When it comes to the older French directors who are still alive today, we think of Jacques Rozier, 92, and Jean-Luc Godard, 88, two "New Wave" athletes, and costa-gavras, 86, who visited Shanghai last year. In fact, compared to these three, there is another director who is still making films that is more familiar to most Chinese audiences, and he is Jean-Paul Rappeneau. His early works ,les mariés de l'an deux (Les Mariés de l'an deux) were broadcast on Chinese screens many times, and I believe many post-70s and post-80s generations have an impression; the famous works "cyrano de bergerac" and "le hussard sur le toit" were also introduced and screened as translations. A few days ago, the 87-year-old Rapeno came to China to participate in the "Shanghai Normal University Film Academy • Master Class" activity. During this time, he was interviewed by The Paper, self-dissecting the origin of the shadow road and his understanding of his own style.
Jean-Paul Lapeno Visual China Infographic
A life changed by Citizen Kane
When it comes to the works of Jean-Paul Lapeno, the most familiar one for the audience is "Big Nose Love". The film is adapted from the 19th-century play by the French writer Edmond Rostand, played by the famous actor Gérard depardieu, and the protagonist Sihano is a complete man, not only exporting chapters, but also fighting with one hundred, and the fly in the ointment is that he has a huge nose. This made him feel inferior, and even if he loved his cousin Roxanne, he did not dare to confess. When he learned that Roxanne had an interest in the handsome aristocratic young Christie, he wrote love letters instead of the unspeakable Christie in order to be an adult beauty. Unexpectedly, the Count of Dekiss, who coveted Roxanne, declared a personal vendetta and sent them to the battlefield. In the war, Sihano still insisted on writing to Roxanne in the name of Christie, until the latter died, did not tell the truth, and silently accompanied Roxanne, who missed Christie all day.
Gérard dePardieu in The Big Nose
Last year, a restored version of "Big Nose Love" premiered in the classic section of the Cannes Film Festival. Looking back on the old work, Rapeno's words explain why the film is loved by audiences all over the world: "On the one hand, Sihano is strong and capable of fighting against a hundred people; on the other hand, he has a secret heart disease that prevents him from falling in love with others." It's the story of a man who always hurts himself and can't love himself. The reason why I was impressed by it in the first place was because people like that were not uncommon. It can be said that you and I have more or less hidden sihano qualities. ”
Although "Big Nose Love" has won the hearts of audiences around the world, there seems to be a huge contrast between the popularity of director Rapeno himself and the popularity of his works. The reason for this is not unrelated to his "ink is like gold". In his half-century-long film career, Rapeno has only had eight feature films as a director. His work often takes years from preparation to completion. He once explained: "Each of my films is like a mini life cycle. I would be completely involved in it, as if I were crazy. And that coincided with orson Welles, who changed his destiny.
Rapeno still can't hide his excitement when it comes to Wells's huge influence on him: "I once wanted to be a stage actor, but after watching Orson Wells's Citizen Kane, I decided to become a film director. It was a magical night, a bit like the apocalypse. And the young people of our time were very enthusiastic about movies, and being in them strengthened my belief in becoming a director. ”
Lampeno didn't become famous at a young age like Wells, though. Like many young people of his generation who were obsessed with film, he did not come from a science class, but he started a little later than the "New Wave" directors who were about the same age as him. Before officially making feature films independently, Rapeno spent years writing screenplays for other directors, such as Louis Malle and Philippe de Broca. On the one hand, this has exercised his screenwriting ability, on the other hand, it has also cultivated his emphasis on scripts, and after he became a director, he often spent a long time preparing scripts, such as the script of "Bon Voyage" released in 2003, which took three or four years to complete.
