“Life is the greatest screenwriter in the world”

Claude Lelouch : This project was born from my 50th film, since each film invents the one after it. I have spent my life observing the men, women and eras that I have had the chance to experience, and my films are the result of my intimate conviction. I wanted to make a film about today, about this incredible period that we are going through. We have all the tools to create a new world or hasten the end of the world. So there is great suspense. This is also the suspense of this film which talks about love, friendship, health, family, money, everything that means we don't have time to get bored. .

Kad, what interested you about Lino’s score?

Kad Merad : I wasn't meant for this movie and, when it starts like this, I'm interested [Rires] ! Claude had thought of all the actors, except me, so this challenge interested me even more! Then, when the meeting took place and Claude Lelouch gave me the script, I obviously read very quickly, with great enthusiasm. I loved the character of Lino, to whom I felt very close. Between the pleasure of working with Claude and this role, I could only accept. It's magnificent for an actor, it's like a gift in fact.

What kind of director is Claude Lelouch on a set?

K. M. : As he's next door, it bothers me, because he's a real tyrant… Everyone knows he terrorizes his actors. I suffered a lot, I had a lot of trouble getting over it. Fortunately, I followed a disinfection treatment, I would even say a “déloulouchisation” [Rires] ! I'm joking of course, everything I say is false. Claude is, in reality, a very loyal person. This is why we always find the same actors and actresses in his cinema.

People love working with Claude, because he's the director who makes you want to act again. There's a lot of fun, a lot of play, a lot of fun and it's very enjoyable. Despite this, in the end, we have a film with a lot of qualities, messages, intensity.

Claude, what atmosphere do you want to instill in your filming?

CL: I realized very quickly that with a smile I achieved more things than by making a face. [Rires]. I'm a positive man and I only like to film things that I love, so I need to film men and women that I love in front of the camera, but also have them behind the camera, in my technical team. I need my heroes to be heroes in life too. Otherwise, I feel like I'm cheating.

If you like, all my life I have tried to film people with whom I wanted to be friends, or whom I wanted to hug. I tried to make people love life, because it is magical, it is wonderful. It's a hassle ride through Wonderland, but the wonders always outweigh the hassles. It’s this positive side that I’m looking for. With EventuallyI tried to make a film that talks about today, but with a lot of tenderness and humor. I think we laugh a lot, and for the right reasons, in my film. We tried not to laugh.

What is this 51^e film means to you today?

CL: I had a lot of fun making this 51st film. I made it both as a final film and as a first film. I had the excitement of the beginnings, because I never cease to be amazed.

K. M. : This is precisely my secret! I can't tell you everything because there are things that can't be explained. Above all, there’s not a lot of thought involved. Your question is almost more technical than the answer, ultimately. I must admit that I don't have a method. There is no preparation, I did not try to look at lawyers. I also very quickly got in touch with Lino and I welcomed him very well. I also let Claude take me along. You can be sure that you are always correctly oriented. There is no acting direction. Claude often says that from the moment he chooses an actor, he is a good actor. We're not going to ask an actor to walk like that or take his coffee cup that way… On the other hand, there are intentions, there are emotions. Perhaps where Claude acts, it is on the strength of emotion or the intensity of play, but we were very free to play as we wanted, as we felt. It's a way of directing an actor, of course, but it's a very free direction.

However, Claude, were you hesitant to give the role of Lino to Kad at the start?

CL: I had in mind to offer him the role of the best friend. In reality, I wanted to make him choose, knowing that he was going to take the right one. I said to myself: “If he doesn’t take the role of Lino, there’s something wrong.” It was also a way of opening doors. I don't like prisons, especially not in my job. We don't direct good actors: we dose them, we coach them, we try to make them jump a little higher than usual. Besides, I like it when people tell me: “He’s never looked better.” At that moment, I am very happy. I'm here to make them break records, and above all to keep them credible. I need people to believe the stories I tell. I love everything about cinema, but as soon as I get to a film and suddenly realize that it's cinema, it no longer interests me.

It's quite paradoxical to have this vision of cinema, isn't it?

CL: I know ! But I am a director and I work with a great screenwriter called “The life”. I'm delighted, because he's the greatest screenwriter in the world. He is very nice to me and he puts me on incredible tracks. All the stories I have told are stories that, somewhere, I have come across. Same for the dialogues, I heard them. I am a true reporter of my time with my camera. There is no recipe. I made 51 films and went back to school 51 times. We spend our lives learning. So, as long as we want to learn, we continue to make films. I just made this 51st feature film, but I still want to learn things, so I'm going to make a 52nd!

K. M. : I may seem a little lighthearted to you, but I take things lightly and at a distance. I do not make singing or playing an instrument sacred. You know, one day, I found myself singing with Johnny Hallyday, the one we called the boss. I didn't even think about what I was going to do. I didn't put any pressure on myself, I didn't put any challenges on myself. Of course, you have to be able to sing the songs. These were, I think, really made for me in terms of tone and singing style. Then, Claude put a trumpet in my hands. It doesn't give you a choice. It's like instantaneous. I didn't know I was going to play so much trumpet, but since he saw that I was doing well, he filmed me playing a lot. It wasn't a challenge, because it's great to host real, great things to do, because I've never done that before.

CL: All the actors who have appeared in my films are part of my family. These are people that I loved as one loves one's children. Lino Ventura is the strength of cinema, it’s a quiet strength. And I find this quiet strength in Kad Merad. He also plays in the film the son of Lino Ventura and Françoise Fabian, whom they had during Happy New Year [un autre film de Claude Lelouch datant de 1973, qui voyait Françoise Fabian et Lino Ventura partager l’affiche, ndlr]. I thought it was a great place to start. I wanted to see the descendants. He could have been a thug, but in fact, Lino, in my film, prefers to defend them. It's great. So life is always right!

K. M. : I am from the generation Uncle gunslingersof Adventure is adventure and of Don't touch the grisbi… All the great French films of the time. For me, Lino Ventura is one of those great actors that I wanted to be like all my life, because he is a kind of quiet, physical force, who was also very charming. He had a unique style. He was a unique actor. What's more, initially, he's not an actor, but a wrestler, also the son of an immigrant! We have a bit of the same background, he and I; people who are of several origins. It's always interesting to identify with actors like that.