The question of the future is at the heart of Vanishing lineswhose title designates all the possibilities that we have inside of us
according to Catherine Chabot. When she began to write her award-winning play in 2019 by the Quebec Association of Theater Critics, the actress, screenwriter and playwright was in full questioning in the face of the climate and social crisis. Where is the world going? Can we change collectively and grasp our collective line of flight?, she explains. Because, clearly, the current course of things must be rethought.
Without providing answers, this work therefore explores the lines of flight of Valérie and her partner Paul-Émile (Mickaël Gouin), Audrey and her lover (Maxime de Cotret) as well as Sabina and her girlfriend Amber (Victoria Diamond).
The six characters are the six voices in my head, they are my lines of flight
says Catherine Chabot.
Portrait of today’s 30-somethings
Eco-anxiety, personal and professional life choices… Vanishing lines echoes the questions and concerns of Generation Y.
Léane Labrèche-Dor embodies a freelance cultural columnist at Radio-Canada, who hides her flaws behind an acerbic, bitter and ironic side.
There is a point of view on people of our generation who will barricade themselves behind a kind of propriety and virtue, but who are not in synchronicity with [leurs paroles]
explains the actress.
A big flaw in my generation is that we don’t allow ourselves to make past or future mistakes, so we’re just talking, she continues. And that’s where we make the most mistakes in the end, personally and collectively. We are a little off the mark.
The difficulty of long-standing friendships over time
Vanishing lines also addresses the relationship that Generation Y has with friendship when life often makes members of the same group take different paths, like the three protagonists of the film.
I think it will open your eyes to friendship
believes Mariana Mazza, who thinks that her generation tends to perpetuate old friendships that no longer have much meaning because of shared memories.
The older I get the more I realize that just because I went to school with you doesn’t mean you’re my friend
.
For her, this film will speak in particular to girls who experience female friendships. In groups of girls, there is hidden jealousy, innuendo, pettiness, she observes. Instead of saying to your face “I didn’t like it”, you push it back and, at some point, you end up throwing it up, but it always comes too late.
This is what Mariana Mazza experienced in her personal life. The filming of Vanishing lines also pushed her to end her friendship with two people with whom she formed a trio in which she did not feel recognized.
« The film got into me, I came home shaken following the scenes, she says. The scene where I explode is all I wanted to say to my friends. »
An imposter syndrome for Mariana Mazza
Although she had never exchanged a kiss with a girl before kissing Victoria Diamond for the needs of the film, Mariana Mazza strongly identified with Sabina, a woman who comes from a modest background and who is successful in her career. It wasn’t difficult at all to embody her, because I didn’t feel like I was in a character. I went looking for the deepest bugs of my being, the little girl rejected in a threesome.
However, the actress and humorist harbored a feeling of impostor for the first time in her career, in particular because she did not audition for this role.
When Catherine said to me: “you are the character”, I did not believe it. And when I saw the film, I said to myself: “yes, that’s me”.
Catherine Chabot confirms that Mariana Mazza has become obvious. When she read the script, the character of Sabina was present in front of me
she recalls.
It took a bearing, a sensitivity and a softness for this character, she adds. Mariana Mazza delivers an extraordinary performance [dans le film]. She goes into emotions, we go from laughter to tears with her.
This text was written froman interview conducted by Eugénie Lépine-Blondeauon issue It’s my turn. Comments may have been edited for clarity or conciseness.
