In “Compagnons”, Agnès Jaoui embodies the tutelary figure of a young girl within the illustrious association of craftsmen. A role full of generosity, in his image. This film, was it the desire to …
This film, was it the desire to find the director François Favrat after the role of his life?
Agnes Jaoui – François is a friend, and we wanted to work together again. I have the freedom to be able to choose, and Companions is a useful and sensitive film. The goal of education, at home or at school, is to give young people confidence. Without self-esteem, it is difficult to build oneself. And how do you want to acquire it when the manual trades are brandished like sidings, threats? It is contemptuous for the kids, for the professionals in these sectors and for the teachers. But, from their creation, the companions had the intelligence to associate manual work with high standards and excellence, while promoting the integration of disadvantaged young people.
Did you know their universe?
Agnes Jaoui – Thinking that it would interest one of my children, I had visited their house in Paris. I also spent some time in the house in Nantes, where we filmed: I met the “mother of companions” there and an educator who worked for integration on construction sites. My character is the combination of these two women. Among the companions, the mother was for a long time the only authorized woman: the first obediences to have opened their training to women only did so in 2004. It is in the image of society: a woman was first a mother. At home, the mother has the role of director of the establishment: she enforces the rules, listens, protects, accompanies, in particular certain kids who have come from afar, who are cut off from their loved ones. For those who have lacked references, it even embodies a form of “reparenting”, when the companions represent a second family, as for the character of Pio Marmaï.
Pio Marmaï is a great actor, capable of playing everything, the enarque as the craftsman
Precisely, how were your partners?
Agnes Jaoui – We shot with real companions who master the codes and know-how. With Najaa Bensaid, who plays the young woman in training, we followed the path of our characters, keeping our distance before getting closer. Pio, I felt like I had known him forever, because we have many friends in common. He is a great actor, capable of playing everything, the enarque as the craftsman. Passionate about mechanics, he has this love of manual work and we believe in it right away.
Also to discover: Agnès Jaoui: “I see social networks as a parallel world”
Does the maternal side of your character suit you?
Agnes Jaoui – Surely. I have two children and, when we direct, we are also the mother of a team. In the film, my character’s companion nickname is “Bourguignonne l’intrépide”. “Intrepid”, I recognize myself there. Don’t ask me to bungee jump, but, socially, I’ve never been afraid of the other.
What society expects of me as a woman has never reached me.
Like Naëlle, the young heroine, was there in your life a form of determinism that you had to escape?
Agnes Jaoui –
I received an education that always left me free of my choices. My parents were committed, feminist, curious, and I only reproduced what I had known, with a very deep idea of the margin. There was no more unconventional than my father. What was not always easy to assume when I was young. I was terrified of not succeeding, but what society expected of me as a woman never reached me. I didn’t care, or better: it made me want to fight.
Has your job allowed you to channel your energy?
Agnes Jaoui – No, because, unlike the heroine of the film, I hadn’t lost confidence in the other… What we often feel with young people, especially in the neighbourhoods, is that the bond is broken. They no longer believe in the institution and in the outstretched hand. Too little emphasis is placed on these exceptional men and women who come to their aid. However, it has been proven that the social ladder works better in countries where teachers and educators are better regarded. If the film shows, if only to a kid, that the transplant can still take, it will be won.
The growth of platforms is a danger for freedom of expression, French cultural exception and moral rights.
Who have been your guides in your journey?
Agnes Jaoui – Teachers at Henri-IV, singing and theater teachers, and some of my intimate and professional encounters, including Jean-Pierre Bacri, of course.
Is it still possible to continue writing without him?
Agnes Jaoui – It’s still too diffcult for me to talk about it… But I’m writing a graphic novel that my best friend illustrates. I also lend a hand to François Favrat for his next film. As for the execution, I’m confused. Since the pandemic, distributors have been in a terrible situation, and the growth of platforms is a danger to freedom of expression, French cultural exception and moral rights. After considering working for them, I understood that they wanted to decide everything. Paolo Sorrentino or Jane Campion may have free rein, but it’s on the margins.
To anticipate misfortune is to experience it twice.
Do you fear that this pandemic is starting a setback for the cause of women?
Agnes Jaoui – No, because women, more accustomed to restrictions, often emerged when money was scarce. All societal movements experience hazards, and voices are already being raised to express their “fed up with feminists”. We must continue to fight on all fronts.
Do you remain optimistic, especially for your daughter and your son?
Agnes Jaoui – Yes, because to anticipate misfortune is to experience it twice. And if there is one thing that makes me happy and reassures me, it is the fervor of their generation, including the boys, who are also in rebellion against the injunctions.
My mom was a psychotherapist and I myself did thirty years of therapy.
You are directing season 2 episodes ofIn therapy, where you also play a small role. How was it ?
Agnes Jaoui – From the moment I understood that I was a tenant and not the owner of the premises, everything went smoothly. I couldn’t break down the walls, but I could put my decor there. I really liked the first season, and I always thought that a good therapy session was the best sorter. My mom was a psychotherapist and I myself did thirty years of therapy: I master the subject! There was also the pleasure of meeting Frédéric Pierrot after tell me about the rain and Public place, and to direct the marvelous Eye Haïdara in the role of a patient who, at the dawn of her forties, wonders about her desire for motherhood. Another topic that resonates very strongly with me.
A word about your other projects?
Agnes Jaoui – April 13 comes out In the shadow of the girls, by Etienne Comar, where I play a murderess who, with other inmates, takes singing lessons with a teacher played by Alex Lutz. I also shot in the course of life, a unique film about a screenwriter who intervenes in the film school run by her first love. And, from mid-March to the end of July at least, I will be on tour with two concerts: In my living rooma troupe show that starts with Bach and ends with Cloclo, and The trio of my loveswith musicians Fernando Fiszbein and Roberto Gonzalez Hurtado.
What about a musical?
Agnes Jaoui –
I dream of directing one, on stage or in the cinema.
Companions, by Francois Favrat. Released February 23.