Empire of Light by Sam Mendes: 'Writing this story was cathartic'

Sitting on the comfortable sofa of a large suite in a Parisian hotel, British filmmaker Sam Mendes displays a form of serenity that immediately makes him likeable.

At 57, the director of

,

two

(

and

) and

(a film for which he won the Best Director Oscar in 2000) knows he is signing with

a one-of-a-kind film.

He explains it to Le

.

LE FIGARO.

- This film has something different from your other films.

He's the most personal, right?

Sam MENDES.

- Let's say that

is perhaps my most directly personal film.

It's a clever mix of memories and other invented things.

But it's not pure autobiography.

Even if the character of Hilary Small embodied by Olivia Colman is inspired by my mother, suffering from mental disorders.

For example, Hilary has no children.

And the action is not where I grew up.

Of course, many sequences reflect…

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