At the cinema: discover a Marion Cotillard transformed in Little Girl Blue, an astonishing and moving film

WHAT DOES IT TALK ABOUT ?

When her mother died, Mona Achache discovered thousands of photos, letters and recordings, but these buried secrets resisted the enigma of her disappearance. So through the power of cinema and the grace of incarnation, she decides to resurrect it to replay her life and understand it.

Releases, news, interviews… Find all the latest news on Indie films

All about his mother

Revealed by Le Hérisson, based on the novel of the same name, then Les Gazelles, co-written and carried by the comic energy of Camille Chamoux, Mona Achache signs one of the most astonishing films of this 2023 cinema year. Documentary? Fiction ? A bit of both ?

The director blurs the boundaries between genres, media (photos, writings, sound clips) and techniques in this introspective exercise. Where she seeks to both resurrect her mother through what remains of her, and extend her legacy. Carole Achache was in fact an author, and she notably wrote a book about her own mother.

Mona Achache is therefore part of the same momentum, through the art that she masters. And she appears on the screen. In the middle of photos and notebooks blackened with thoughts, as if haunted by memories which briefly interfere in the montage, and facing Marion Cotillard, who therefore plays her mother. In playback (with a slight delay) or by imitating her voice, with a wig and the deceased’s clothes.

These are the most destabilizing sequences in Little Girl Blue at first. Because despite the work of incarnation (which is somewhat reminiscent of that of La Môme, but less extreme), it is difficult not to see Marion Cotillard. But we end up getting used to it and that contributes to this “oneirism” that the actress mentions in the press kit.

And the main thing, for the director, is not limited to this notion of star: “There was my passion, my admiration for Marion Cotillard, the actress. And for having crossed paths a little, the intuition that she would understand Carole”she declares. “That something linked us around her story, which could be the starting point of a very strong incarnation. My mother’s journey is marked, fractured by that of powerful and recognized writers.”

“I wanted to respond to this with a demanding cinematographic gesture, and give Carole the aura of an iconic actress. Contradict Carole’s darkness with this light. I knew that this character required extraordinary work and talent. .” A work that the film does not hide, showing the failures and questions of the actress.

My mother’s journey is marked, fractured by that of powerful and recognized writers. I wanted to respond to this with a demanding cinematographic gesture, and give Carole the aura of an iconic actress.

If the term “experimental” can scare the general public, it is very difficult not to grant it to Little Girl Blue, which takes its title from the homonymous song by Janis Joplin, which illustrates the end credits. Words cannot fully transcribe what we see on the screen, and which turns out to be more universal than one might believe.

We sometimes think of the documentary All the Beauty and the Spilled Blood, Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2022, which follows Nan Goldin’s fight against those responsible for the opioid crisis as much as it paints a portrait of her and of his time. Because Little Girl Blue resurrects Carole Achache as much as the universe in which she evolved.

TANDEM

A way, for the director, to broaden her field of vision, and to further include the viewer in this intimate story. While she also puts herself on stage and reveals her wounds and flaws (“Women are cursed in the family”we hear), everyone will be able to project their own experience.

“I’ve never done anything so hard in my life.”, moans Marion Cotillard in one of the scenes. There is no doubt that the same goes for Mona Achache, whom the last image shows liberated after having come to the end of this indescribable but moving film.