Philosophy in life and art: Tim Blake Nelson's ANESTHESIA makes its Blu-ray/DVDebut

One of the films I most wanted to see this past winter I managed to miss, so catching up with ANESTHESIA, releasing tomorrow on Blu-ray and DVD, was a must. I am happy to say that the film in no way disappoints. As written, directed and acted in by Tim Blake Nelson -- one of Hollywood's hugely under-appreciated triple threats, who has already written and directed three fine movies: Eye of God, Leaves of Grass and The Grey Zone, as well as giving a raft of outstanding performances (from Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou? to one of my all-time favorites, the woefully underseen Cherish) -- the movie is as good an ensemble piece as has been produced in a long while.

Mr. Nelson, shown at right, has crafted a tale of human connection both grounded and buoyed by philosophy. The character we see first, and who commands a bit more attention that the others we'll soon meet, is a aging and honored philosophy professor played by Sam Waterston (below), and the ideas shown us via his words and deeds will connect to all the other characters we meet in this relatively short movie (it's just 90 minutes long). The connections here are major and minor but they are all important, as are the ideas that pepper the movie. People live by them, for better and worse, and also die by them.

Yet these connections are handled remarkably well -- never ham-handedly, as in some of the "we're all connected" movies you might recall -- and they are brought to rather spectacular life by the performances, every one of them, of the talented cast, beginning with Waterston and Kristen Stewart, below, who plays his troubled student in yet another small role that this actress nails beautifully. (Every role Ms Stewart tackles seems to take her further light years from that silly Twilight franchise.)

What Nelson has done is to create specific and resonant roles for every cast member and has then given these roles to actors who know how to bring them to immediate and pulsating life -- in what turns out to be a remarkably small amount of screen time. He has also chosen very well the scenes and moments we need to see to understand and appreciate these many characters. (Shown below are Nelson, at right, as Waterston's son, along with Jessica Hecht (far left) as his wife and Hannah Marks (center, left) and Ben Konigsberg (center, right) as their children -- playing two generations suddenly involved in activities as diverse as a cancer prognosis and virginity-losing.

The lovely Gretchen Moll (below, left, with Gloria Reuben) plays an unhappy suburban housewife with a philandering husband and a couple of children to whom she need to be paying better attention. Ms Moll is, as ever, a pleasure to watch.

Pride of place, however, goes to an actor named K. Todd Freeman, whom I've seen a number of times but not paid that much attention to. My mistake. Here he plays a junkie named Joe, trying (but not too hard) to kick his habit. I've seen countless actors play junkies at this point in my long life, but Mr. Freeman's performance is the one I'm most likely to remember. He just about steals the movie, bringing to the role such anger, sadness, power and depth that "memorable" doesn't begin to describe it. Freeman takes this character and turns him into the most honest yet awful and unnecessary waste of potential that you'll have seen.

The movie, without undue pushing or obviousness, takes in the good and the bad while quietly and clearly separating the wheat from the chaff. In the latter category would be Junkie Joe's best friend/lawyer (Michael K. Williams, below, left) who abandons his buddy to spend some very unprofessional time with another lawyer (Annie Parisse, below, right).

Corey Stoll (below) is excellent as always in a role that connects to two of our cast members and results in what looks like the most character change to be experienced by any of these people.

I am leaving out a lot of terrific small-but-smart performances; listing them all would take us into tomorrow, at least. For fans of fine ensemble pieces, Anesthesia is a must, but I think it should also be placed at the top of your list if you appreciate movies that use philosophy as an important and genuine tool for living.

From IFC Films, the movie hits the street -- on DVD and Blu-ray (the transfer is a good one, but nothing like that of the recent Every Thing Will Be Fine) -- Tuesday, June 21. for rental or purchase.

