Naissance des Pieuvres meaning "birth of the octopuses" (Birth of the Octopus)
To me, octopuses represent or embody feelings like jealousy and desire. In other words, when we fall in love, octopuses are the eight long arms that stretch out within us. Each of us has our own octopus. - - - - Céline Sciamma
2 million euros of funding, 38 days of filming. Main filming location: Val d'Oise département
The 60th Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard
Finalist for Cesar awards : best debut film ,best female newcomer
2008/10/02 Director Celine Sciamma talks about "Fall in Love with Bad Girls"! !
About my first directing I majored in screenwriting at La Fermi Film School. For graduation, I wrote a script for a feature film. Xavier Pois was one of the reviewers. He told me I had to make this film myself. This problem came up again when I went to the producer. The script is written in my own style, so of course it seems to be directed by me. So in the end it was decided like this, and I found that I didn't want to be guided by others either.
About the style of the film I wanted the film to present a timeless sense of time in every aspect, including the scenes and costumes. For example, there are no cell phones in the film. There are also some details to convey the feeling I want. In terms of clothes, the girls are all contemporary, but they also look like a decade or so ago, especially the 90s retro style that is popular now. Because of this, the songs in the film are specially written. The same goes for the choice of scene. We didn't change the look, but each scene was carefully selected. I am very familiar with these places. It is a town that emerged in the 1960s, a kind of town without history. Novels on the market don't describe these places very much, so almost no movies have been made.... This suburb is middle class to me and boring. It's French and representative, even if it doesn't have an overt political stance. There are many large-scale developments in this kind of town, developing some very special areas, and also forming an atmosphere that encourages style. It's a great place for us to make movies, and it also reflects the current culture.
About the lack of adults in the film When I was writing the script, I wrote about adults, but I soon discovered that it was very reluctant to write, and no matter how I wrote it, it seemed that I couldn't break out of the rut that was already there in the past. Parents represent a kind of law confined to this genre, emphasizing that juveniles are a lawless world whose inner drive is from a group that is opposed to the world of adults. It's just that this opposition is always presented in a very rigid and rebellious mode. I think this level helps the film. It's important to get into the teen's base and face it from the inside of the bubble. From a sensory point of view, this seems to be right. Parents are too obvious and prominent as enemies. Locking characters into overly sociological stereotypes would make my films uncharacteristic, especially when dealing with gay issues.
Women's Perspectives on Film I am interested in women's perspectives on film primarily in terms of the filmmaking process. From a film work perspective, I don't particularly want to use this label, or the gay movie label, to label my films. However, I've been paying attention to this aspect, mostly during the making of the film, not after the film is finished.
About the swimming pool and water ballet The swimming pool is very photogenic. A lot of French films have swimming pool shots, usually when the heroine is thinking, swimming a few times and reflecting on her life…. In some films it is a confined space, in others it is freedom…. For me, it's a wet space where desires are born and secrets are revealed…. This is also a world with its own laws, with rich visual and sound elements that directors can’t get enough of. Water ballet is a world with different classes and stricter governance. I'm totally fascinated by the level of it being a documentary, it's a world I don't understand but it's incredibly fascinating. It's a 100 percent women's sport, so we can use it to talk about femininity. It is very difficult sport. The girls train fifteen hours a week, and their fitness is exceptionally good, but they are almost hopeless because there are no professional water ballet dancers. It is also a movement that requires many places to be hidden. Girls make it look easy and make sure to have a smile on your face. That's why it interests me. The water ballet dancers are like little warriors disguised as dolls who fight and seduce at the same time...
About casting We started looking for actresses on the street. I hope they are the same age as the characters. The casting director accidentally found Pauline Arquart at the Luisenberg Gardens to play Mary. Lois Brasher, who plays Anna, was recruited after seeing our company's magazine ad. Adele Enel, who played Frianna, had previously performed in Cristoforo Lucia's Les Diables. I mainly look at the body. In American movies, the actors seem to fit the characters, and I like that, and I want to try these stereotypes, so I have to be thorough. Then we got to work. We rehearsed for over a month before filming. It wasn't actually a rehearsal. We found a coach to study the background of the characters and train the actors' attention. We had to agree on what the film meant to convey. I don't want misunderstandings by then. I was amazed and moved at the same time that these girls were able to give the movie what they had and what they didn't have. They gave a lot more than I expected. They were willing to make the movie because it was a real-looking movie about their lives. For this purpose, they feel a certain obligation. This is very moving. When you're fifteen, of course you want to make movies; but in the end, you find that you make movies for some very noble purpose.
About the three characters Mary She is the most naive and the youngest. I want their bodies to be different, and I don't want them to become fantasy objects in cotton underwear. Mary is both elegant and awkward. She's the protagonist, but paradoxically, she's also the most spectator character. She has a goal to achieve, but she's mostly on the sidelines.... She's watching from the sidelines, but we're also watching her. Through her, I hope to deal with the moment when the unavoidable desire occurs. For her, her desires came unexpectedly. It happened all of a sudden in real life, and we as viewers had to experience her with her, her seduction, understanding, and suffering. I want this to happen in a few days, when the awareness of desire begins to be embodied. This is what it feels like to taste love for the first time from a very physical point of view. I don't want to do sociological research. For me, being gay is a journey not a theme…. Falling in Love with a Bad Girl is the story of how we fall in love. Being gay allows me to talk about love in a different way. It gave me the opportunity to do things that haven't been done in movies in the past, like two girls losing each other's virginity. Through these three characters, what this film is trying to say is that desire in all its forms is inevitable and insatiable. Mary may have been born in certain circumstances, and homosexuality did not make her a martyr.
FRIANA She is the object of desire. In fact, when I was writing the script, I wanted to talk about the tragedy of being a pretty girl. Movies usually celebrate the beauty of girls. I want to include them too, because I think it's a very real issue, and movies are the best vehicle for discussing it. We build desire in a character, and at the same time we make desire a topic of discussion. For me, "Fall in Love with Bad Girls" is a three-headed movie (or three hearts), not the pull of two forces. The film is about three characters, but also three real lives. To be able to participate in this desire, to create it, to make it believable to fall in love with Freyna, and to take away the pain that this desire brings.
Anna She is not the main character, but she is the only one who is alone. She interacts with male characters, but in reality, she is alone. It's difficult to deal with such a character in the film, because she has a special tonality and is very likable.... She is a bit like deceiving the audience, because on the surface she is playing the role of a good friend, and she is also a kind fat girl, and she is not the most beautiful person. But the truth is that in the end we find out that she is the bravest character because she gets the least love and the most cruelty…. For me, she is an integral part of the film. The violence she encountered gave her something sublime. She does not hide her dreams, she is the most childish one. She acts by faith alone and believes in strange rituals like burying her bra or praying. As with all good people of faith, her most logical destiny is to be a martyr.
View more about Water Lilies reviews
