Everyone has an idea, more or less correct, of what the Montessori method is.
But few people know the story of its creator, Maria Montessori.
Born in 1870, she was one of the first women to obtain a medical degree in Italy.
Specializing in psychiatry, it was first with disabled children, called “idiots” at the time, that she developed her pedagogy.
To do this, she braves the contempt with which these children are viewed as well as the sexism to which she herself is subjected.
She gives up raising her own son Mario, born from her relationship with her psychiatry professor, whom she refuses to marry to preserve her freedom.
It is above all this story that director Léa Todorov tells in
La Nouvelle Femme
, in theaters on March 13.
Inventing Maria Montessori, played by Jasmine Trinca, a precious friend: Lili d'Alengy, a Parisian girl who entrusts her with her daughter, Tina, a "different" child whose existence she seeks to conceal.
A freedwoman with sometimes unclear contours whose audacity will inspire her.
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Leïla Bekhti, who plays the courtesan, confesses: rarely has a character been so far from her.
Her almost greedy joy in slipping into her wigs and frilly dresses is coupled with a difficulty in understanding a complex woman who, at the beginning of the film, does not love, or loves badly, her daughter.
A challenge that fascinated the one who has just given birth to her fourth child, at just 40 years old.
Encounter.
Madame Figaro.- What did you like about the script of
The New Woman
?
Leïla Bekhti.-
Many things.
First, I liked the idea of a film about sorority, it's the story of two women who help each other.
My meeting with Léa Todorov was also essential: I liked her view of the children as well as the characters.
There is never anything condescending about her.
I might have hesitated if the film had been too didactic, moralizing: that is not the case.
My character, however, is very far from me: at first, it troubled me, I wondered how I was going to be able to embody this rejection in front of a child.
But what I liked in Léa's writing is that Lili represents a large part of society, the one who looks away when faced with children with disabilities.
At the same time, she also embodies freedom: it is this ambivalence that seduced me.
I had to go find things in her that I don't necessarily understand.
But I often say it: this job allows you to work on human nature, which is fascinating.
And I hate giving extenuating circumstances to my characters, for fear that people won't like them.
You perform a scene in which your character learns of the death of her mother, and bears witness to the blow while she has a beauty mask on her face. Why this choice of staging, which makes it more difficult to express emotions?
It was Léa who wrote it like that.
It was intentional, and quite metaphorical: Lili protects herself.
This “mask” will disappear as the film progresses.
Lili is free, but her freedom has a price.
She does not want to be at the mercy of men, but she seduces them to take advantage of their money, and appearance is therefore important to her: she must have the most beautiful dress, etc. At the same time, Its economic survival depends on it.
Lili is constantly in a posture, which was very difficult for me: I hate it, I can't be lenient with people who are like that.
But that was also what was interesting to play.
Leïla Bekhti in
The New Woman
, by Léa Todorov DR
The children we see in the film are neuroatypical. How was filming with them?
It was very joyful.
Above all, these were children who wanted to be there, it was not a question of the parents' wishes, even if they were also present.
It's important to say, and they had a lot of fun.
The Montessori method, at least at the time, was really based on the sensory, on communication.
And that's what happened on set, where we weren't afraid to hug each other.
I met Rafaelle Sonneville-Caby, who plays the character of my daughter, Tina, before filming: when I play with children, especially if I play their mother, I absolutely want to meet them beforehand and experience everyday things. with them.
They come to the house, we talk normally... It was all the more important with Rafaelle as she had to clearly distinguish between “Lili” and “Leïla”.
And it was a real encounter.
Rafaelle is a wonderful, curious little girl.
She doesn't realize it, but she's a great actress, who speaks with her eyes.
I always take my children with me, they were on the set of
The New Woman
in Rome
Leila Bekhti
What did you learn from contact with these children?
That they are courageous, and that they have crazy emotional intelligence.
I don't know if it taught me anything, but it reinforced my idea that emotional security is essential: when a child feels loved, he is happy.
What I also saw was the courage of the parents.
What they do is extraordinary.
I realize how much we must support these children, lighten their daily lives.
There is still a lot of work to do.
They must be included, they are part of society.
This is important for all children, whether they have a disability or not.
Everyone must meet.
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What did you know about the Montessori method and its creator?
Quite honestly, I didn't know the story of Maria Montessori at all.
I didn't even know that she had started working with disabled children, nor that she had had a child, a son whom she had to abandon to take care of those of others.
It’s a decision that concerns me all the more since I am a mother today.
Maria Montessori revolutionized something, but it was a real lifestyle choice.
It's also a question that we often ask
actresses
, whose job we imagine requires great personal involvement, sacrifices in their private lives...
I always take my children with me, they were also on the set of
The New Woman
in Rome.
These are real backpacks: when I arrive at the airport, it's a lot of organization, I have to be careful not to put my son in the luggage hold (laughs).
But it's also very selfish.
Grand Corps Malade says it in one of its songs (
Retain the dreams
,
Editor's note
): “I stayed with you all the time, so as not to feel you growing up”.
There's something like that about me too: I don't want to miss anything.
I love my job madly, it makes me happy in many ways, but not to the detriment of my personal life.
Leïla Bekhti, Jasmine Trinca and Rafaëlle Sonneville-Caby Geko Films Tempesta
The New Woman
says something important about motherhood, about the fact that you have to get to know a child, beyond a maternal love that would go without saying.
Yes, it's dizzying and it's unique to each person, there are no instructions.
Well done to those who found it!
Because as I have observed with my 650 children
(laughs)
, we have totally different ways of being with them from one to the other.
We meet our children throughout their lives.
Every age leads to questioning, especially about what we are going to pass on to them.
This involves real work on yourself.
And I don't want to pass on my pots to them.
We meet our children throughout their lives.
Every age leads to questioning, especially about what we are going to pass on to them
Leila Bekhti
Not passing on our fears and anxieties to them, isn't that also a constant pressure?
I was talking about emotional security: children give us that too.
For me, there is one essential thing: I make sure that they never worry about me.
That's not their role.
It is important that they keep their childish soul.
What we try to transmit to them is curiosity, not to make them jaded.
Also make them understand that they are lucky, because today, many children are not.
It's a lifetime's work, but it's worth waking up every morning.
In any case, that’s what gives me strength.
Also read: Leïla Bekhti: “Having three children in four years has given me unparalleled strength and freedom of thought”
You have just turned 40, how do you feel about passing this “milestone”?
I can not believe it.
It's like when someone told me that when I went to New York, I was going to feel this, that, incredible things... I loved New York, even if I didn't feel anything at all. that !
Maybe it's because I just gave birth.
40 years old, 4 children: I tell myself that's it, I have my family.
There may still be plenty of things to sort out and do.
But when I was little, I remember looking at my mother, I imagined that I too would have my family, my lover, my children... The love that is in my home today is even better than in my dreams.
I have a husband who is my best friend, children who are my best friends.
In the end, that's all that's left.