Streaming tip: The French bourgeoisie again in Eric Lavaine's smart and gorgeous BARBECUE

What a pleasure it is to view -- in high definition, too -- the eye-poppingly gorgeous location that plays a large part in BARBECUE, another welcome addition to that ever-growing genre of modern ensemble comedies about the travails of the always-ripe-for-a-little-satire French bourgeoisie. Now available to stream via Netflix, this 2014 film tracks four couples (one of them recently split) and their single, shy-unto-near-silence friend who always tags along, as they bond, argue, spill out secrets and help each other over some tumultuous times. Not too tumul-tuous, however; this sub-genre is a spin-off of the rom-com, after all.

As co-written (with Héctor Cabello Reyes) and directed by Eric Lavaine (pictured at right), the movie sprints delightfully along as it tells the tale of one fellow in the group -- that gorgeous and talented hunk, Lambert Wilson, shown below and at bottom, who seems to grows even more so with age -- who suffers a sudden heart attack while jogging, and in the aftermath decides to change his life.

M. Wilson leads a very capable cast through its paces, which involves the stress and strain of marriage, (in)fidelity, health, economics, employment and dating -- among other travails.

The delight to be found in films such as this generally comes from the characterizations and the acting on view, as well as via the often beautiful setting in which these members of the haute bourgeoisie find themselves. Barbecue is no exception to the rule, and in fact proves one of the better recent examples of this sub-genre (certainly better than the overblown and over-long Little White Lies of a couple of years previous).

The film's look at infidelity among both men and women is done more evenhandedly than usual here, with plenty of blame and understanding to go around, and not so much of the typical patriarchal influence we often see in cinema.

The ensemble cast is excellent, with each member contributing humor and feeling in pretty much equal doses. But the film's ace-in-the-hole has got to be its amazing locations, whether it's that vacation spot high in the hills at which our troupe assembles, where the light and colors -- viewed in hi-def -- are simply exquisite, or the fine and fancy restaurant in which their final celebration takes place.

Almost no middle-class person I know can any longer afford to live like this, but the movies -- bless 'em! -- still enable us to enjoy this kind of beauty and pleasure, at least from afar. Give Barbecue a shot and bask, if only temporarily,  in its atmosphere and charm.

You'll find the film -- in French with English subtitles and running a pleasant 98 minutes -- on Netflix, and maybe elsewhere, too (though Amazon does not seem to have procured it).

Michael Patrick Kelly & Kathleen Kiley's ISN'T IT DELICIOUS boasts a star-studded New York cast

Wow. Kathleen Chalfant, Alice Ripley, Mia Dillon, Robert Lupone, and Malachy McCourt. How's that for a sturdy line-up of New York legitimate theater actors? Plus Keir Dullea (whom we don't get to see in that many new movie roles) and a handful of younger talent. Their vehicle is the new film, ISN'T IT DELICIOUS, directed by Michael Patrick Kelly from a screenplay by Kathleen Kiley. The venue here in New York City is the Quad Cinema, a theater I bring up only because it also hosted the premiere of another movie quite reminiscent of this one: The Abduction of Zack Butterfield. Though never reaching the hilarious level of unintentional camp achieved by the Butterfield abduction (except perhaps in its final WTF moments), Isn't It Delicious may be the most embarrassing film I've seen since that earlier "classic." (And that was in the spring of 2011.)

If you follow my reviews much at all, you already know that I don't enjoy ripping apart a new film, into which has usually gone the heart and soul of the filmmaker and/or screenwriter. So, as much fun as it might be to tear into this one, I am really going to try to hold back a bit -- and just explain semi-rationally what went wrong. Director and co-writer Kelly (shown at right) appears to have had a real fondness for the screenplay submitted to him by Ms Kiley. Since I can only go by what emerged from this collaboration onto the screen, I must say that the Kiley/Kelly combo offers up way too much of a not-very-good thing.

Isn't It Delicious (and, yes, no question mark adheres to this title) is a film about death and dying and family and fighting. And if you already suspect that the family here is dysfunctional to the max, you'd be right on the mark. Pay attention to what's on screen and to the dialog you hear for even a few minutes, and you will want to shriek at the cancerous character played by Ms Chalfant (shown above and below, with Mr. Dullea as her hubby), as my spouse did at one fraught point, "So, die already!"

