“In The Anarchists I wanted to work the in-depth mixture of film genres, namely spy movie and drama, while emphasizing the fictional aspects which were already present in Alyah and also while focusing on a more concentrated dramaturgy. Both my films follow torn apart heroes, but engagement is at the core of Les Anarchistes. If at the beginning, the main character is in an ideological void, he will soon come across fiercely ambitious people. The film equally talks about commitment in politics and in love.”
“The historical film allows a kind of poesy which underlays the film in its dialogues and its soliloquies. In this way, escaping immediate reality, we create an autonomous world. It would have been impossible not to go back to the end of the 19th century in order to seize the destinies of these individualist anarchists who were planning to profoundly change man before starting the revolution. They were actually very modern people. Some of their theses are in consonance with present day issues, in particular their discourse on the collapse of the politics. The comparison between the anarchists, who are often the descendants of the Communards, and the offspring of the generation of ’68 is quite accurate. Just like in Alyah, I wanted to stay close to my actors’ faces by filming with shoulder camera, as if it were a contemporary film and I had to go along with the current feelings of my characters.”
“I met Tahar Rahim rather early and I rewrote the script thinking of him. Thanks to his elegance, his profound beauty, his magnificence, he was the right actor for an infiltrator’s role. He is the kind of actor who thinks that mastering the dramatic technics gives rise to authentic feelings, this was very enriching for me. Adèle Exarchopoulos arrived later on the film. Her modernity and her youth make of her the genuine anarchist. Sometimes she may seem tough, when suddenly she switches to a childish mood and vice-versa. She is both rebellious and romantic and I needed these two intimate strings that compose the perfect Judith.”
