Aline Issermann's first film,
Le destin de Juliette
was released on DVD, exactly four decades after it was shot.
However, the subject is not outdated, quite the contrary.
He was inspired by domestic violence that marked his early years.
In the small village, in the countryside, between Angers and Tours where she grew up, she regularly witnessed arguments between her parents, especially under the influence of alcohol.
This is how she imagined a tragic love story between the daughter of a farrier, played by Laure Duthilleul, and a farm worker, played by Richard Bohringer.
Read alsoParental authority at the heart of debates on domestic violence
In the early 1980s, his script was rejected by producers, assuring him that the times were for comedy and that this subject would never interest anyone.
By dint of breaking down doors, she managed to obtain the agreement of one of them, and still regrets it.
Too happy to see her project come to fruition, she signed, without verifying it, a contract giving all the rights to her story for the next 50 years.
“After an intervention by the authors' society, I received the equivalent of 1,000 euros for the purchase of the script and the minimum wage for three months for the realization
, she says.
I had so little money that in the evening, when I got home, I didn't even have enough to eat.
I just had to feed my dog.”
Financial Misadventures
Her misfortunes continued when one morning she went to her producer's office and found that he had disappeared into the wild.
“I never received the accounts, and, of course, he didn't pay me a penny.
And yet, the number of entries in the room had made my film, what one calls a success of esteem”.
To his financial misadventures were added others, more honorific.
“While listening to the radio, I learned one morning that
Le destin de Juliette
was chosen to be part of the French selection at the Cannes Film Festival.
Three days later, I discover that he has disappeared from the list.
I never had the slightest official explanation, but I discovered, after a lot of research, that Daniel Toscan du Plantier had intervened to bring to light another film to which he was very attached.
This is how it finally found itself in the race for the Caméra d'or awarded to a first film, during Critics' Week.
“I came close to the trophy by two votes.
It was given to a Hungarian who, in fact, had already shot three feature films.
He didn't specify it and no one checked it.
He was therefore not eliminated as provided for in the regulations
.
Disgusted, she then refused to go to the Sundance Film Festival that Robert Redford had just created, on his ranch in the United States.
“He had seen my film, and had made me telephone by his assistant to propose to me to be the representative of the European continent.
I couldn't afford the plane ticket and no one could pay for it, so I declined the invitation.
I regret it all the more since I had written a script on the life of Calamity Jane that I might have had the opportunity to shoot across the Atlantic.
Finally, a few years later, she discovers that, discreetly resold by the original producer,
Le destin de Juliette
is going to be released on video under another title
Hatred
.
“The title had been placed as a credits against a background of old blue carpet
”.
The deception having been discovered, the project was abandoned.
Over the years, she made other films for cinema and television and wrote a first novel,
L'insolente liberté des bouton d'or
, which appeared at the same time as the original video, the release of which finally made possible by the interplay of catalog purchases and sales between specialized publishers.
“My satisfaction is exclusively moral.
My son, who is 34 years old, will finally see these images that I have spoken to him about so much”.
He probably won't be the only one.
The destiny of Juliette
- Éditions Montparnasse