This is because the storied Ms Chalfant, who possesses bona fides aplenty, takes the dialog given her -- often obvious and overdone to begin with -- and tears into it like a rabid mastiff. But, then, this whole family is so constantly annoying and overwrought that watching them awhile could make willing bachelors and old maids out of any audience. This is a truly dreadful screenplay: underscoring, repeating, and saying the obvious in any case (live life while you can). If the dialog were written with more of an eye for humor (there's some, but it surfaces far too seldom), this might have helped.

But, no, Delicious -- beginning with one funeral (above) and ending with another (at bottom) -- is chock-a-block with life lessons that we damn well better learn. If only Kelly/Kiley had given us more scenes like that in the automobile in which Chalfant notices a stop sign with a line of graffiti scrawled across it. This makes for a very funny, astute moment, one of the few not batted home with a shovel.

Characters seems to exist mostly to teach us, and while certain scenes work better than others (the one featuring a limo driver played by the excellent Ger Duany is among the best), they're all there to educate.
The actors playing Chalfant's children -- Ms Ripley (above), Nick Stevenson (as the older son, below), and Jonah Young (two photos below) as the younger male fare little better than the oldsters because they, too, are asked to constantly bicker and fight till they bore us silly.

I lost count, but I know that we hear the line "I want you to be happy" far too many times. And when the title line is finally spoken, it comes -- oy! -- with a resounding thud.

I suspect that someone here -- writer, director, maybe both -- subscribes to the Buddhist religion. Certainly this figures heavily into the story, and it may account for the final scene, which ends the movie on a high or low note, depending on your idea of what constitutes unintentional camp. Woody Allen once created a scene like this (in Everyone Says I Love You), which worked because it was playful, silly and very funny, as well as making its obvious point. Here, it is embarrassing, almost beyond belief.

Isn't It Delicious opens in Los Angeles this Thursday, December 11, at the NoHo 7; in New York City (at the Quad) and in Chicago (at the Logan Theatre) on Friday, December 12. In addition, the film will have a one-night-only screening on Friday, Dec. 12, at the Palace Theater in Syracuse, New York.

John Herzfeld is back with the ensemble piece REACH ME -- his best work in nearly 20 years

It was the fall of 1996 when a small ensemble film called Two Days in the Valley burst upon the world of us inveterate movie-lovers. This very-unusual-at-the-time movie conflated crime and love, work and play in smart, funny, sometimes shocking ways that proved sublimely entertaining. Within the movie's second-tier but hugely talented cast was a young woman named Charlize Theron, in her first credited film role, and she's a knock-out. (You can rent the movie, which finally came out on DVD a year or two back and will be available on Netflix streaming come December 1. If you've never seen it, do.) At the time of its release, I hadn't heard of its writer/director John Herzfeld, but after seeing this little gem of the we're-all-connected-but-in-pretty-bizarre-ways variety, I knew we'd be hearing from him again.

Then we didn't much -- except for a good cable movie, Don King: Only in America and the not-so-hot 15 Minutes. All of which goes toward delighting me no end that I can now report that Mr. Herzfeld, shown at right, is back again -- and, hallelujah! -- he's in the mode of his earlier 2 Days/Valley success. His new film, REACH ME, is all about the reclusive author (Tom Berenger) of a suddenly mega-popular self-help book and the search to find this man. Like his earlier ensemble piece, this one connects a bunch of disparate people in ways that are funny and entertaining. Although there is some crime involved here, what happens is not nearly as dark and shocking as some of the occurrences in 2 Days/Valley. Herzfeld keeps things on a lighter, more buoyant note this time around, and if his new one doesn't quite come up to the earlier level, it's a very enjoyable and beautifully acted romp nonetheless.

