As he presents his 51st feature film, “Finalement”, at the Venice Film Festival, Claude Lelouch shares his ambition to continue directing.
“I can’t wait until next year to start filming!”: Claude Lelouch, who is presenting his 51st film out of competition at Venice at the age of 86, has no intention of hanging up his gloves.
“As long as ideas come to my head, I will continue to do this job. And, right now, I have never had so many ideas,” he declared at a press conference.
“I know very well that at some point, at my age, I can be told to stop at any time. And, for the moment, my brain is still working very well and above all, I continue to be amazed,” he added.
New feature film expected
Son 51e film, Eventually (released on November 13 in France), is a comedy with Kad Merad, Elsa Zylberstein, Michel Boujenah, Sandrine Bonnaire and Françoise Fabian in the main roles.
A film that “is very similar to him”, says Lelouch. It follows the tribulations of Lino, a brilliant lawyer played by Kad Merad who abandons his career and his family to wander the roads of France, multiplying unusual encounters. His wife, a famous actress (Elsa Zylberstein), follows in his footsteps, accompanied by their best friend (Michel Boujenah).
“I think we’ve created a world that makes us prisoners. At some point we’re prisoners of everything we have. We’re prisoners of our family, our children, our work. (…) We all at some point want to start our lives over again,” explained the director during the film’s press conference.
“A film that is very similar to me”
Lino’s tribulations are imbued with an inveterate optimism, carried by music, whether through Kad Merad’s trumpet or the songs he performs, composed by Didier Barbelivien.
“It’s true that I have the unfortunate tendency to be optimistic. I’m optimistic because I experienced the war, the post-war period. I escaped the worst. And when you escape the worst, afterwards, everything else is very sweet,” commented the filmmaker.
The character of Lino “completely symbolizes this man who seeks the essential, without seeking it. He lets himself be carried away by the present. And the present, it has all the qualities”, he explained. “It’s a film that resembles me a lot”, he concluded.
Before the official screening of his film on Monday evening, Lelouch will receive the “Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker” award from the 81st edition of the Mostra, “dedicated to a personality who has left a particularly original mark on contemporary cinema.”
The 86-year-old filmmaker is known worldwide for A man and a womancrowned with a Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1966 and two Oscars.
