Michelle, a healthy septuagenarian, lives in a pretty country house in Burgundy. Between cafes with her old friend Marie-Claude and her vegetable garden, Michelle leads a quiet existence. Quiet, but not serene. Indeed, with her daughter Valérie, it is not easy. Tense, their relationship is further undermined when Valérie, who has come to entrust her son Lucas to her grandmother for the summer, becomes poisoned with a pan of mushrooms picked by Michelle. Accident ? Attempted murder? With the movie When autumn comesFrançois Ozon reconnects with the subtle psychological vein of Under the sand. The result is a new ambiguous vintage, which we were able to discuss with the main person concerned.
“I have wanted for a while to make a film about elderly people, who are quite invisible in French cinema, women, in particular,” explains François Ozon, reached in Paris by videoconference.
“There aren't many roles for very old women. I hear central, important roles that carry the film. I said to myself that it would be relevant to focus on women who are retired… on a grandmother who lives in the countryside…”
The context is rural, therefore, but not necessarily idyllic… Film buffs familiar with François Ozon's cinema know this: with him, the calmer the surface, the murkier what lies beneath. In this case, it was a family anecdote which gave the film its disturbing touch.
“One of my great-aunts had organized a dinner for which she had collected mushrooms. She had invited the whole family. Except the mushrooms were poisonous, and everyone got sick except her, since she hadn't eaten them. It was an accident, but still. I wasn't there: my parents told me. I loved the idea that my great-aunt had tried to screw over the whole family,” recalls François Ozon without hiding his macabre amusement.
Through a process of association, the writer-director's desire to make a film about “a grandmother who lives in the countryside” awakened this childhood memory about the great-aunt with the poisonous mushrooms.
“I thought I could merge this family anecdote with the story of this fictional grandmother. And quickly, this grandmother who is apparently a perfect granny cake to whom we would give the good Lord without confession, I wanted her to be more… realistic. That is to say with a past. »
And not just any past…
Create and nourish ambiguity
In addition to the intoxication which does not kill Valérie, but makes her even more angry with her mother, whom she already treated in a pitiful manner, another disastrous event will complicate the plot of the film. In the same way that we are not sure whether the poisoning was premeditated or accidental, this second development is also surrounded by a certain mystery.
In fact, throughout, François Ozon maintains absolute ambiguity. In that the filmmaker gives enough clues to support two contrary theses. In short, it is up to the audience to decide whether certain characters were unlucky or committed a crime. And again, the premeditated act does not constitute the only other solution than the accident: it could also be an unconscious impulse, a “failed act”…
“Yes, absolutely,” agrees the filmmaker. What's funny is that, when I toured France, people were ready to fight in the room, because there were some who didn't think the same thing at all, sometimes at within the same couple. There were some who said that this woman is a criminal, and others who saw the opposite in her as a sort of saint. I had a lot of fun. I know exactly everything that happened. Because, when you write a screenplay, you have to know everything. Afterwards, it's true that I made the choice to play with the public, to whom I share Michelle's point of view. But Michelle, she doesn't have all the information: she doesn't know everything. »
Among other things in relation to Vincent, the son of her friend Marie-Claude, who is released from prison, and whom Michelle takes under her wing. What if, in a misguided desire to protect the latter, Vincent had committed the irreparable? Maybe yes, maybe no.
“The ambiguity was not that difficult to construct. My script was very clear and contained all the ellipses which purposely left certain developments unclear. Afterwards, the actors, in the incarnation, did a lot to increase this ambiguity, to suggest ambivalence… Hélène Vincent and Pierre Lottin are very good at that. Hélène, she can suddenly go from kindness and gentleness to incredible harshness. We say to ourselves: “But who did she kill? She has a dead body in the fridge or something! ? » Pierre Lottin, it's the same. He is an actor who has a lot of charm and, at the same time, who easily becomes disturbing. Both were perfect for this story. »
Resolutely enigmatic
Another crucial aspect to consider: Michelle's cognitive faculties, which are also falling apart, maybe. Ambiguity, ambiguity…
“Michelle is getting older. She wonders if she is becoming senile. Her memories mix, she imagines things, she has apparitions…”
With these recurring hallucinations which lead, here and there, the film towards a sort of realistic dreamlike, the kinship with Under the sand reaffirms itself. And this was another film intended to be a love letter to mature actresses, well. Thus, after Charlotte Rampling, it is Hélène Vincent’s turn (A few hours of spring) to find yourself at the heart of a story that is as gripping as it is resolutely enigmatic.
To note François Ozon on this subject: “In life, we are not aware of everything. We don't see everything that's happening around us. As a result, we sometimes draw conclusions that are erroneous, and we take actions that result from these errors of assessment. I didn't want to have an omniscient point of view. I preferred to develop a sort of puzzle : the spectator has various elements at his disposal, and it is up to him to construct and interpret this story as he wants. People can project a lot of things into the film…”
If this is indeed the case, it is also largely because of the many secrets revealed or kept quiet. In terms of dissimulations, the film proves to be as fertile as the undergrowth where the famous – or rather infamous – plants grow through which misfortune happens.
This goes for all characters, without exception. Indeed, everyone, at one point or another in the film, hides something banal or serious, depending on the case. Combined, all these “somethings” contribute to a strong impression of strengths possibly harmful at work behind the apparent harmlessness.
Again, it's like mushrooms: despite their harmless appearance, many act like poison.
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