About Les Reines du drame

Alexis Langlois ’s interview

How did the Queens of Drama come to be? 

The film was inspired by a past romantic relationship. Like my two leading ladies, Mimi Madamour and Billie Kohler, our relationship was a blend of admiration, rivalry, and class warfare intertwined. We loved each other like crazy, but we couldn’t be together. When the relationship ended, rather than wallow in the depths of sorrow, I transcended it. I was able to pour my anxieties and my desires into it. Transposing that story in the music business was a way to find distance, protect my intimacy, while allowing for a more earnest expression of those feelings. Also, I am passionate about musical comedy, so it was an opportunity to explore the genre. 

What musicals inspire you? 

There are so many! Obviously, musicals by Bob Fosse, All that Jazz particularly; Frank Tashlin, he doesn’t write musicals per se, but music is paramount in his work. His film A Girl Can’t Help It was a real source of inspiration for Queens of Drama. Jacques Demy and Vincente Minnelli, of course, but I’m also passionate about Chantal Akerman’s Golden Eighties, and Brian de Palma's Phantom of the Opera, which is rather obvious when you watch the film. Actually, what I like about musicals is the potential - like a soliloquy in a play - to directly tap into the characters’ emotions. Each song is an open heart, and I find that wonderful. Anything goes in a musical; it’s first and foremost a form, there’s no injunction to be real, it keeps shifting. The only condition is to embrace the characters’ emotions. 

Queens of Drama takes place in the 2000s; we find characters, moments that remind us of people like Lorie, Britney Spears, and Ophélie Winter… 

I grew up with these images, these people. It should be said that I come from a family that didn’t watch a lot of films. I was introduced to films through television, music clips… which aren’t as highly regarded. I became a cinephile later on. So blending these references, cinema and TV pop culture, especially US culture, which was an overwhelming part of my youth, is a way to bridge these two sides within me. Also, setting Queens of Drama in the 2000s and making it into somewhat of a tale was a way to bring out what is currently relevant in issues we feel we have somewhat settled… 

Queens of Drama is a formidable source of music hits. How did the collaboration with Rebeka Warior and Yelle go? 

I had worked with Rebeka on one of my previous short films. And she was one of my inspirations for the character of Billie. Furthermore, her band Sexy Sush was one of the trailblazers of electro music in the noughties. Collaborating with her on Billie’s songs was a no-brainer. As for Mimi Madamour, I was looking for a French artist who could write lively music and heartbreaking lyrics, and Yelle immediately came to mind. Other composers wrote music for the soundtrack of the film: PIerre Desprats, Mona Soyoc from KaS Product, and Louise Bsx. It was vital for me to work with different artists, of different ages and different styles. If there had been one single person in charge of the whole, it would have felt much more like a pastiche. Beyond the reference, we revert to this sincerity, which is very dear to me.