Starring Gérard Depardieu and Isabelle Adjani, "All the Way" is set in World War II
Talking about how he got into the film industry, Rapeno said: "I was a child who grew up in a foreign governor, and like many children in other provinces, I fantasized about Paris from an early age. After finishing elementary school to high school in my hometown, I wanted to live in Paris. But my father gave me the condition that if I were going to Paris, I would have to go to school and not be able to make movies—even though he knew I had loved theater and movies since I was a child. So, I chose a law major. After studying for two years, I felt that law was too boring, so I gave up completely, or wanted to do what I liked, so I began to shoot 16mm short films, and the only thing that I gained from that study experience was to photograph many beautiful girls in law school. Then I started working as an assistant to some directors, including Louis Mahler, who told me that since you could write scripts, you might as well try making feature films yourself. ”
"American Comedy Shaped Me"
Although he was inspired by "Citizen Kane" to become a director, the real influence on Rapeno's later works was the neuro-comedy born in the golden age of Hollywood. "Like the directors of my generation, the generation that the history of cinema called the 'New Wave', including Truffaut, Godard, Chabrol, they did not grow up watching French films but American films. We watched Hollywood movies in the 1950s from the 1930s and 1940s. For me personally, it was American comedy that shaped me, and the director who impressed me the most was Ernst Lubitsch. In my opinion, his "to be or not to be" is the best comedic film. The way he approached heavy war themes with comedy inspired me a lot. Later, when I made my first film, la vie de château, I thought of Liu Beiqian, and I also hoped to capture the vivid and joyful side of life in the shadow of war. ”
Liu Beiqian's "You Run Away and I Flee" is the most comedic film in Rapeno's eyes
Rapeno added: "Specifically, the biggest impact of American comedy on me is not in terms of theme, but in style, one is the actor's sense of movement on the picture, and the other is the rhythm of the actor's lines. The American comedies I like are quite fast, and I know that there were Hollywood directors who used a stopwatch to pinch the actors to say their lines, so after I made my own films, I would ask the actors to be able to say the lines quickly. ”
In Rapeno's view, among the actresses he has worked with, the one who best meets his requirements for the speed of his lines is catherine deneuve. "I worked with Catherine Deneuve when I was making Castle Love. She may be the fastest actress in France to speak lines, and what is even more rare is that she can not only speak quickly, but also the bite and spit of each word is very accurate, unlike some actors now, who become very vague when they say fast. I still think she has the best line skills among French actresses. ”
In Rapeno's view, Catherine Deneuve, who collaborated with him on Castle Love, is the best actress in France with her line skills
In fact, from Rapeno's works, the imprint of American neurorecord can be clearly seen. The most obvious is the genre of his work, with seven of his eight works being comedies. Among them, jean-paul Belmondo's early work "Gone with the Wind" starring Jean-Paul Belmondo is the one that best reflects the characteristics of American neuro-comedy. Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, the film presents a hilarious story of a couple with a hot personality who have been quarreling and dividing and merging for many years, each hooking up with other members of the opposite sex, but unable to let go of each other's funny stories in their hearts. The hero and heroine in the film are verbally sharpened, repeatedly clashed, and even had many physical confrontations in the dialogue. In addition, in "Big Nose Love Saint", a story that is obviously not tragic, Rapeno lightly borrows the old stem of Li Daitao's stiffness, turns the controversy and the tit-for-tat of poetry into the edge of the line, and makes enough jokes through many yin and yang mistakes.
"Gone with the Wind" shows that Rapeno is deeply influenced by American comedy
However, Rapeno did not draw a gourd like an American neuro-comedy, but integrated his own understanding and made a stylized improvement. On the one hand, the frequency of switching scenes in his films is much higher than that of American neuro-comedies, so the plot of the film is more tortuous and the pace is faster; on the other hand, the role of dialogue in the film is not to advance the plot, nor is it only to be funny, but more importantly, it inadvertently reflects the authenticity of the characters. This latter point comes from the tradition of French comedy. Asked how he understood "French comedy", Rapeno replied: "In my opinion, dialogue is the soul of the whole movie. When I was growing up, French comedies attached great importance to scripts, so screenwriters were critical, such as Henri Jeanson (Black Tulip, Hotel of the North), but whenever he wrote a script, the movie poster would enlarge his name, even surpassing the director. ”
Hussars on the Roof is starring Juliet Binoche and Olivier Martinez
In addition to the development of American neuro-comedy, Rapeno's works also have a characteristic in terms of themes, that is, they are mostly set in the historical events of Hongdae, such as "The Wrongdoers of the Troubled World" is about the French Revolution, "Castle Love" and "All the Way" are about World War II, "Big Nose Love" is about the "Thirty Years' War" in Europe, and "Light Cavalry on the Roof" is Italy's rebellion against the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Rapeno said: "I think one of the roles that film should play as an art form is to tell the history of our own people. It's like China is a very distant country for the French, but we can learn about China's history by watching Chinese movies. When it comes to the relationship between film and history, "All the Way" is a good example. In this film, I combine the two elements of cinema that I am most interested in personally— comedy and history. The film is about what happened in just a few days, when the German army invaded France, and many people with heads and faces suddenly fell into the sun and flocked to a hotel in Bordeaux, resulting in insufficient room allocation. It is in such a tragic historical context that there must be something ironic. I think this kind of contrasting story is the best for me to shoot, and I can blend comedy and history to shoot my own style. ”
Big Nose is set against the backdrop of the "Thirty Years' War" in Europe
However, judging from Rapeno's upbringing, it is not surprising whether it is influenced by American comedy or its preference for history. It is curious why he did not join the small group when the "New Wave" was in full swing and rebelled against the so-called "Daddy Movie", even a little contrary to the situation. In this regard, Rapeno explained that his personality was the fault of his own. "I think I'm a more classical person. The French directors I think can be seen as my teachers are Jacques Becker and Jean Renoir, both of whom are more traditional directors. It is true that the early works of 'New Wave' directors were subversive, but people are always different. However, I am very good friends with the 'New Wave' directors. Once, Godard proposed to me, 'Either we both make a movie, just shoot ourselves.' I asked him, 'So how do you shoot it?' He said, 'Don't care how to shoot, let's settle this project first, and then we will always be able to think of it.' In the end, the project didn't come true. Of course, I think this is to be expected, because the personalities of the two of us are opposite, I am not as rebellious as he is, and we can't really make a movie together. And my work, like me, is unlikely to give the audience a subversive look. ”
Perhaps, Rapeno, who did not follow the waves, is not a master in the hearts of fans, but it is not a pity for a director to make a film career that moves audiences around the world like "Big Nose Love".