Eric Rohmer: Interviews

The Amateur: An Interview with Eric Rohmer

124 The Amateur: An Interview with Eric Rohmer Antoine de Baecque and Thierry Jousse / 1993 From Cahiers du cinéma, February 23, 1993. Translated from the French by FH. Watching The Tree, the Mayor and the Mediatheque, one understands that Rohmer is continuing his journey towards simplicity. To get there, he needs a method, which is that of a filmmaker who has definitively broken away from the cult of professionalism. This interview is a defence and an illustration of a light economy, 16mm film, and filming as a family affair. Q: Let’s start with a concrete question. ER: Yes, let’s. Q: Traditionally, a film crew is perceived, usually correctly, as a group of invaders when they arrive on location. How did you work to not give that impression when you arrived at the small village in the Vendée where you filmed The Tree, the Mayor and the Mediatheque? ER: I am always furious when, wanting to film somewhere, the owners of the property refuse, frightened by the damage from earlier film crews. In general, when a crew has filmed, the location resembles a battlefield. On the contrary, I make it a point of honor to respect the location. No breakages, no disappearances, and a discreet crew, even if there are more of them than on the last film. In the case of The Tree, the Mayor and the Mediatheque, it was some friends who lent me a place, in particular the chateau where the crew slept, ate, and filmed. We came as friends, respecting the place. As for street scenes, whether in Paris or in a village, our role is to be the “invisible man.” Furthermore, in the chateau there were eight bedrooms, including the owner’s, to accommodate everybody, antoine de baecque and thierry jousse / 1993 125 crew and cast, so everybody. The actors had to take it in turns, according to their other jobs, and there were never more than two at a time in the Vendée. As for the technicians, there were three of them, two for image and sound, and Françoise Etchegaray for all the rest, from the lighting to general management. . . . In this case, I don’t know if we can really talk about a crew, more a little gang where everyone, me included of course, had to take it in turns to make sure everything was working, whether to hold a projector or to cook. In general, anyway, I make sure I work with resourceful people who are able to look after themselves while filming , while editing, while sound editing. On The Tree, the Mayor and the Mediatheque, for example, it was the same sound engineer, Pascal Ribier, who filmed, edited, and undertook postproduction, as the film went on. That makes the group very responsible. This group of four, which I had already used for The Green Ray and Reinette and Mirabelle, is completely achievable. It satisfies me completely and I’m very at ease for sound and image recording. I never do complicated things, but everything I do is done well. Q: Is it the subject matter of The Tree, the Mayor and the Mediatheque which made you want to work in this way, or is it the other way around, and the method caused a particular approach to the story? ER: I had a point of departure, which was the location and my four actors , Arielle Dombasle, Pascal Greggory, Fabrice Luchini, and Clémentine Amouroux. Then I decided to write the dialogue as we filmed, having in my head the idea of working absolutely in the conditions of an amateur. A more written story and a more “professional” shooting script would have been artificial in this environment where the point was, as the end of the day, to get people to talk. I wanted to avoid clichés, which would have been dangerous for a film whose themes could be seen as clich éd: politics, the countryside, themes furthermore which I don’t know well, at least not directly, and that I master less well than my usual subjects . Politics is something I know through the intermediary of newspapers and television, i.e., through a certain number of clichés, and these were clichés I didn’t want to reproduce, even if I was going to have to film them as well. This film, through its subject and its setting, was therefore better if it was more amateur than professional. It was a clearly made political...