The Man of Clay with Emmanuelle Devos and Raphaël Thiéry arrives at the cinema this Wednesday January 24. Here are 3 good reasons to be charmed by this very poetic first feature film, inspired by Beauty and the Beast.
What is it about ?
Raphael only has one eye. He is the guardian of a mansion in which no one lives anymore. At almost 60 years old, he lives with his mother in a small house located at the entrance to the large bourgeois estate. Between mole hunting, bagpipes and rides in the postwoman’s Kangoo, the days follow one another and are similar. One stormy night, Garance, the heiress, returns to the family home. Nothing will ever be the same again.
The Man of Clay, in cinemas this Wednesday, is the first feature film by Anaïs Tellenne. He has passed several festivals including that of Venice and Saint Jean de Luz. She has previously directed several short films, which allowed her to have the initial idea for this feature film: the idea of filming the actor Raphaël Thiéry. She confides that she was inspired by “certain aspects of her existence to construct this tale”. “One-eyed and with an unusual physique, he learned to live with a habit of condescension, rejection and distrust.“, which triggered in her this story not so far from… Beauty and the Beast.
3 good reasons to let yourself be seduced!
1 / A poetic and sensual tale
The clay man is loosely inspired by Beauty and the Beast. It is more precisely a rereading. The film combines an initiatory tale, burlesque comedy and drama, and assumes the idea of a hybrid film, mixing genres. The film also wants to be very sensory in its approach, whether it is the texture of its image, or the texture that it offers us on the screen. The clay takes a very sensual turn, like a cult film like Ghost!
“The relationship they form together is extremely unique and no words, no labels can define it precisely. It is neither a love story, nor a friendship, nor a professional collaboration. With the means of expression specific to cinema, I wanted to explore the nature of a unique relationship and make it felt“, explains the filmmaker about the central duo of her film.
2 / Numerous references
The clay man charms for his assumed references. The artist played by Emmanuelle Devos is reminiscent of visual artists like ORLAN, Sophie Calle or Marina Abramovic. “The character of Garance was born from my fascination with artists like Sophie Calle or Marina Abramovic. I find it extraordinary courage to succeed in making one’s intimacy a creative subject. Contrary to what some people may think, I am absolutely not Garance. I don’t use Raphaël like she can. I don’t steal anything from him that he doesn’t want to give me“.
3 / A captivating duo
The clay man is based on an endearing tandem, formed by Emmanuelle Devos and Raphael Thiéry. The actor has “for a long time divided his time between his activities as a forest ranger, his theater company and the traditional music group in which he played the bagpipes, until one day, Alain Guiraudie, revealed it in Rester vertical“, recalls Anaïs Tellenne in the press kit for the film.
“When I film Raphaël Thiéry, I am passionate about the paradox he exudes: immense tenderness in a brute’s body. With her emancipation devoid of virility, her modest thirst for the absolute, her quest for love and her neurasthenic despair, I wanted to make her character a Madame Bovary of today.”
Emmanuelle Devos brings a lot of humanity to this character for whom we could have ambivalent feelings. One of her most beautiful roles, which she takes on just a few weeks after Un silence by Joachim Lafosse, in which she was already remarkable.
Find all the cinema releases of the week
The Man of Clay comes out this Wednesday in cinemas.