In the ensemble cast are a lot of "names," none perhaps quite as surprising as that of Sylvester Stallone, one of my least favorite actors, playing the role of a big-deal gossip blogger (think maybe a male version of Nikki Finke?). And damned if Stallone isn't first-rate. Who knew?

The rest of the estimable cast includes the likes of Thomas Jane (above), Ryan Kwanten, Kyra Sedgwick (below),

Lauren Cohan (below), a terrific Kevin Connolly, (two photos below), Omari Hardwick, Danny Aiello, Tom Sizemore, Nelly (shown at bottom), Kelsey Grammer (in the penultimate photo) and a whole bunch more -- even the filmmaker himself does a cameo here.

Reach Me (the title of both the movie and the motivational book around which it circles) moves like a house afire and has incredible energy all the way along. Herzfeld's secret, considering how many characters are involved here and how fast the plot unfurls, would seem to be an ability, via his dialog and crack cast, to make every moment strong and true.

This carries us along beautifully, and the movie's subject -- something special and dynamic tossed into today's world of tweets and online immediacy -- makes what's happening seem important enough for us to tag along, and most of the characters are needy and sweet enough, if a bit deranged, to gain our sympathy.

There's a lot of funny dialog that initially adds to the mystery of who's who and what's what but that also seems believable and true. If we lingered longer over events, they might fall apart, but the filmmaker gives us little time for that.

In the end, we've spent 95 fast-paced minutes of crazy, joyous connection that leaves us a bit out of breath, but absolutely grinning with satisfaction.

Reach Me, from Millennium Entertainment and running a sleek 95 minutes, opens this Friday, November 21, in New York City at the AMC Village VII, and via On Demand and digital download.

Pieter Gasperz & Sabrina Gennarino's AFTER tracks the trying turmoil of a fractured family

After what, you might wonder? I did, and finally determined that this movie's title had to do with "after" the diagnosis of Alzheimer's or some other sort of dementia was laid upon one of the movie's characters. But after watching the entire film, and seeing the dedication at its end -- For those who have fallen. To those who remain. -- and then taking into consideration the movie's time frame (it's set back a decade or more), I suspect it has more to do with the aftermath of the 9/11 attack. In any case, AFTER, a thoroughly tiresome and woefully conceived and executed little movie written by Sabrina Gennarino (who also plays one of the ensemble roles) and directed by Pieter Gaspersz (shown below), is such a plodding affair about a family of such clueless assholes, starting with mom and dad on down, that I really don't know why the film is being given a theatrical release.

There are some very good actors in the cast -- John Doman, Kathleen Quinlan, Pablo Schreiber, among others (Ms Gennarino is pretty good, herself) -- and god knows, they give it their best shot. But the screenplay manages to be both repetitive and ridiculous. Spoilers ahead: After treating us to his impossible prejudices, Dad has such a sudden change of heart and mind and probably liver and kidney, too, that you can only wonder what miracle has happened. Further, when his business is utterly trashed so that the big job that needs to be done can't be, he saves the day by calling in every able bodied man in town -- all of whom seem to be available and versed in stone work! If you buy this kind of nonsense, by all means, line up now for tickets. After spending the first two-thirds of the film showing us what nitwits most of her characters (shown at bottom) really are, Ms Gennarino, shown below, does one of those "happy ending" rush jobs that defy explanation, gravity and every other rule of science and art.

Full disclosure: the press screening link I watched via Vimeo worked so poorly that it stopped, started and skipped every couple of minutes. I've only has this bad an experience with one other film --  the Easy Money sequel -- yet that one I enjoyed immensely and gave it a good review. After I did not enjoy, and I cannot in good conscience recommend it to anyone except maybe those of you so new to film viewing that you're still able to bask in just about anything and everything tossed your way.

The movie -- from Paladin, in partnership with Accretion Films -- opens this Friday, August 8, in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and New York City, and next Friday, August 15, in Los Angeles, Phoenix and Tampa. You can see all currently scheduled playdates, with cities and theaters listed, by clicking here. The movie will be released simultaneously to VOD platforms nationwide through Virgil Films.

