How much does the skill of an actor weigh on the quality of a film? A question that is even more true for La Petite - in cinemas from 18 January distributed by Movies Inspired and Circuito Cinema - where Fabrice Luchini's sober and rich acting is the soul of this dramedy in which sweetness, grace and melancholy coexist. Directed and written by Guillaume Nicloux - French director and actor, known for directing the horror film The Chosen (2006), The Religious (2013) and L'enlèvement de Michel Houellebecq (2014) - La petite puts in place a simple story that tells the stubbornness of a man no longer young struggling with the desire to continue to love and above all not to forget a son who is no longer there.
The protagonist is Joseph Siprein (Luchini), a refined cabinetmaker expert in antique furniture who is grappling with the death of his son Emmanuel and his partner in a plane crash.
The couple, Joseph discovers, were expecting a baby through a surrogate mother, Rita Vandewaele (Mara Taquin) who lives in Belgium. Joseph really longs for this child, it will actually be a granddaughter, a way also to prolong the existence of his son Emmanuel. The sixty-year-old will leave for Belgium to meet the young Flemish girl who will turn out to be strong, crazy and indomitable, but also full of heart. In fact, a tender battle will begin between Joseph and Rita for what will be the future of this little girl where both will discover an extraordinary mutual humanity.
The film, which also stars Maud Wyler who lends her face to Aude Siprien, Joseph's daughter, and Juliette Metten (Ava Vandewaele), Rita's mother, has original music by Ludovico Einaudi.
"The idea came to me two or three years after my father's death," says the director. Taking a trip to the United States, to Nevada, I spent two or three days in Death Valley and, visiting a canyon, I felt like I really saw my father. This image was the driving force behind this film." And again Nicloux: "When I direct my actors, I try not to rationalize the psychological aspects of the character too much, to shoot as much as possible while preserving silences and gray areas. I expected a lot from Fabrice Luchini as I am his first fan and I love the way he takes over events. There is a kind of fragility in him, a fever. For me, cinema doesn't have the obligation to do psychological analysis, each actor can work according to his own criteria to maintain freshness and surprise me with the way he embodies the roles.
This tonality that we try to create does not only pass through words, but also through intonations, looks, the climate in which we find ourselves. There are calm climates and other murkier climates depending on the story we tell."
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