Désirée de Lamarzelle: Antonin Artaud wrote, ‘The human skin of things, the dermis of reality, that is what cinema plays with first and foremost.’ What does this quote mean to you?

Isabelle Huppert: Artaud said it all... What could I add? But yes, it's true: cinema plays with the surface of things, with this sensitive material. It's a very good way of expressing how much it is a language of sensations and intuitions. A way of reaching reality, but through the imagination and the senses.

Désirée de Lamarzelle: In La Femme la plus riche du monde (The Richest Woman in the World), you play Marianne, an heiress loosely based on Liliane Bettencourt. How did you approach this role?

I.H.: I saw her as calm. I found my character in a certain slowness. A slowness that comes from confidence. You don't get agitated. I found her a little in her hands. As Chantal Akerman, the great filmmaker, might have said when she was once asked where she found her roles, and she replied: " In my shoes." I always thought that was a beautiful answer. For Marianne, it was in her hands that I found her.

Désirée de Lamarzelle: The film explores the world of the ultra-rich, a delicate subject. How do you avoid clichés?

I.H.: It's a film that pulls off a remarkable feat. It starts out as a farce and gradually slips into a form of seriousness. At this level of wealth, there is a distance; we can neither feel sympathy nor pity. But emotional issues, family secrets and conflicts eventually surface regardless of context or social class: they are the same for everyone. And that's where the story becomes universal.

Désirée de Lamarzelle: This character also seems to glimpse a world to which she has never had access...

I.H.: Yes, through her encounter with Fantin. He reveals something brighter to her. Like in that magnificent scene where Anne Brochet sings in a nightclub. It's a world she'll probably never really know, but she gets a glimpse of it.

Désirée de Lamarzelle: Thierry Klifa films the foibles of the hushed upper middle class here. Does that remind you of Claude Chabrol?

I.H.: Yes, absolutely. You're the first person to mention that, but it's very true: Chabrol could easily have made this film. He made L'Ivresse du pouvoir (The Excitement of Power), which dealt with the Elf affair and brought into play some very powerful forces. Here, we're in a different context, that of the ultra-rich, but there's the same idea of power conferring a form of brutality. In a way, Thierry Klifa's film is also a tribute to Chabrol, whether consciously or not.

Désirée de Lamarzelle: For you, is cinema a language in itself?

I.H.: Yes, cinema is indeed a language. And within that language, each film invents its own language. It's a very particular, very powerful language, with signs, clues, things that we pick up consciously... or not. So I speak that language, the language of cinema, and then I speak the language of the film: the one invented by the director, to which I also contribute my own. That's the beauty of this work. Each film has its own voice, and I try to make it heard with my own.

Désirée de Lamarzelle: You've been involved in a wide variety of projects, but you've never made a film. Has it never tempted you?

I.H.: I've often been asked about it, and it's been suggested to me. But it takes a lot of stamina, courage and fearlessness, and I don't feel I have any of those three qualities. Perhaps there is one that I do have, though, that might one day make me take the plunge: curiosity. Just to see what would come out of me, my body and my brain, no longer as an actress, but as a director.

Désirée de Lamarzelle: You mention curiosity, but does boldness, which is often associated with you, also play a part?

I.H.: I've never hesitated to take on complex roles, to explore grey areas. For me, it's not even a question of daring. It's obvious. What matters is not why we make films, but who we make them with. I don't take risks. Pilots and surgeons take risks. I just do what I love.

Désirée de Lamarzelle: You are a role model for many women: Pamela Anderson said she was very touched by the tribute you paid her at the Deauville Film Festival. Is that a burden?

I.H.: I'm not really aware of it. I don't ask myself that question. I was told that Pamela Anderson has often expressed her admiration for my work. So I was very happy to say those few words to her. She is now on a very commendable career path, making real artistic choices. She is successfully changing direction.

Désirée de Lamarzelle: Is there anything crazy you'd still like to do in cinema?

I.H.: I'm not very ‘crazy’. But cinema already allows me to experience all kinds of emotions, and that's already a lot. It's a rather selfish, very solitary pleasure, and if people like the films I make, so much the better. If I had to imagine something crazy, it would perhaps be to make a film that is very far removed from me. An adventure film, a crime thriller... something I know full well I could never do.

Désirée de Lamarzelle: We hear you'll soon be back on stage in Paris in the masterful Mary said what she said, about Mary Stuart.

I.H.: It's Bob Wilson's show that I'm taking on tour, created at the Espace Cardin just before Covid. I recently performed it in New York, I'll soon be presenting it in Tokyo, and I'll also be performing it again in Paris soon. It's a tribute to Bob Wilson, which makes it even more emotionally charged.

Désirée de Lamarzelle: Finally, if you had to sum up why people should see Thierry Klifa's film in one sentence, what would you say?

I.H.: I would struggle to say that it's a comedy... but let's say it's a film about human comedy. Not a comedy in the strict sense, no, but a film that accurately observes human comedy.

Credits:

Photo credit: © Dant Studio / H&K

Styling: Nathalie Manchot

Hair: Rudy Martins

Make-up: Morgane Martini

Interview by Désirée de Lamarzelle, to be found in issue 13 of OniriQ magazine.

Translated by Bethszabee Garner