"Between Suzanne and Un Poisson Violent, even though some things have changed in my life
(I became a mother) I feel a real continuity, through their themes : love as a trigger for emancipation, relationships between the dominating idea of the family and that of freedom...
With Mariette Desert, my co-scritpwriter, we wanted to deconstruct a story over the course
of twenty years, a romanesque saga on the theme of destiny, which progresses in an elliptical manner. We had in mind a number of films, most notably Ozu's There Was a Father, Bresson's Balthazar, and René Féret's Baptême. I recently discovered J.L. Brooks's Terms of Endearment... It could have been our « bedside » film ! I also have a passion for American biopics. Suzanne is the biopic of a stranger founded not on causality (the influence of major trauma during childhood on human destiny...) but on the power of chance and mystery in our lives. This narrative bet is really fascinating albeit slightly tricky to direct. What events of our characters' lives would be portrayed or hidden, to better reveal their importance ?
How would I surprise the spectator, make him as active as possible, as if it was up to him
to fill the gaps in the story from his own life experience ?
The character of Suzanne required a lot of modesty in the performance. Sara Forestier
is a great actress and has a rare intensity. I was certain that if I managed to channel all her energy to remain within instead of externalising it, the results would be incredible. The emotional maturity of this 25 year -old woman fascinated me. She could express everything, the violence of passionate love, the pain of bereavement, the joys of childbirth. As if she'd already lived a hundred lives."
