She is one of the most internationally recognized French actresses, but also one of the most discreet. Isabelle Huppert is in the spotlight of a special evening broadcast Monday on Arte. This is how the channel is launching into the Cannes festival, which takes place from Tuesday May 17 to Saturday May 28. The evening begins with the screening of the film She, by Paul Verhoeven, presented on the Croisette in 2017. A feature film that earned Isabelle Huppert numerous awards and nominations.
Right after the film, viewers will be able to discover the documentary Personal message, a modest portrait of the actress where Isabelle Huppert tells the story of herself to director William Karel. This form of self-portrait, both wanted it, as explained to Europe 1 by its producer Dominique Tibi.
“A way to rediscover Isabelle Huppert”
“William needed Isabelle to give something of her privacy, to be part of the project. For her part, she needed to reflect on this film,” she says. “William also says jokingly ‘It’s not my film, it’s his film’. It’s a mirror film that also speaks of his personality. That is to say that the modest and nuanced form of the film looks a lot like Isabelle Huppert.”
To open up, there is no question of doing a very classic interview in front of the camera. They opted for a very original way of constructing this film. They carried out an unfilmed interview, simply recorded, for several hours. Then it was transcribed, reworked to arrive at a text submitted to Isabelle Huppert, who then made some modifications. And it is on this basis that the director worked with the archives, the film extracts, the making-of.
This gives a film not about the private life of Isabelle Huppert, but rather about her life as an actress. She confides in her relations with the directors, in particular with Chabrol. “The film makes it possible to understand how difficult the job of an actor is. Isabelle Huppert wanted to express herself a lot about her profession, about life on a set and the way of playing characters. She says that he doesn’t there are no characters, but there are states and characters”, specifies Dominique Tibi. “It’s not a film that goes into dark areas, it’s a film about the beauty and the difficulty of acting. It’s a way of rediscovering Isabelle Huppert that makes you want to watch all the films whose she speaks.”
The Isabelle Huppert special evening begins Monday at 8:50 p.m. on Arte. The documentary Isabelle Huppert, personal message airs at 11 p.m. It is already available on Arte.tv.