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tlililcl'cnt l'rom Mademoiselle :\lllelic. ‘.\Iathildc is a \cry painl'ul character. who carries desperation in her.‘ says the 36-year-old 'I'autou when we meet in her hometown oI Paris. "I’his role made me more concentrated and solitary on the set. Not that I was crying all the time but I didn't I'eel as light as I did on .‘Ime/ic.‘
Based on a novel by Sebastien .laprisot. .-I May Lung lineage/Hen! is every bit as idiosyncratic as .lcunct‘s (“HUI/l". or l'or that matter I)('/i'('ult'.v.v('u and ’/‘/I(' ('I'ly‘ (if/1M! ('IIi/(ln'n. the two Iilnls he co—directcd with Marc ('aro. Swapping the contemporary streets oI Monmartrc seen in .llimilit' l'or post-WWI Paris. 'l‘autou's Mathilde sets out to track down her lover (played by newcomer (laspard I'lIieI) with an unerring determination. It‘s the culmination til a decade- Iong dream lor the 5I-year-old .leunet. who lirst considered .Iuliette Binochc tor the role. Now. he says. il‘ 'I'autou had turned him down. he wouldn‘t have made the lilm.
‘I watched a bit (ll..'IIII("/l'(’ two weeks ago. and I was so surprisedf he remarks. ‘Audrey was like a little girl. like a IZ-ycar-old. in that. As Mathilde. she‘s much stronger and more powerl'ulf But how has she changed as a person since the success ol~ Ame/iv plastered her face all around Paris and beyond'.’ ‘She has changed a lot. She had an experience with Stephen I’rears [Dirty l’n'lly' Things] and Alain Resnais ll’us .vur /u [four/tel and the success changed her. I.il‘e changed and it was impossible l'or her to go in a restaurant or walk on the street. Now. she‘s much more coml‘ortable. She's happy; maybe becatise she's in love.' He puts his linger to his lips. and with a cheeky smile whispers: 'Ssshhf'
I";lllltltlsl_\‘ shy in the French media about revealing any details about her love me (there are rumours she is engaged to writer I.ance Ma/manian). 'I‘autou does not seem overly happy that her director has revealed this little titbit of information. 'I never talk about my private Iil‘e to .lean-Pierre.‘ she blasters. ‘I'm a very secret person. He doesn't know my apartment. my friends . . . I am not willing to show my l‘eelings. Iispecially with l‘eelings and intimacy. I am very jealous about guarding that. I keep it all to mysell‘.‘ While her director may be heading for a ticking ol'l' later from the l‘eisty Tautou. it's evident she has found a collalmrator who understands her talents implicitly. ‘Now with lean-Pierre .leunet. we still have the same understanding and pleasure working together. We know each other and read each other's minds. So there‘s no seducing in the movie: we just know we have the same passion.'
While .leunet has often built tip relationships with some of his male actors — notably Dominique Pinion. who has appeared in all of his lilms and here plays Mathilde's uncle — his
', 311.? //
relationship with 'Iautou seems to work on a dil‘l‘erent level. .\'ot a girl to roll over and please the director any which way she can. 'l‘autou is the sort ol actress who needs to mentally tussle with llc‘l' lllltstcl' lk‘lttl‘c‘ \llc goes belorc the cameras. 'What was dil'licult was that I discovered Mathilde reading the novel. then I read the screenplay.~ she says. ‘So in the novel there was one Mathilde and in the script there was another. Then I had to conl‘ront .leunet and see how he imagined her. 'I'here‘s always this lamin look among the various cluiracters ol' .leunet and I had to weave a pattern between the various Mathildes that I imagined.‘
Rather like an unlaithl‘ul husband. a director has more than one mistress. and .leunet is no exception. In this case. .Iotlie liostet‘. who takes an extended cameo in the lilm. performed in lluent I5rench. ‘She‘s completely perl'ect.‘ .leunet sighs. ‘I don‘t understand why. She went to
‘WE READ EACH OTHER'S MINDS SO THERE'S NO SEDUCING IN THE MOVIE; WE JUST KNOW WE HAVE THE SAME PASSION'
school in I.:\ but ljttstilied in the script that she was from Poland. but it wasn‘t necessary. Jodie is very simple. easy and professional: no star.‘ With the score also composed by David Lynch regular Angelo Badalamenti. and much ol the $5511] budget put up by Warner Brothers. this is Jeunet‘s lirst dabble in Hollywood since he made the troubled Alien lx’csiu'rmimz in I997. ‘When I met them. I was a little bit worried. I said I want to make the film in I‘rench. I love Stanley Kubrick. but I didn't like Pal/Is o/‘(i/m'y with American actors playing French characters. Pretty weird.‘ They agreed and gave him linal cut: a big risk on an expensive foreign language movie.
.-\s for Tautou. she is more liaithl'ul to the I‘rench film industry. denying having any ambition to go to Hollywood for the sake of it. 'I'm not interested in making a film that will probably be seen. but is a really bad film. I know people will go and see a lilm by Jeunet. .-\II I go through will be worthwhile.‘ While Jeunet. l'or the lirst time in years. is now at a loss l'or what to do next. you can be sure he'll be thinking ol Audrey 'I‘autou when he decides.
A Very Long Engagement is on selected release from Fri 21 Jan. See film review, page 47.
Tautou and Jeunet get set for another mental tussle
PAIRS WITH FLAIR
The Tautou/Jeunet teaming is just the latest in a long line of legendary partnerships between leading ladies and their moviemaking men. Paul Dale investigates.
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