I got something pretty rare: American power and a lot of money to distribute the film (Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004)) worldwide. I can tell you politicians from right to left are so proud of the film, actors, technicians, everybody except the independent French producers who campaigned against it. But, you know we live in a capitalist world where the only thing is to earn money. They want to get rid of Warners from France. They are not prepared to share the cake.
Audrey Tautou looks like a little elf with big eyes, like a deer. She`s the perfect actress for me, because she`s able to do both comedy and drama. That`s pretty rare in France. Most French actors are only able to play realistic. Even Catherine Deneuve plays the same way all the time.
I hate the naturalism, ... especially in the French films. They don`t care about the picture. ... And they speak and they speak. It`s a drama in a kitchen, a couple fighting.
Cinema since the New Wave always seems to be about a couple fighting in the kitchen. I prefer to write positive stories.
It`s the perfect place to work.
You know, when you have some success in France, they don`t like you,
(Superstitious Mathilde (Tautou) refuses to believe the news that her fiance, Manech (Gaspard Ulliel), died during the war and sets out to find him in) A Very Long Engagement. ... the story is so complicated ... even we were lost at times.
A Very Long Engagement
When you are in love with a story, you have to take your time to follow it and to fall in love again one time. You need some time. And I need to be in love with a story because I am going to spend four years of my life inside without pleasure, without seeing anybody, you work 16 hours per day and at the weekend and I need to be in love with each detail.