VA SAVOIR? aka WHO KNOWS? Movie Feature by Alice Castle © 2005 PHASE9 ENTERTAINMENT

PHASE9 interviews Jeanne Balibar - star of VA SAVOIR Other films: COMMENT JE ME SUIS DISPUTÉ (MA VIE SEXUELLE) J'AI HORREUR DE L'AMOUR MANGE TA SOUPE DIEU SEUL ME VOIT TROIS POINTS SUR LA RIVIERE FIN AOÛT DEBUT SEPTEMBER SADE ÇA IRA MIEUX DEMAIN COMEDIE DE L'INNOCENCE LE STADE DE WIMBLEDON AVEC TOUT MON AMOUR Can you tell me about VA SAVOIR? This is the story of an actress, Camille who has left Paris three years ago because she wanted to fly away from a love affair that was turning in a terrible way. She's moved to Italy where she's met this guy who is the director of a theatre group and who's directing a play by Pirandello - 'Come Tu Mi Vuoi' aka 'As You Desire Me'. The theatre company has come back to Paris to perform this play over the summer and coming back to Paris makes Camille very confused and upset. It's made her think about who she is and whether this ancient love affair was saying something about her own truths or whether what she's doing now is telling her who she actually is. She obviously loved this man from her past - but what happened between them? When a love affair doesn't really work out, it always means that something terrible is happening to you or has happened to you. You don't really have to know precisely what it is that didn't work out but the actual fact that you are in love with someone and it doesn't make you happy in a way is a tragedy in itself - and I guess that is what is puzzling her so much, the fact that she's having to re-think all those thoughts. I particularly liked the scene when you went to find your former lover and you end up going to the park where he always went to read the paper at the same time every day. It's as if nothing has passed between you at all. How did you prepare for this scene? With Jacques Rivette you don't really prepare, there's no scenario or script beginning the shooting. We get the lines the night before or even sometimes in the morning when we arrive ready for shooting. I remember that I had to go into the park and there was this little branch of a tree that was in my way and I had to move it out of the way and it gave me a really strange feeling. It was pure coincidence, pure chance that there was this tree in the way - but it was like giving me the whole atmosphere of the scene. That's very much the way Rivette works - he allows the elements of chance and weirdness that are provided by the actual place where we are shooting to come into consideration. Also, he had very specific demands. I had to do this little monologue before I met the main actor and that is quite a weird thing, and though you might do this in theatre, you're not used to this in cinema. It built up a strange atmosphere with the main actor and I. And then we just let ourselves be held by the atmosphere. Continued on page 2

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