François Ozon’s films have always been stylish and charismatic. A director seen as one of the most important contemporary French filmmakers, he’s also a feminist, one of the few that provide actresses with great main roles in which they can showcase their talent. And his latest film, The Crime is Mine/Mon Crime in no different – as Screen Daily puts it, the films is “a sly of feminist triumph”. Adapted by a 1930’s stage play, the story presents Madeleine (played by the very impressive Nadia Tereskiewicz), a young actress, with no roles to play, looking for a breakthrough. She lives with her friend and lawyer (with no clients) Pauline (played by the wonderful Rebecca Marder) and they are 5 months behind with their rent. Madeleine comes back home one day from a meeting with a wealthy producer that apparently raped her and a few hours later finds out he died. As soon as a young magistrate believes she’s the murderer, Madeleine and Pauline decide to embark on an adventurous lie and pretend Madeleine is the indeed the murderer, who only killed to protect herself, and thus Pauline becomes her lawyer. And nothing can make this plan go wrong, unless someone else steps in pretending to be the real murderer.

A witty comedy, very well-played and staged, that I got the chance to see at the beginning of this year, when I went to Paris for a short press trip and I met the director François Ozon. As I savoured every moment of the film, my interview with mr. Ozon was the most anticipated moment of my Parisian trip. In the interview below, which was very short I must say, we talked a bit about the original story, how he stumbled upon it and what fascinated him about it.

How did you come across this story?

I discovered a play from the 1930’s through a friend who told me about it. I wanted for a very long time to make a film about a fake offender, so I was looking for a story like that. I read the play which has a very 30’s French atmosphere about it and I had the feeling it could turn out to be a good movie. An opportunity to speak about the distribution of power between men and women today, but keeping the story in the 1930’s. It was an important period, many women fought for freedom and many of them killed for it. In the 1930’s, the politicians of the left wing were against women’s right to vote. They thought it could be dangerous for France because women would vote for someone that’s charismatic, so they won’t vote using their head. It was a very misogynistic period and that was something I wanted to keep. 

What fascinates you about such a character, about a fake offender?

I think that behind the lies there is very often something truthful. That’s also something I like about cinema, in the end cinema is nothing but lies. You play a part always but life’s also like that, like a stage of theatre or a film set where everybody is playing a part. And with this story I wanted to show that behind any play, movie, or character, there’s also something truthful, real. 

In court, when Madeleine gives her speech, she’s acting. It’s a text given by her lawyer that she’s learned very well. She is so good, so moving that you trust her. It’s a paradox. 

Madeleine asks the judge if it’s possible for a woman to leave her life without constraint. It’s a question relevant even today. 

It is, yes but it’s definitely better than in the 30’s. In the West, at least. I’m not speaking about the countries in the Middle East. In this film, it was important for me to ask questions that are relevant even today, so many years later.  Back then the patriarchy was so poignant, so against woman’s desire to change things. Violette Noziere – played by Isabelle Huppert in the eponymous movie from 1978) –  killed her father and was seen as a monster. But when you read the story and find out that her father was sexually abusing her, the story captures a different understanding. But nobody talked about that in the 1930’s, people didn’t care. Today, the same story, would be interpreted in a totally different way. That’s what I tried to do with Madeline’s story, who hasn’t committed a murder, but she was raped.

It was important to show in the film how women fight, what is their way to keep their freedom and become who they want to be.  

France doesn’t look anymore as it did in the 1930’s. Was it difficult to recreate the sets? What were the most challenging things you had to deal with?

Yes, France doesn’t look anymore like then and that is quite sad. We had to shoot a lot in Belgium, for the interiors and Bordeaux for the exterior streets scenes. We moved quite a lot but it was a lot of fun, especially for the costume department – the 30’s are some very fashionable years. But what was the trickiest part for me was to make a good comedy. It has to be funny, otherwise it’s a disaster. You know, it has to be like champagne – fizzy, sparkling, otherwise it’s not good, you won’t drink it. I had very good actors, though it was difficult to find the main actresses. I wanted them to have chemistry, I had this idea of sisterhood. I had a long casting call.

Speaking of, you cast Isabelle Huppert as Odette Chaumette, probably the most charming characters of them all. You two have worked together before, how is she and how do you work together?

I’m a big fan of Isabelle Huppert, I know all of her movies. We made 8 women together, she’s very fun and clever and she found her role very interesting. Actors like to compose, be far away from reality. We built the character together. We had in mind a great actress from the 1910 – 1920’s, Sarah Bernhardt and we built Isabelle’s character around her. Initially, in the play, Chaumette was a man, not a woman. I imagined her as a woman but kept the original last name. Chaumette was a great actress in silent movies and when the sound appeared,  it was over for her. It’s the cruelty of the industry and we both wanted to highlight that. We speak about Alice Guy today but 20 years ago nobody knew who she was.

Actors like to compose, be far away from reality.

You made a lot of films and you weren’t afraid to experiment. Looking back, do you feel you had the freedom to do the films you wanted to?

I don’t look back (laughs). But yes, I was lucky so far. I’m not happy with all the films I made, there are some that could have been better but I still think of myself as lucky. I was always close to the production department, and I always tried to make films in a reasonable budget, knowing I might not be able to make another film after the last one. I always had the freedom to choose my own subjects and I was lucky that all my films were successful. 

The crime is mine is now screening in all Romanian cinemas.
The thumbnail photo is courtesy of Berlinale 2022.

Laura Mușat

Film producer and founder of ADFR, she dreamed since she was little of having a magazine one day. Alongside her job as editor-in-chief, she writes the interview of the month. She loves animals, jazz music and films festivals.