CARNAGE: Roman Polanski's version of Yasmina Reza's theater piece opens

Do you recall Polish filmmaker Roman Polanski's light touch where comedy is concerned? Nor do I.
I do have a soft spot in my heart for the utter misfire that was The Fearless Vampire Killers (something that bad needs to be put out of its misery, fast), and I never saw Que? (or What? or, as Roger Ebert's review calls that film, Diary of Forbidden Dreams) but I have long heard it was a massive stinker. So, no -- don't let this guy near comedy, please.
Mr. Polanski tends toward the dark, and over the years he has done quite well for himself (and us) by cleaving to it. Not surprisingly, he has made a rather dark concoction out of something that TrustMovies had been told (and audiences evidently thought) was a comedy: Yasmina Reza's hit play The God of Carnage. Polanski's shortened version, running just 80 minutes (and still too long), is called simply CARNAGE. And indeed it makes mild carnage out of its progenitor.

Opening out into the cool, crisp air of a park, the filmmaker (shown at left) begins and ends with the kids who create the problem that brings our four top-notch but quite miscast actors together. For the remainder of the film, just as I am told happened in the play, we're stuck in a New York apartment with four characters of whom (in the movie version, at least) we quickly tire. Which bring us to the abject misfire of the casting. With the exception of John C. Reilly, this quartet could hardly have been more poorly conceived. They possess "big names," yes, but didn't someone mention to anyone else connected with this fiasco that three of the four are not given to comedy? There is hardly a genuine laugh to be had in the entire movie. What mild humor there is comes from the heavy-handed irony, present from the outset, in which our little troupe tries to act like civilized people while utterly hating each other (and themselves). We quickly "get" it. Then we are asked to keep "getting it" for the rest of the film.

Worse, the movie is obviously a "set-up" -- a manufactured thing with little of the organic about it. Several times the visiting couple appears to be leaving (as well it should). And yet the two stick around on the faintest, silliest of pretexts. Noel Coward might have made us believe this through some witty dialog, but that certainly doesn't happen here. So we just shrug and say, OK: Feed me this obvious drivel, and let's get on with it.

As to that cast, instead of the theatrical (and comedic) heavy-hitters who appeared on Broadway, we get Jodie Foster in place of Marcia Gay Harden, Christoph Waltz going on for Jeff Daniels, Kate Winslet rather than Hope Davis, and John C. Reilly in place of James Gandolfini.  Having not seen the Broadway version, I can't stake my life on the fact that its actors did a better job with the material, but -- really -- simply compare (yes, I know, that's odious) and you can spot a lot of reasons why the theatrical troupe would be better. First of all, we know how truly funny, each in his/her various way, Harden, Daniels, Davis and Gandolfini can be. But we would hardly say the same about Winslet, Waltz and especially Foster. Put these generally heavyweight, serious actors under someone like Polanski, whose sense of comedy, not to mention irony, is heavy-handed, and that explains much of what we see. (Only Mr. Reilly is a genuine comic actor, with probably a broader range than we yet know, and while Mr. Waltz may have done some comedy in his native Austria, we haven't seen it over here.)

Ms. Foster, above, whose dramatic acting skills are often memorable, is so out of place here that when she tries to smile and loosen up a bit, the rictus grin looks like an homage to Mr. Sardonicus. Real comic actors are supremely comfortable, even as they are convincing us how uncomfortable they are. Foster appears genuinely uncomfortable throughout, and that's no fun for anyone. Even her most dramatic moments register as false, but that may be because they are supposed to register as funny.

Ms Winslet, above, fares better, perhaps because she understands how to relax within her confines.  Ultimately, she, too, can't tap much humor out of this tired and obvious situation, but at least she's not difficult to watch.

Mr Waltz, above, with an accent that comes and goes, from Austrian to mid-Atlantic to sort-of-American, is the character that puts us in closest touch with the god of carnage, as he calls it. His near-constant and inappropriate (given the situation) cell-phone usage grows more and more annoying without  -- once again -- growing any more amusing.

