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Movie theaterWoody Allen shot in Paris to “say thank you” to the French public
The 86-year-old American has been a Hollywood pariah since his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow accused him of sexually molesting her as a child.
It is the first film shot in French (which Woody Allen does not speak) for the man who “always dreamed of being a European filmmaker”.
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Woody Allen, who has just completed filming in Paris, explains that “making a film in France is a way of saying thank you” to his French audience, in an interview with “Journal du Dimanche”.
French moviegoers “loved and showed their support for the young foreign director” who he was from “Take the sorrel and shoot yourself!” (1969), he recalls. “When I dared more experimental projects, they followed and encouraged me more than the American public,” adds the filmmaker.
A sentence – “New York is no longer a very pleasant place, I’m happy to get some fresh air elsewhere” – also suggests that the director finds in Paris a refuge far from an American film industry that is turning its back on him. The 86-year-old American has been an outcast in Hollywood since his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow accused him of having it sexually assaulted when she was a child. Woody Allen denies these accusations for which neither of the two investigations launched resulted.
Filmed in English
It is the first film shot in French (which he does not speak) for the man who “always dreamed of being a European filmmaker”, “most of the films” that made him want to do “this job ( being) French”. Woody Allen knows “that the film will make less money in the United States, because the public there does not like the subtitles”.
If he “can’t make another feature film following this one”, although he “already has a script in mind”, “it doesn’t matter”. He would then turn to the theater or “write books”. “I have always found people to finance my cinema, but it is difficult today: the spectators now consume films at home, in their bed… It is no longer as exciting”, he underlines .
A detective film with a dose of romance
In this interview, the director praises his French actors, Lou de Laâge – “this girl who is so beautiful and who also plays comedy well” – Melvil Poupaud – “class and elegance” – Niels Schneider – “very powerful actor” – and Valérie Lemercier, “really marvelous actress, able to juggle between humor and depth”.
Woody Allen says just regarding his shooting in Paris, which ended last Tuesday according to the JDD, that it “is a detective film, a serious story of crime and punishment. With a dose of romance, of course.
This feature film is currently just known by its working title/code “WASP 22” (Woody Allen Secret Project, Woody Allen’s Secret Project).
(AFP)
