The Empire seen by Anamaria Vartolomei
The César-winning actress from L’Evénement looks back on her experience in front of the camera of Bruno Dumont, Jury Prize in Berlin where she bursts onto the screen and talks about her year 2024 to follow, from Maria to The Count of Monte Cristo
How do you find yourself playing in The Empire after the departure of Adèle Haenel’s cast?
Anamaria Vartolomei : My agent, Isabelle de la Patellière, called me one day to tell me that Bruno (Dumont) wanted to meet me for the role and would not see any other actress than me. To tell you the truth, at that time, I knew his aesthetic universe but really little about his films. But as France had just been released, I rushed to the theaters before going to the meeting.
How does he present his film to you?
Bruno first shared with me his desire to work together. Then he explained to me in a very beautiful and very philosophical way that he saw The Empire as a symbolic representation of the struggle between Good and Evil. But it’s still quite vague for me. I leave with the script, I read it that same evening and I call him the next day to accept
Does this reading shed more light on the story?
Not really ! (laughs) Because Bruno doesn’t write his scenarios in a conventional way, more like a novel. Before each dialogue, no character name is specified, for example. So you never really know who’s talking. It requires you to be hyper-concentrated, you inevitably get lost. But it’s also this weird side and so far from what I had been able to do before that attracts me. After The Event, I waited a long time for the right project, with a collaboration as strong as the one I experienced with Audrey (Diwan). Bruno seemed to me to be the ideal director.
Do you rehearse with him in advance?
Not really. A lot of things happen during the costume tests where he is very present. But, until the set, everything remains in the rough form, especially since we will be shooting with a lot of VFX. So I have trouble projecting myself. But this vagueness interests me, all the more so because it reflects the fact that Bruno works with non-professionals and that he directs us all through an earpiece. There is a new side to all of this that is obviously very exciting for me and this will stay with me throughout the shoot, which will require vivacity and rigor. I trusted his artistic genius and vision. Especially since Bruno is a very participatory person, he often asks you for your opinion. He never imposed anything on me. He knows where he wants to take you but if in the middle of the path, you want to branch off a little elsewhere, he accepts. He wants his actors to feel comfortable.
What’s it like to be directed through the headset?
I loved it even if it was weird the first few days. I was especially afraid because of the process of not being able to listen to my partners, nor sufficiently let go. But pretty quickly, you get used to it because Bruno knows how to distill his directions with precision and parsimony. Never intrusively. It just complements the information he gives you before the shots.
THE EMPIRE: STAR WARS BY BRUNO DUMONT (REVIEW)
What idea did you have of your character, Jane, when you started filming and did it evolve over the course of it?
I would say that it gained depth throughout the filming. Jane is an alien who gradually takes on a human appearance upon arriving on Earth. So we had to find something to distinguish her from an average human. In his approach, in his way of speaking, in his gaze but without overdoing it on the mechanical side. For example, it involves a way of running, inspired by video games. And then she’s a soldier. She knows where she’s going. She is even the character who guides the story because she has a mission and has this pragmatic side to accomplish it. But when I say that she gained depth on the set, it’s because I really felt that she was gradually destabilized by this humanity. My mission was to find the right dosage to give her sensitivity and vulnerability without completely transforming her.
How do you view Bruno Dumont’s view? sWhat about male-female relationships in his film?
I was listening to a debate when the Depardieu affair broke out. We talked about the female gaze and desire in all its problematic aspects. But this is precisely what Bruno shows in the film. What is implied that we find throughout The Empire misogynistic behavior, comments that are disturbing but are there to disturb! In the program I was talking about, someone said that we had to be careful only under the cover of hunting down real predators and real rapists, real disturbing and problematic behavior, and not censoring works which precisely expose stage these situations. I totally share this point of view. Distinguish a cinematographic work from reality. Bruno, in his approach, does not apologize any more than he seeks to provoke. That is absolutely not its goal. He is someone totally at peace with himself. It shows sexuality, uncontrolled primitive needs and, through this gesture, returns man to his violence, to his bestiality. But the film detaches itself from any moral judgment. And I have the impression that as a spectator to be able to live the experience, you also have to be able to detach yourself from it, to abandon yourself to follow it.
What seemed most complicated to you in the making of this film and your character?
I was afraid that Jane would end up being too much like my character from The Event. In the sense that like her, she knows precisely where she is going. I needed there to be breaks, excesses. I was afraid of not doing enough. Since I was in a Dumont and even more so in this Dumont, I had the feeling of having to do something offbeat, something fanciful. But the fantasy is there so you have to know exactly not to outbid. And, for this dosage, I knew that I could count on Bruno’s gaze.
The Empire marked the kick-off of your strong return to the sets because we will be seeing a lot of you in the coming months…
Yes, I followed up with Maria by Jessica Palud where I play Maria Schneider, The count of Monte Cristothe project on De Gaulle by Antonin Baudry and a Romanian film produced and co-written by Cristian Mungiu (4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days). Maria was a tough shoot, even more so than The Event In my opinion. I have never been faced with such a difficult role in just 25 days of filming. The end of it was like an emotional release for me. And, in turn, I almost saw The count of Monte Cristo with the resources allocated to this project like a vacation! (laughs) Except that I play it with a Romanian accent and I have no idea what that sounds like because, rightly so, the directors didn’t want me to listen to my scenes on set. My character Haydée is oriental in Dumas’ novel. Alexandre (de la Patellière) and Matthieu (Delaporte) wanted to make her an Eastern European girl. But although of Romanian origin, it didn’t come naturally to me. And I had no desire to get involved in a project that was going to be seen so much! For this, I took inspiration from my mother. I recorded her reading the text and so I worked by ear to imitate an accent which itself was really polished over time to make it my own. So it was anything but a vacation! But here again, I trust Alexandre (de la Patellière) and Matthieu (Delaporte). And I can’t wait to see the result!
The Empire. By Bruno Dumont. With Anamaria Vartolomei, Lyna Khoudri, Fabrice Luchini… Duration: 1h50
