The investigation by a police brigade of a bloody femicide in a French city is the axis of “The Night of the Crime”, by Dominik Moll and starring the actor Bastien Bouillon, who spoke with Télam regarding the characteristics of this police with perspective genre that premieres tomorrow in Argentine cinemas.
Winner of six César Awards from the French Film Academy (including Best Film and Best New Actor for Bouillon), “La noche del crimen” is a precise and rigorous record of the course of the investigation into the murder of a young woman by a seasoned group of police officers commanded by the young Yohan, who becomes obsessed with crime.
“I sensed that as an actor I did not have to go higher or overcome the intrigue, what I felt is that I had to respond and serve that story,” Bastien Bouillon tells this agency in a hotel in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires: “I felt that I had I have to have very lively eyes, which observe and try to scrutinize things, as well as being a gateway to the interior of my character”, he describes.
Concentrated and at the same time attentive and willing to understand the characteristics of a crime that can only be explained from a gender perspective -and that, as the story points out, is investigated by men-, the protagonist shows an obsessive side, a trait that the actor French worked with dedication.
«There is the very human side of obsession, which is a giant theme that is represented in an allegorical way with the turns that my character, Yohan, takes in the velodrome -he explains-, which is also an allegory of that place surrounded by mountains of the city of Grenoble, who oppress those who live in the valley.”
Q: How was the previous work to put yourself in the shoes of Yohan, the policeman in charge of the investigation of the crime that the film addresses?
Bastien Bouillon: I knew that the author of the book, Pauline Guéna, had spent a year with the Versailles Criminal Squad and that Dominik Moll was also in a police station for several days to find out how the officers act, so I relied heavily on the script, and as I He didn’t have to handle weapons or anything very precise regarding the police profession, if he had questions of a practical nature, he would ask them directly to the director.
For example, there is a scene where a search is made in an apartment and one of the characters is arrested, grabbed, and at that moment there were two policemen who were advising us. And the same with the scene where the body is being manipulated, they are real scientific policemen. The only preparation I had was to ride a bike.
There is the very human side of obsession, which is a giant theme that is represented in an allegorical way with the laps that my character, Yohan, takes in the velodrome”.
Bastien Bouillon.
I sensed that as an actor, I did not have to go further or overcome the intrigue, what I felt was that I had to respond and serve that story, so I was very straight and linear in my words and on the other hand, I felt that I had to have the very lively eyes, which observe and try to scrutinize things, as well as being a gateway to the interior of my character. The passage between the word and the look was my main preparation.
Q: The protagonist you play is very hieratic and at the same time shows a very strong determination. Were you surprised by this obsessive nature of the character?
BB: I myself am very obsessive; For me the story had many interesting things, for example the man-woman relationship, the social and economic reality of the police that lack the necessary resources. But there is the very human side of the obsession, which is a giant theme that is represented in an allegorical way with the turns that my character, Yohan, takes in the velodrome, which is also an allegory of that place surrounded by the mountains of the city. of Grenoble, who oppress those who live in the valley.
Q: How did you work on the relationship between characters who on screen convey a successful relationship of camaraderie?
BB: Dominik (Moll) says that 80 percent of directing actors is casting. I think that in the group dynamics, either the characters were too blurred or vice versa, they tried to stand out to have a leading role. Precisely, the director’s intelligence consisted precisely in creating a group that worked well, although it took a long time to create it.
Q: As an artist, were you surprised by the atypical focus of “La noche del crimen”, a policeman who focuses his gaze on gender crime?
BB: What I liked is that the film took hold of this theme, without trying to take advantage of this fashionable effect, it runs smoothly, not giving answers but raising questions.
I have the impression that I am open and educated regarding these issues, but it will take us men a long time to deconstruct ourselves, the same for women, who have also been built on patriarchy since the dawn of time.
A few years ago the word of women was released, but now we are going to have to learn to listen to that word.
Q: For this film you received a César, the most important film award in your country. Does this recognition open any real doors to other jobs?
BB: The César that I received was for the “Best Male Hope”, a category where I was together with actors who are 15 years old and I am 37, so the first sentence in my speech was: “They gave me the award for having preserved hope”. .
Although it is not an absolute rule, César opens doors and at least my career is changing.
But then, the most difficult part is yet to come, because a career is built over time and now that a lot of options appear because I’m on the table, I’m going to have to orient myself in the best direction.
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