Only Mr. Reilly,above, manages the comfort level necessary to perform his paces. He's very good, as usual, but by having little to play off, given the other three non-comic actors, his is a performance in a kind of vacuum.

The major misfire of the season (if not the entire year) -- an awards contender? Oh, please -- Carnage, from Sony Pictures Classics, opens tomorrow, Friday, December 16, in New York City at the Angelika Film Center, Cinemas 1 2 3, and the Lincoln Plaza Cinema. In Los Angeles, see it at the Arclight or The Landmark. In the following days and weeks, it will open across the country; click here to view all currently scheduled playdates.

LET IT RAIN opens, Jaoui & Bacri score again; interview with the director

I think we look to the films of Agnès Jaoui -- The Taste of Others, Look at Me, and now LET IT RAIN (Parlez-moi de la pluie) -- for a kind of confirmation: the suggestion that life, however harried and bizarre, is full of marvelous little things, moments sad or sweet but often funny that quietly resonate.  There are plenty of these in this writer/director/
actress' new film, and they tumble, as usual, out of the behavior of her characters.  The husband in bed at the end of the day, feeling abandoned because his wife is reading; the French-Algerian young man who has decided to make a documentary and now must endure round-after-round of eyebrow-raising from the "French"; there's even a scene of characters getting high on pot that manages, against all odds, to break new ground.

Less apparently satiric than The Taste of Others, and less dark than Look at Me, Let It Rain tracks a would-be politician (played with relish and strength by Jaoui, shown at right); her current squeeze, the ever-affecting Frédéric Pierrot (below, right); her sister and that "abandoned" hubby; the documentary men, played by the singularly delightful Jamel Debbouze (shown at right, two photos down) and Ms Jaoui's real-life significant-other Jean- 
Pierre Bacri (shown at left, two photos down); the housekeeper of the family (also the Debbouze character's mother), and a handful more of  real but quirky people who bounce in and out of the situation -- which grows funnier, richer and quite a bit more complex as things progress.

Ms Jaoui likes to thrust us into the middle of the situation and let us find our bearings as we can, so it takes awhile for her movie to coalesce. But so real and well-limned seem the characters on view that most art-film audiences are likely to hang on and slowly-but-happily rise to the occasion that the movie-maker presents.  Along the way, we get some insight into French politics, family, farming, the immigration/"other" situation and of course lessons in amour.  One of the best of many good scenes takes place at the home of brother farmers who provide food for tummy and thought for our would-be politician and her film-making pair.

Let It Rain, from IFC Films, opens Friday, June 18, in New York City at  the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and the Angelika Film Center, followed by a limited national rollout over the weeks to come.

****************

Our interview with Agnès Jaoui, as well as the screening of her new film, was overseen by Sophie Gluck & Associates -- one of New York City's premiere PR agencies for the handling of foreign films (and their filmmakers). We met Ms Jaoui one recent late spring afternoon at Manhattan's very contemporary Cooper Square Hotel, where the actress/writer/director looked radiant, even at the end of a long day of press interviews ("She gets better as the day goes on," noted her translator -- whom Ms Jaoui barely needed.) In the following, TrustMovies is shown in boldface, with Jaoui in standard type:

First off: Will you state your name aloud for me?

Agnès Jaoui.

(For readers who care about propriety, let’s tackle actually speaking the name properly: Agnès is pronounced Ahn-yes and Jaoui is pronounced Zhow-ee: Combine the “Ja” of the French name Jacques -- as in Cousteau -- with the “owie” of uh, well, “ zowie!” then place the accent on the last syllable. Go ahead, try it: We’ve got to show those French that we can master their pronunciation…)

I liked this film very much, but then I have liked all of the three films you’ve directed. I’ve even liked films that you’ve starred in but have not directed: 24 Hours in a Woman’s Life and — my favorite, I think – The Role of Her Life.

Yes, I like that one!

