First woman president of the jury of the Gérardmer International Festival of Fantastic Film (Vosges), the Italian actress and director Asia Argento, 44, knows the genre well. She started there at the age of 11 in a production by her father, Dario Argento, one of the greatest horror film directors in history. A leading figure in the #metoo movement after she revealed that she had been raped by Harvey Weinstein, she herself was accused of sexual abuse by a young actor, a case that has not been prosecuted.
When we meet her, in the living room of Gérardmer's largest hotel, she begins the interview in a corner of the window, so that we can take a few puffs of cigarettes. The actress, who speaks in good French, refuses to answer any question, even sensitive.
This edition of the festival includes few films with great figures of the fantastic, like the undead or the vampire, but often gives in social horror ...
ASIA ARGENTO. Yes. Me too, with my films, I always try to do something that talks about social horror, family, the horror of everyday life. But perhaps in a less fantastic, more realistic way.
What does the fantastic bring to these films, which could have remained anchored in reality?
Films are always personal. They are always autobiographical, even when they speak of extraterrestrials. Spielberg's obsession with aliens, I'm sure it's something autobiographical! Sometimes in these genre films - or me with the grotesque - we try to free ourselves from our nightmares, our obsessions, things that are not good in our life and that we have not managed to overcome.
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What are you going to see at the cinema?
I'm not going to see the movies at Oscar. Especially if everyone says it's the movie of the year. Except lately, "Joker", I really liked it! I rather make my choice at random. I sometimes trust friends. But you know, it's very difficult now in Italy to see good movies. In Rome, there are only multiplexes, there are no more arthouse rooms, unlike in France. And the seats are not comfortable, the sound is not good, it is no longer a total experience as it used to be. So, I watch movies at home, thanks to Netflix, it's a little sad but that's how it is.
You come from a family that has worked a lot in fantasy and horror. Either you fell into it too, or saturated you?
I did not choose to be in the cinema. It happened by chance, I was very small, I was asked to act in a film, then I continued. It's in my blood, of course, but my sister also wanted to be an actress, she didn't succeed. I was lucky, but in life, you don't always decide. We go there, then there ... Maybe at the end of his life, we see that all this made sense?
But you could have stayed cataloged only as a fantastic actress, and you managed to diversify, right?
Because I was asked to do something else. I know a lot of fantastic film directors, they can't get rid of this label. As an actress, you can do very different things. It is very dangerous to have success at a high level, because afterwards everyone wants you to continue in the same way.
Is this what happened to your father?
Yes. He tried to make a political film, a comedy, just before "The Chills of anguish". All his previous films had worked very well, but not that one (Editor's note: "Cinq Jours à Milan") . It really broke his heart, so he came back, with all his strength, with "The Chills of Anguish". It's my way, I'm the king, and you'll love me!
Do you have a project with him?
Yes, we are going to shoot next summer, and I'm very happy. He is the only director with whom I have worked several times, apart from Abel Ferrara, with whom I have collaborated twice. I love his script, which is not new since he wrote it in the 1990s. It will be a giallo (Editor's note: a kind of violent and bloody thriller) . It is inspired by Hitchcock, of course, but it was he who invented this genre!
Are you following the trial of Harvey Weinstein?
Yes, not obsessively, but I am. I am still afraid of this man, I hope that justice will be done, but I will not speak until after the trial. It is important that the women who are there speak, I know that many things will already come out, but I, what I have to say, I will say it afterwards.
What do you think of the 12 nominations won at the Césars by the last film by Roman Polanski?
When the whole movement (Editor's note: #metoo) started, I spoke to a lot of women, behind the curtain, I would say, in an intimate and anonymous way. I heard a lot of things that hurt me. I am not a psychologist, and I was not ready to hear as many of the horrible stories that these women have experienced. And not only in the world of cinema. Polanski is one of my favorite directors, and we've always heard about what happened in the United States. All the stories that came out after that disturbed me a lot. But his film is great, I manage to separate the director and what the others say about him. I think of my father, who is also over 80 years old, I hope that he will manage to make a film as powerful as Polanski.
The president of the Caesars said that the institution did not have to have "moral positions". You understand ?
Morality is one thing, moralism is another. Morality is good and bad. Moralism, I don't like that, especially false moralism. After speaking out, we were treated to a lot of false moralism, especially in America. I am not one of those people, I am a very liberal person. At the same time, there are people who have done horrible things to women, predators, they have to pay, they have to be arrested. That's all.