Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche became friends while playing lovers in “Wuthering Heights.” A few years later, they would share the screen again in “The English Patient” by Anthony Minghella, that historical epic that would take them to the awards. Oscar.
They have maintained contact in the years since, bonded by those early experiences and their mutual admiration for each other's minds and processes. There were dinners, phone calls and trips to see him perform on stage. Binoche went to see him in “Macbeth.” He went to see her in “Antigone.”
But they had not managed to work together until now. And, appropriately for the occasion, the story is an epic: the reunion of Odysseus and Penelope.
“We are very, very, very good friends”Fiennes said. “There is trust, there is a bond, there is respect. There is the love of friends and we celebrate each other's work.”
“The Return” has been a passion project for director and co-writer Uberto Pasolini, who worked on the project off and on for about 30 years (longer than Odysseus' entire journey, he noted).
“I thought he was too old,” Fiennes said. “He said, 'No, no, no, you're there. This is your last year.'”
Binoche and Fiennes spoke to The Associated Press about the enduring appeal of Homer's story, his process and the value of fighting for provocative cinema. Their responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.
-What attracted you to take on this film at this stage?
Fiennes: -I have been fascinated by Odysseus since I was a child and my mother read Greek myths to me. I think it has something to do with coming home and having the courage and sense of destiny to take what is yours, to clarify what you have. There are big symbols at play in this piece. Uberto had shared it with me for some time and we got to the point of, well, when are we going to do this? And who should play Penelope? And I said, “It has to be Juliette Binoche”. And he said, “Don't you think it should be Juliette Binoche?” And I said, “That's just what I said. Uberto, it has to be Juliette Binoche.”
Binoche: -In another interview, he didn't want to say that he chose me. And I said, “Why don't you say it?” So now he's saying it three times. I'm so happy.
F: -It wasn't long before Juliette Binoche was the only person on the planet who could play Penelope.
B:-I didn't ask for that much.
F:-I'm saying it. You can't say that. I do.
-How did you prepare to embody these mythological characters?
B::- You prepared more than me. Ralph really trained like crazy for it. As for me, you want to be present and allow the truth in the moment and make these figures, these great myths, these archetypes, real. Uberto was quite controlling because he wanted to be so successful with this film, he wanted it to be so close to his dream. We had to relax it somehow so that we had space to participate in this acting moment between us. We wanted to give something special to the film so that people would experience as a viewer something ancient and yet very true and modern.
F: -We felt strongly that once we were going to do it, we were on this shared path. You have the baggage of these two archetypes, symbols that are elevated, mythical. Our job is to make them human. We felt the pressure of that all the time and we were hungry to do it and we wanted it. It was something we talked about: Please don't over-define every second of how you're going to film this because we'll get to a place where with our combined energies we hope to send you messages about how you want to film it.
-Both are working a lot and playing really rich roles like in “La passion de Dodin Bouffant” and “Conclave”. People tend to be very pessimistic about the state of the industry, and yet wonderful films are still being made. Are they optimistic? Do you feel inspired?
F:-The industry faces a challenge. And I know that the world of financing independent films has a very big challenge. I think I'm a bit of a dinosaur. The days of independent films that were going to be in theaters, I think may have passed. The hunger for going to the movies is something that could be waning, and we're always grateful when we hear about movies where people have left their homes to experience the cinema.
So that begs the question about what the cinema experience is. Everything is changing and shifting. But there are determined writers, producers, actors, directors who believe in making provocative adult dramas. I read about this movie, “The Brutalist.” I'm dying to see it. It sounds extraordinary. Sounds exactly like what I'm trying to describe. A brave filmmaker who is determined to go out and push the limits with a work. There are people who are determined to continue giving us this expression in cinema. But it is very difficult.
B:-As an audience, you have to observe what remains in you. Because, of course, you're going to have a wonderful time while you're watching and thinking, wow, you're doing this and that and this color and this rhythm and the editing is exciting, but at the end of the day, what do you take away with you? What remains in you? I think that's the key question because otherwise you spend hours and hours looking at things and you don't think about it the next day or the next hour. It's ridiculous, in my opinion, because it needs to nourish something in your life. I believe that a form of art can change your life. And we do it with that purpose.
Photo Matt Licari/Invision/AP
Source: AP
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