It one was so much fun! What, for you, are the biggest differences between acting in your own films and in someone else’s movies?

Acting in another’s movie is like… just a holiday!

I believe that.

Oh, yes, it is a holiday. Sure, I could say that sometimes it is hard because sometimes you are cold, or you are too hot. Or sometime your partner is ugly or mean. But no, really, it is just a pleasure, a holiday. Especially because I can also now choose the parts I want -- because I have no more financial necessity. Yes, it is really easy, making another’s movie compared to playing in your own movie. The other big difference is when I am playing in these other movies, I know that my director, he desires me. I mean…

You mean he has “chosen” you?

Yes, that’s it.

Well, maybe he desires, you, too! Why not?

No! (She laughs)

We’d better not go there.

Yes, he chose me. That is the right word. When I write for myself, I choose the role for me. And also, we never write me an “Oscar” part. Because I would be ashamed to do that.

You mean in someone else’s movie – or in your own?

I mean in my own. To write that kind of role for me. I would feel ridiculous, you know?

And when you say Oscar, you mean a César Award?

Yes. And in films like The Role of Her Life or 24 Hours…, for example, I would never have written those for myself.

I see what you mean. Your films are more modest, it seems to me.

Ummm… yes.

What I liked about this latest film is how inclusive it seems and how kind you are to all your characters. You see their flaws, but you don’t punish them for these flaws. They do that for themselves -- and very well.  (She laughs and shakes her heads, yes.)

I also like how so much happens in the movie: politics, filmmaking, romance; one love affair begins, another ends. Yet it is all sort of buried, most of it, and threads in and out throughout the film. And nothing is pushed. This is one of the things you do very well.

Thank you. Thank you very much. We tried!

You succeeded. And I think this is why a lot of Americans who go to art films or foreign films appreciate yours because they are not pushed -- in the way Hollywood often pushes things. You also mention in the press material that you were more relaxed with this film.

Yes, that might be the only thing I have learned since my debut is that you don’t need to be too stressful. Nothing needs to be too strenuous. You can always do it again, if you must. But I have a tendency to always want to be a “good student.” To never…

Make mistakes?

Yes, make mistakes. To be late, to spend more money than I have. To… to…

(Her translator pipes up: "To follow the rules"?)

Yes, to follow the rules, and again, to be a good student.

So you will get an “A”.

Exactly! Which is good. Because I am responsible, after all. And now I learn a little bit to be more relaxed....

Well, accidents can sometimes be happy ones.

Yes. And there are always solutions. The important thing is to always have distance on things. But sometimes this is hard, due to the rhythm of the shooting.

Is it harder to have distance when you are watching yourself perform?

This is very strange: Yes and no. For example, my conception of myself is very different from that of Jean-Pierre’s or that of my editor. Sometimes when I am editing, I prefer me in one take, but others say no, you are better in that other one. Sometimes I listen to them, sometimes I listen to me. So all this forces you to be very humble. When you are just an actress, to be beautiful is very important. But when you are shooting your own movie, really, after awhile, you see yourself so much, so often that you begin to see yourself as just an object. This is a very strange distortion. You even dream about yourself in a different way. You are used to your own face. But going there, sometimes, you are just somebody else. And soon, most of the time in fact, you just don’t care anymore how you look.

It seems to me your character in this film, Agathe, would make a pretty good politician.

I agree, yes.

Particularly by the end, because I think she has learned and changed. And because she can change and adapt, I have more faith in her. She might do very well.

I agree completely with you! Yesterday, there was a journalist who was very young and she was French, and she told me that she thought that I, as a director, did not have a very good opinion of politicians. But I said no, not at all. I did show somebody who was not a professional politician, but I think she will become a very good politician as she learns to be more concerned for others. I have now met a lot of -- how do you say? -- militants, and some of them remind me of the 70s, in their monomaniacal view. They are obsessed and not able to listen because they are so focused on their own ideas. On the other hand I have admiration for them. Without them, a lot of things would not be possible. You need to be focused on all that. Again, nothing is completely white or black. This Agathe character, I think I like her much more than does my audience in general.

