Exclusive : Jeanne Balibar - French Polish

Jeanne Balibar and Guillaume Depardieu in Don't Touch the Axe

Jeanne Balibar has an awkward beauty: her deep black eyes and distinctive features remind you of a wild little animal, yet her moves exude nobility and elegance. No wonder that since her debut in Le Beau Pavel in 1994, Jeanne has become one of the biggest stars in French cinema; her major successes include Late August, Early September by Olivier Assayas (1998, for which she won the prize as Best Actress at the San Sebastian festival), Sade (2000) by Benoit Jacquot about the Divine Marquis, Who Knows? (2001) by Jacques Rivette and Clean (2004) again by Olivier Assayas. Now she is in London to promote Don’t Touch The Axe, the latest film by Jacques Rivette: a harrowing duel of hearts set in the 19th century between aristocrat Armand de Montriveau (Guillaume Dépardieu) and Duchess Antoinette de Langeais (Balibar). Vera Brozzoni caught up with her.

VB:This is the second time you've worked with Jacques Rivette, one of the most celebrated French maestros. What’s it like to work with him?

JB: There is nothing less than perfect about Rivette’s directing, I’d go everywhere for him. He is fantastically original and inventive. When he shoots a film he is totally absorbed by it and works hard for it. It is fascinating for an actor to be invited into his world.

VB: Lately France has produced many successful period dramas, like Don’t Touch The Axe, Catherine Breillat's The Last Mistress and Eric Rohmer’s The Love of Astrée and Celadon. Is it the renaissance of period film in France?

JB: No, I think it’s just a coincidence that all these films are being released now. The French film industry is very lively and works on many genres. I’m proud of that, because if you take a look at the Italian film industry to name one, it’s completely dead, destroyed. 

VB: Acting is not your only passion: you have released two albums, Paramour and Slalom Dame. When did you start your singing career and how far do you want to take it?

JB: I started singing in 2003 and still love it: this winter I will be on tour in Germany with my band. That said, I don’t know where singing will take me and I’m quite glad not to know. It feels good to have something unpredictable in your life.

VB: Your father is the highly regarded Marxist philosopher Etienne Balibar – how has he  influenced your choices and your acting career? And how do you relate to him as such an intellectual figure?

JB: I don’t think Philosophy is just an intellectual discipline: on the contrary I find it sensuous, artistic; there is not much difference between it and the arts, including cinema.
I remember him being totally thrilled by the sensuality of actresses Bernadette Lafont and Silvana Mangano, I looked up at them as my role models because they were his objects of desire.
Regarding his thought, he has always been interested in contradictions, which is something I am also very interested in. Perhaps there is a psychoanalytical reason why we share this.

VB: What are your next projects?

JB: I’m shooting a film called Forgive Me by a young director, Maiwenn Le Besco (sister of actress Isild Le Besco), then I will be on tour as a singer and then I’ll head for the theatre: I’m working on a constructed piece about Galileo’s daughter and the letters she wrote to him. Again, a father and a daughter… interesting, isn’t it?!


      

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