La Tresse, a true bookstore phenomenon, was adapted into a feature film by the author of the work herself: Laetitia Colombani. The film was released in theaters on November 29.
Director Laetitia Colombani is back behind the camera with La Tresse, 15 years after her last film, My Stars and Me. Released in theaters on November 29, his new work takes us to meet 3 women who are going to lead a fight. The first story takes us to India. The plot follows Smita, an Untouchable. She dreams of seeing her daughter escape her miserable condition and enter school.
We then travel to Italy. Giulia works in her father’s workshop. When he suffers an accident, she discovers that the family business is ruined. Finally, we end this trip in Canada.
Sarah, a renowned lawyer, is going to be promoted to head of her firm when she learns that she is ill. Three lives, three women, three continents. Three battles to fight. Although they do not know each other, Smita, Giulia and Sarah are linked without knowing it by what is most intimate and most singular about them.
A bestseller as inspiration
La Tresse is adapted from the novel of the same name written by Laetitia Colombani and published in 2017. The latter herself produced the cinema version of her work, a bestseller sold more than 5 million copies! The story of these three women, belonging to different cultures and contexts, was born in January 2015, the day when the filmmaker accompanied one of her very close friends to a wig store.
“She had just learned that she had cancer and was starting chemotherapy. She chose a natural Indian hair wig. I then remembered a documentary seen on television years before, which showed how hair offered by pilgrims to an Indian temple traveled outside the country and served as a basis for making wigs.explains the director.
“From there came to me an idea for a story on three continents: an Indian woman who offered her hair in a temple, a Western woman who received it, a worker working this hair. I had the idea of donating hair in a temple for a long time, but I was missing the other links of the story”confides Laetitia Colombani.
SND
An international cast
Laetitia Colombani absolutely wanted to film in the three languages and three countries described in the book. She therefore called on a casting director in each region. Michaël Laguens supervised all three castings which took place in parallel. For Smita, the director did not want a Bollywood actress, but a dark-skinned actress like the Untouchables.
“Mia Maelzer comes from the theater and starred in The Field, a short film which won a BAFTA, I found her remarkable. For his daughter Lalita, I wanted an Untouchable, not necessarily a child with experience: the Indian casting director went to foster homes for street children. He spotted a 9 year old girl, Sajda Pathan, born in a slum. Sajda had a head full of lice and was begging for food. She could neither read nor write. When I met her, her intelligence and her screen presence impressed me.”remembers Laetitia Colombani.
For the role of Giulia, the Italian casting director proposed many young actresses to the French filmmaker. When she saw Fotinì Peluso, she had a flash. “She is divine! She had exactly what I was looking for: a beauty that goes unnoticed, a sensuality that is not manufactured, she pleases but she doesn’t know it”she emphasizes.
Concerning Sarah, an American agent offered the La Tresse team a meeting with Kim Raver. Laetitia Colombani knew the actress thanks to the series Grey’s Anatomy and 24 Hours. Physically, she perfectly matched the character imagined by the director.
“Blonde, slender, fine physique but a lot of strength. The meeting went wonderfully: Kim totally understood the character, torn between her personal life and her career. In life, Kim has two sons, she has toured a lot while taking care of her children”specifies the artist.
A grueling shoot
The filming of La Tresse was postponed several times due to successive confinements. Laetitia Colombani and her team first went to India, then to Canada and Italy. In total, production took place over six months. For the feature film team, it was both a speed race and a long-distance marathon.
“When we were filming in one country, we were preparing to shoot in the next country. Due to the different time zones, we had crazy long working days: we often got up at 5 a.m. to finish Zoom meetings at 11 p.m. I experienced it very intensely because I had the feeling of making three films in one.”underlines Laetitia Colombani.