The intelligence of his choices commands respect.
Film after film, from
Portrait of a young girl on fire
to
Tár,
via André Téchiné's
Souls
, Noémie Merlant surprises, reinvents herself, takes risks and establishes herself as one of the most fascinating actresses of our cinema.
Just Caesarized for her second role in
The Innocent
, by Louis Garrel, and awaited in
A difficult year
, the ecological comedy by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano, she moves again in
Un year, une nuit
, an intimate and post- traumatic on the reconstruction of a couple present at the Bataclan on November 13, 2015. A role to match, deep and delicate.
To discover
The 3/4 Beckhams, a dream family?
On video,
One year, one night
, the trailer
Madame Figaro
.
– Is broaching the subject of the attacks accompanied by apprehensions
?
Noemie Merlant.
–
Inevitably, because the trauma is still alive.
But the meeting with Ramón González convinced me: he was at the Bataclan with his partner and told it in the book adapted here by the director Isaki Lacuesta.
Each person present that evening experienced the events and tried to overcome the trauma differently: there are those who needed to tell everything, like Ramón, those who were in denial, like his spouse from whom my character is inspired, those who don't see themselves as victims because they weren't hurt, those who weren't there but whose lives ended because they had relatives there… It's important that films like this exist , not only to testify, but also to open the discussion and offer a space to those who need it.
It is important that films like this exist, not only to testify, but also to open discussion and provide space for those who need it.
Noemie Merlant
Where were you on
November 13, 2015
?
At home, in Paris, not far from the Bataclan.
I was learning my text for
The Sky Will Wait
, by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar, in which I played a young girl enlisted in jihad and who precisely defended the arguments of the terrorists.
Preparation and filming were very busy after November 13.
It was very strange, to the point that we were all hesitant to continue.
And then, finally, it seemed essential to us to also tell the strategies of enlistment, the de-radicalization and the intimate dramas of powerless families in the face of recruitment.
The actors Noémie Merlant and Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, in
One year, one night
, by Isaki Lacuesta.
MS picture
Did you meet people who were present at the Bataclan to prepare
Un an, une nuit
?
I watched documentaries, read a lot, and the director shared his research work, with shrinks in particular, who explained to him, for example, that some people suffered from hyperesthesia, a form of increased sensitivity to sound, smells or the light.
It helped us build our characters.
For the rest, Ramón and his wife were our referents.
At first, I didn't dare to question them, I was afraid that it would stir up too many things, but they spoke very freely.
They were even present on the set, including for the scenes of the attack, which moreover are not a reconstruction but the transcription of their memories.
Which diverge according to the testimonies: the brain constantly reinvents memories, even more so when this is accompanied by trauma.
"I love playing with actors who wet the shirt"
A word about Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, your partner
?
Being comfortable with my partner is not always obvious, but with Nahuel everything was easy, respectful, fluid.
And then I love playing with actors who wet their shirts.
Even our intimate scenes were simple: there was incredible respect, no embarrassment.
An ideal configuration that we would like to know more often.
The film talks above all about repairs…
Yes, and moreover Ramón and his partner saw the project as an outlet.
Seeing us perform these scenes was not only a way for them to exorcise, to distance themselves, but to participate in a creative project around the drama also allowed them to get something positive out of it, to regain control of a certain manner.
I also find that the film tackles an interesting subject: why do we sometimes need a traumatic event to ask ourselves the right questions?
Human beings are so made that they take a step back and sometimes review the order of their priorities after an accident, the loss of a loved one...
Why do we sometimes need a traumatic event to ask ourselves the right questions?
Noemie Merlant
Have you ever questioned everything in your life
?
In my early days, when I was a model and trying to be an actress.
I was naive, I arrived from my suburbs of Nantes and I came across cases, dirty guys who hunted 18-year-old girls.
I escaped the worst, but they could have put me off this job.
To read alsoNoémie Merlant: "I have long believed that it was necessary to be perfect, which locked me"
“There is so little about carers and so many people involved”
Where are you with your production projects?
I finished editing the documentary dedicated to my father who, disabled, is accompanied daily by my mother.
I still don't know where it will be shown (at a festival, on a platform, a channel, at the cinema…), but I want to share it.
There is so little about caregivers and so many people involved.
And this summer, I'm shooting
Women on the Balcony
, my second fiction film, a fierce comedy, a bloody farce.
With Souheila Yacoub and Sanda Codreanu, we play three friends who, from their apartment, observe their neighbor, the object of their fantasies.
At the start of the school year, you will shoot a new version of
Emmanuelle
.
A challenge
?
I have the impression of raising some with each film, when I play in English opposite Cate Blanchett in
Tár
or when I do violence to myself by leaving my reserve in
L'Innocent
, by Louis Garrel.
For
Emmanuelle
, it's something else: the character is charged with a story, with iconic images.
And of a carnal character...
I don't have a problem with that.
I claim the right to film naked if I like: my body belongs to me and everything is fine with me as long as I set the limits.
I also know that with Audrey Diwan, everything will happen in a benevolent environment.
I can also relate to the body, to the nude, desexualized: I see skin, nature, beauty in it.
And sometimes art.
One year, one night,
by Isaki Lacuesta, with Noémie Merlant, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart…
In video,
Les Âmes sœurs
, the trailer with Benjamin Voisin Noémie Merlant