meet. Two solitudes in survival mode. She steals to eat. He rests his body in preparation for the next night of work. I wanted to create a kind of bubble, a parenthesis where time stands still just long enough for an accidental encounter. It’s a constant trip between fear and compassion. Solitude is a great evil in our society. It is so insidious, spreading everywhere and destroying social ties. Mind you, I’m not talking about when one chooses solitude, to collect one’s thoughts when facing a life choice. That kind of solitude that can have a positive effect. I mean the kind of solitude that comes from a world with no points of reference. That’s the world we live in. Each of the characters has their own solitude. That of a vagabond, condemned to the solitude of the street. Or that of the worker whose life’s only rhythm is the alarm clock that sounds at the same time that the city goes to sleep. And he wakes up. With this situation, I did not want deal only in the pathos that this circumstance can create. I preferred to seek out the unexpected moment when these two worlds meet, observe each other, brush up against each other. It allows the story to float between drama and comedy. The film is also the meeting of two generations. Youth, full of life, but awkward, yet enthusiastic, even if life is tough. Meeting a giant with a deep voice and broad shoulders. They bend forward, these shoulders, from having to carry the weight of a life devoted to work. Nothing lends itself to this meeting, and yet it happens, the masks come off.
Which were you looking to explore in these two poor individuals: the power struggle or the mutual understanding?
Power struggle is the foundation for all dramatic tension. In this brief story, I sought to twist it as much as possible to see what would happen. No, the man will not be offended that he is being robbed. No, she will not try to run away at the first opportunity. No, the characters will not commiserate over their respective setbacks in life. From this tightrope, I wanted to find the right vibration in order for these two worlds to connect. Between mistrust and caution. Modesty and abandon.
Do you have a strong penchant for writing and/or reading?
I really enjoy reading, especially American literature. I’m not an expert, far from it. But I like stories that take me into a unique world. Often that of the fringes, of those who have nothing. Where life feels a bit more intense. Regarding writing, it depends on the phase I’m in or the project. I can spend several hours a day for two months. Then nothing for the next 5 months. There’s no rule there. It’s something I would like to change. Learning to write on a regular basis. Create a rhythm of work. The more you do…
How do the relationship to absence and missed opportunities interest you?
What interests me most in a character is their vibration. To be able to feel the flame burns inside them and gives them life. I don’t know a stronger feeling than love, in its broadest sense. Losing a loved one, the end of a romance, the weight of absence. And how we live with that. Each of us manages in our own way, either by being swallowed whole or by repressing it into the far reaches of one’s memory. Then you risk it coming back with a vengeance along with melancholy. That’s what happens to one of the characters. It’s also an idea around the notion of destiny. If that day, I had taken the opposite direction, what would my life look like today?
Any cinematic coups de cœur in the past year you’d like to tell us about?
Manchester by the Sea. I was talking about vibration earlier. This is a film filled with it, from beginning to end. Film directing that serves the story, modesty and depth of feelings and Casey Affleck, remarkable as always. It’s a real gem. I really enjoyed the recent Ken Loach I, Daniel Blake, even if it will not be remembered as his best film, I feel. There’s always so much humanity in his films, and his way of filming people trying to survive is very touching. Another favorite was Willy 1er, it’s not an easy film to define, and it reminds me of why I love Belgian cinema. So, Belgica too, of course. Toni Erdmann. I enjoy totally different films, as well, like Last Train to Busan, and I’m sure I’m forgetting some, too.
If you’ve already been to Clermont-Ferrand, could you share with us an anecdote from the festival? If not, what are your expectations for this year?
It will be my first time in Clermont-Ferrand. I’ve often thought of coming. But without a film selected, I was afraid to not fit in. This time, things will be different. I hope to enjoy discovering many new worlds. And meeting people, too. Talking about cinema until the early hours of the morning, taking in the atmosphere.
Le sens des choses is being shown in National Competition F11.