That’s good. You should like her, since you are playing her!

Yes. Because I understand her and I know a lot of this kind of women who fight. They have to be "hard" to succeed. But in being themselves, sometimes they are too hard.

I think women always have to be a little better, a little harder, pushier. Unless they are just so beautiful that they can get away with stuff. But then, that beauty can create its own problems.

Exactly.

From which director for whom you’ve worked did you learn the most (and by this I mean both what to do and what not to do).

What not to do, I will not say or mention names. But I have learned the most from Alain Renais.

What movies did you make with him?

Same Old Song and Smoking/No Smoking.

You know, I did not realize who you were when I saw those movies. But next time I watch them I will be aware! So from Alain Resnais you learned the most. That’s nice – because there is a lot to learn there!

There is a lot to learn from him. You know how you sometimes would think that the works you admire the most, that you would also love the author of these works. Then you discover that… that…

The author is not such a great person. Yeah, right!

Yes, in fact, an awful person -- even though the movie or theater piece or music is wonderful. It is some dream you have when you are young, and it is hard to renounce that dream. But here, in this case….

You can love both the work and the man who made it.

Yes, exactly.

That is lovely to hear!

Yes, it is wonderful. It was really good to meet somebody and finally think, this is possible! I was thinking, after awhile, that this does not exist. That you have to be méchant -- mean -- to succeed. Yes, you can do beautiful work but you have to be a son-of-a-bitch. It was very unpleasant for me. Then I met him! Also, he is working as a painter. And my best friend is also a painter, and I felt he is somebody so creative, so… always looking for inventions and I like that very much, too. Also the relationship of trust he creates with all his crew and especially with his actors is another example. So now, always, I try to create this same thing with actors, as other directors -- like Resnais --have done for me.

(Agnes begins to cough a bit and I ask if she needs some water. Instead she lights up a cigarette. I tell her she should not be smoking, and she laughs)

I don’t smoke that much. Very little. And I began a few years ago, at the same time when everybody else was stopping....

Why? Because you have always liked to be different?

No, not at all. Other reasons. It was very strange… (We don’t go there, but back to the film.)

I suspect that you do your own casting. You probably use a casting director, but you must also know whom you want.

I am an actress and so I go very often to cinema and to legitimate theater. I love to discover new people. I don’t like to work so often with famous actors.

Because they are more difficult?

Not at all. May be it is a little bit silly, but I think they are already there. They don’t need me. They have their career, their money. And I have so much admiration for theater actors. And I know some of them who have never had the possibility of being on the screen, so for this reason I like to use them. And also as a spectator, if I see a new actor whom I do not know, it is much easier to very quickly see them as the character they are playing. In two seconds! Whereas if I see Al Pacino, whose work I adore, still, he is Al Pacino, and it may take me one hour before I think, OK, he is the character.

Also I think it is a chance for a director or story teller to use someone new, as in the case of this film’s character, Mimouna (the actress Mimouna Hadji is shown below, left), the middle-eastern mother and maid of the house.

Oh, yes—that’s what I also wanted to ask you about. I love how you handle the question of, well, we would say, immigration. But this is not really immigration because the Algerians have been in France now for generations.

Ah, but it is still immigration!

Right. You handle this so well in making them a part of the family. And yet, not.

That is exactly the point.

Yes.

And Jamel Debbouze (shown below). I love him. He is so good. He was in that French war film, Days of Glory, right -- and in Angel A? He is really special. I’ve never seen anyone quite like him.

And he is even more special than that! Because what you don’t know is that he is a kind of stand-up comedian in France, with his own TV show -- a real hero of France. The French people adore him because he is so funny, so witty, really one of the most popular guys in France.

We get the signal that our time is up. So we thank Ms Jaoui (and her translator) and Sophie Gluck, and hightail it uptown to our next screening.

(All photos above are from Let It Rain, courtesy of IFC Films.)