November, Paris, Hotel Montalembert, she arrives right on time, black trousers, beige sweater, without any other artifice, and sits down in front of the crackling fireplace.
Sandrine Kiberlain has this elegant and classy side of girls from the upper class neighborhoods and this supposed intrepidity, à la Fifi Longstocking, which makes her familiarly likeable.
She is amused by our astonished look in front of her new smooth gradient.
Gone are the blonde curls, one of her signatures with her slender figure and freckles on her sun-kissed complexion.
"I wanted to change my mind," she says.
Sandrine Kiberlain is one of the most sought-after actresses in French cinema.
We are not surprised: she is a high-flying actress, a sort of hexagonal Diane Keaton, with this disarming naturalness and this background of self-mockery that belongs only to her.
Subtly seductive, terribly endearing.
In 2022, she was everywhere.
To her credit, a (successful) first film as a director,
A young girl who is fine,
and four others as an actress,
Another world,
by Stéphane Brizé,
Novembre
, by Cédric Jimenez,
Chronicle of an affair passenger,
by Emmanuel Mouret, and finally
Le Parfum vert
, by Nicolas Pariser, which will be released on December 21.
In this childhood-scented spy comedy, she plays a wacky comic book designer, and forms a great film duo with Vincent Lacoste.
A real taste of Christmas.
In video,
Le Parfum vert
, the trailer
"Danger attracts him, and I like it"
Miss Figaro.
– After playing a high-ranking cop, a cheerful lover, a fractured divorcee, here you are with
Le Parfum vert
in a completely different register.
What attracted you to the role of Claire?
Sandrine Kiberlain.
–
It's funny, because his character immediately seemed very familiar to me.
She has an energy that I adore, she is hyperspontaneous, the kind of girl who throws everything off at a time in her life when everything weighs on her.
When this strange guy arrives who takes her down dangerous paths, she goes for it!
Danger attracts him, and that pleases me.
Claire, she also makes me think of the heroines you can see in Rappeneau's films, she's the annoying girl we love, an adorable plague, both whimsical and deep.
But I also really wanted to play this role because it was Nicolas Pariser, whose previous films I really liked, who offered it to me.
And then there is Vincent Lacoste…
I think a lot about the partner when I accept, or not, to play in a film
Sandrine Kiberlain
You form a real film duo with him…
When I read the screenplay, I already had in mind Vincent's pace and intonation.
I think a lot about the partner when I accept, or not, to play in a film.
It's important to form a duo that works, that manages to create a tender and comical chemistry like here.
So, yes, when I knew it would be Vincent, I didn't hesitate.
I have always followed and loved his career, from
Beaux Gosses
(2009) to
Lost Illusions
(2021) via
Amanda
(2018)
.
Vincent is a real cinephile, who continues to show as he advances the full extent of his talent.
In the film, he has this slightly wobbly side that remains charming, the kind of guy who never plays on his seduction and who is all the more attractive for it.
And then, he's a brilliant playmate, with whom you can invent anything, he's neither a headache nor psychologizing... With my other Vincent at the moment (
Vincent Macaigne, with whom she shot
Chronicle of a temporary affair
, Editor
's note ), he is one of the great revelations of the cinema of the last ten years.
These two Vincents have really brought new energy and real emotion to the current landscape.
Full screen
Sandrine Kiberlain in a sequined jacket and cotton tank top, Celine by Hedi Slimane, wool pants, The Row on MyTheresa.com.
Laurier rings, in white gold and diamonds, Chaumet, Converse sneakers.
Bojana Tatarska
A passion for Hitchcock
The film is full of references, between the universe of
Tintin
's albums , Hitchcock's thrillers, comedies à la de Broca or à la Rappeneau.
Did these cultural vectors also nourish your youth?
On the comic strip side, I was rather a fan of
Aggie (
Aggie Mack
, American comic strip, editor's note
), whose energy moreover inspired me for the role, just like the great heroines in Corto Maltese.
Tintin
, it was less my thing.
On the other hand, I can quote you entire replicas of Rappeneau's and de Broca's films, the latter nourished me as a child, teenager, adult.
Just like Hitchcock, to whom I have a real passion.
He remains for me an absolute reference for the finesse of his staging, the way he filmed the mystery of the actresses, his timeless side.
How not to enjoy seeing and reviewing all the Hitchcocks?
I inherited this terrible questioning that haunts the miraculous, those who wonder why they escaped this horror
Sandrine Kiberlain
Behind the drollery of Le
Parfum vert,
all the current anxiety emerges implicitly with the rise of conspiracies, nationalisms, and also that of anti-Semitism, a subject that you dealt with in your first film
.
Was it important for you to talk about it?
Yes, it was even obsessive and related to my own family heritage, even though I totally made up the characters in the film, who have nothing to do with my family members.
But I grew up with the story of my four grandparents, Polish Jews who arrived in France in the 1930s. They miraculously escaped the Shoah, thanks to exceptional people who helped them, hidden during the war… I guess I inherited their life force, but also that terrible questioning that haunts the miraculous, those who wonder why they escaped this horror…
In video, Sandrine Kiberlain: "I wanted to talk about anti-Semitism, because it's part of my personal story"
When we look at your biography on Wikipedia, it is notified that your paternal grandmother claimed to have been a great tragedian. It's true ?
