A good fortnight before the festival of Cannes 2015, following an exclusive interview with Espérance Pham Thai Lan.
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| All rights reserved - Espérance PHAM THAI LAN |
In the title of your film, one rather expects "Plus dur sera la chute" (harder will be the fall) why did you chose the adjective beautiful instead of hard?
It's more interesting to use quotes, regular expressions, known and turn
them to the benefit of the stories I invented and the title is an
opening for this exercise.
Beautiful incites attracting visual pleasure, aesthetic or auditory, beautiful
can also highlight something remarkable for greatness. As for fall, it means an action of falling, a slope of a roof or part
ending a story.
The whole film is based on the principle that the sequences have a
double, triple or even more meanings and inevitably lead the audience on
different routes.
What is the synopsis ?
In two sentences- An improbable encounter between a disconcerting woman and a worker who are totally unalike, at least on the face of it. Puzzle pieces are set up with a surprising end, detectable conditionally to discover the right clues.-
Do you have, if any, taken risks for the film?
Yes: unlike other short films, I edited the film to serve the narration as a piece of news, I did not want to make technical prowess as can be seen for
example in
"Partie de poker" (
Poker Hand). I worked with an exceptionally small team
because the sets (scaffolding and public hospital) and I have been on
several fronts. The paradox, I have very little delegated but I let the chiefs' key posts undoubtedly more freedom than usual provided so long they meet
the specifications that I imposed with the agreement of
LA B.O..
You wrote the lyrics of the song "Un joli conte" (A nice tale) that everybody listen to it in the end
credits. How do you respond to the enthusiasm it brings to people?
Music by
Nathan Symes
has much to do. The alliance between his notes and my words form a whole that sticks perfectly to the mind that I wanted to give the film. When we
compared the great renowned artists such as
Serge Gainsbourg,
Benjamin Biolay,
Tom Novembre,
Arthur H, Alain Bashung,
Paolo Conte ou or when the soundtrack evokes for some those of the Quentin Tarantino's
films like Pulp fiction, we are every time very surprised, we had a lot of fun
and we like it because these artists and the director belong to our references.
Why do you mention a cat in the song? There are none in the film. Is it a symbol or a clue?
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| All rights reserved - Espérance PHAM THAI LAN |
This animal was present during a part of the shooting and was a model of discretion. I paid a small tribute to it, it was our mascot.
This film gives me the opportunity to juggle with types (the drama,
suspense and thriller) using, for example, certain stereotyped
or universal sentences, however equipped with hidden meanings unsaid. As a
game, the audience are thus led to weave their own interpretation on the
characters and the course of the story, from true or false clues of
where lively debates are predictable after the screenings. I felt like the audience are not
only consumers, but they are encouraged to think about what they saw and
heard.
How do you get the inspiration?
Life usually is my main source, news, for example, is made of a
fishpond, actionpacked events that develop my imagination, the work of my
colleagues stimulates my creativity, I am sensitive to the current climate.
What is your next objective?
I want to follow through the path of "Plus belle sera la chute" (The most beautiful they come), this film makes
its way as far as possible, be released, with a little luck, a large
scale, in short it is seen by the most people. I do not feel like it keeps to itself, stays in a drawer.
You have devoted your time to "Plus belle sera la chute" (The more beautiful they come). Is not too hard now
have to move on?
Not really because I can devote myself to my new projects that are in
various stages, some are in the state of origin, I have them in my head and
it remains to write them, some are more advanced, I try to show them to be known in
order to direct and shoot them in the best conditions.
What makes you the most forward?
The desire to write screenplays and then direct them so much that
it becomes vital for me.
Give us a word that you like?
Currently, it is "RESPECT".