On the occasion of the release of the “Torrent”, here are five things to know about this thriller with José Garcia and André Dussollier.
The Torrent of Anne Le Ny
With José Garcia, André Dussollier, Capucine Valmary…
What is it about ? When Alexandre discovers that his young wife, Juliette, is cheating on him, a violent argument breaks out. Juliette flees into the night and falls to her death. The next day, torrential rain washed away his body. The gendarmerie begins an investigation and Patrick, Juliette’s father, arrives, ready to do anything to find out what happened during this night of floods. Alexandre, who fears being accused, persuades Lison, his daughter from a first bed (18 years old), to cover him. He sinks deeper and deeper into lies and Patrick begins to suspect him. Trapped between the two men, Lison could turn everything upside down. This is the beginning of a terrible spiral…
The choice of the Vosges
SND
For Anne Le Ny, of Breton origin and accustomed to maritime horizons, mountain landscapes are oppressive. This is the reason why she chose to situate the plot of the Torrent in the Vosges. The director explains: “And then, ravines and torrents are natural elements conducive to accidents… The Vosges, with heavy and low skies, have a rough side.”
The Suzanne Viguier affair
SND
Anne Le Ny was inspired by the Suzanne Viguier affair (2000), which had a strong impact on her. The latter, in which a man accused of the disappearance of his wife is supported by his children, nourished the reflection of the director on the ambiguity of emotions and the difficulty of making choices in untenable situations. She remembers:
“I took a long time to write, and I thought a lot to find the place of the young girl. Adopting the father’s side was complicated and I took that of a girl who has no place with her. of her father and may experience the unconscious desire to see her stepmother disappear. I myself am a stepmother with beautiful, charming children.”
“So I know that an affectionate relationship can be mixed with quite ambivalent unconscious feelings, like in fairy tales.”
Why Jose Garcia?
SND
For the character of Alexander, who “sliding down a bad slope”, Anne Le Ny wanted an actor who came from comedy. She then chose José Garcia, who had previously refused a role that the filmmaker had previously offered him. She remembers :
“José Garcia had kindly refused a role that I had offered him, and I tried my luck again because for this character who is slipping on a bad slope, I wanted an actor who comes from comedy. I knew of his dramatic abilities having seen him in The Cleaver of Costa-Gravasbut his clear and sympathetic side assured me that the spectators would not sense any ambiguity in the character.”
An oppressive house
SND
The house is a character in its own right in the film. Anne Le Ny and her chief decorator Stéphane Taillasson were able to exploit a residence with backgrounds everywhere and an atypical circulation. It does not correspond to what the director had imagined at the start, but the possibilities it offered won her over:
“We brought warm, solar colors, so that it embodies a warm cocoon, the lost paradise of the deceased mother. However, its particular circulation which allowed the actors to arrive from above or from below helped introduce a form of danger you never know where someone might come from or watch you.”
theme of betrayal
SND
Whether it’s Bertrand and Lorraine in Those Who Remain, Lucien in My Father’s Guests or Marithé in We Failed to Be Friends, the characters in Anne Le Ny’s films are often led to betray. A constant that is found in Le Torrent:
“However, we understand their motivations. I belatedly realized that indeed “betrayal” is a fairly central theme for me. I think that this problem has its roots in my family history”develops the filmmaker, continuing:
“My father, from a working-class background, studied and became a university professor. But this social ascent was haunted by the fear of becoming a bourgeois, a ‘social traitor’. We grew up between two backgrounds so I inherited that obsession.”
“My grandfather was in the resistance. He died in a concentration camp after being denounced by a 16-year-old kid under torture. He was betrayed by someone braver than the average. It’s not just bad people doing terrible things.”