Frankly, I'm not sure.
I was much closer to my maternal grandparents, Jacques and especially Machla, my grandmother with whom I had many affinities and who remains an absolute example for me.
My paternal grandmother, Rosa, was quite a tough woman.
I do remember, however, that she told me, without further details, that she had played tragedy when she lived in Poland.
It is undoubtedly true.
And then, it's funny, I remember one of his advice.
I was 16 years old, and I expressed my desire to become an actress.
“So, you absolutely need a stage name, you should
call Sandra Bernhardt!” she told me.
Exceptional!
(
Laughs.
)
Read alsoVincent Lacoste and Sandrine Kiberlain, funny and Hitchcockian duo of Green Perfume
“Suzanne, I leave him alone”
Your daughter, Suzanne, is now launched on the rails of the cinema. Do you think his generation is better equipped to face the difficulties of this profession and of life in general?
Suzanne, I leave her alone, she has chosen her path.
And I avoid talking about it, it's too intimate.
But I have full confidence in her and her generation.
It's true that we have swung into an uneasy, terribly worrying world, as if all the dangers were now brought to light and that we can no longer ignore them.
I had never felt such anxiety.
But I strongly believe in the strength of our children, in the battles they lead for ecology, freedom of speech... When I listen to the younger generations, I feel them full of energy, with a desire for responsibility. and a real awareness of the world that we perhaps did not have.
The whole lined with a lot of humor and second degree.
Yes, this youth gives me hope.
Full screen
Sandrine Kiberlain in a wool coat, Celine by Hedi Slimane.
Double clip brooch, in platinum, gold and diamonds, Patrimoine 1942 collection, Chaumet.
John Nollet hairstyle for Forty-One Studio, Paris.
La Mer beauty treatment by Christophe Danchaud with: The Awakening Mist, The Intense Regeneration Emulsion, The Eye Contour Concentrate, The Long-Lasting Regenerating Silky Foundation SPF 20, shade 180 Linen, The Hydrating Highlighter, The Balm for Lips.
Bojana Tatarska
Among the new generation of actors and actresses, who are those who particularly affect you today?
Those in my film of course, Rebecca Marder, Anthony Bajon, India Hair, Lucie Gallo, Bastien Bouillon… They are all wonderful.
I will also quote Suzanne Lindon - and not because she is my daughter - or Céleste Brunnquell.
But there are also plenty of actresses closer to my generation that I adore and with whom I would dream of playing.
Among others, Virginie Efira, Emmanuelle Devos, Julie Delpy, whom I adore, Émilie Dequenne, Léa Drucker and Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, of whom I am a fan, both actress and director.
I would dream of playing with Virginie Efira, Emmanuelle Devos or Julie Delpy
Sandrine Kiberlain
You interview the latter in your documentary
Cinéma par… Sandrine Kiberlain,
and she talks about the passage of time as a very harsh reality for an actress.
Do you feel the same?
Valeria says, “Sometimes I wonder why I make films,” and I say, “Because your films stick around.”
But it is true that we, actresses, over the years have to constantly continue to arouse desire, both in spectators and in directors, and I have this intuition that we must always surprise.
For the moment, even if I am very aware that this will change one day, I do not have the impression of having any age in the cinema.
When I get a script, I don't even think about it.
I have D'
Varied roles
2022 was really your year with no less than four feature films on the bill, three of which were selected for the Cannes Film Festival…
Yes, and it's lucky that you see me in such varied roles.
But I'm not fooled, and I know these are moments that don't last.
I've been doing this job for a long time, I know how it works.
There are times when you want to catch everything, to work a lot, to have good roles coming up, and I think that you unconsciously release an energy that arouses desire in others.
Then, at other times, we step back a little...
Directing a second film is an obvious desire, even a priority
Sandrine Kiberlain
How is 2023 shaping up?
It will be a calmer year, precisely.
I'm going to shoot in Denis Podalydès' next film, and maybe come back to singing with the Souchons...
A young girl who is doing well
has met her audience.
Does this make you want to make a second film?
Yes, it is an obvious desire, even a priority.
Outlines are emerging, but the idea has to be as obsessive as the one that guided my first film.
Directing has been one of my favorite experiences in my life.
It's exhilarating to be able to become the one who directs, the one we follow, the one we want to please so that the film succeeds... It's so gratifying to see all the trades giving their all for their own ideas , so moving to try to highlight young actors, to give them this gift that I myself received when I started in the eyes of Éric Rochant.
Are you optimistic about the future of cinema?
Totally, we can see that it's gone again, and that people are returning to theaters.
November
had two million admissions,
L'Innocent,
by Louis Garrel, a little gem that I worship,
Revoir Paris
,
Simone, the journey of the century
are also doing very well.
Admittedly, the platforms exist and have changed the situation, but the pleasure is not the same when you are at home in front of such a reductive computer screen... Going to the cinema, leaving your home, your daily life, your world , sharing an emotion and waves with others in front of a film, it's much more magical, isn't it?
On video,
L'innocent
, the rhythmic comedy by and with Louis Garrel
Le Parfum vert,
by Nicolas Pariser, with Sandrine Kiberlain, Vincent Lacoste, Rüdiger Vogler.
Released on December 21, 2022.
