A social worker and single mother, Sylvia suffers from alcoholism, but has not declined in thirteen years: the age of her daughter Sara. At the end of the reunion where she reluctantly goes, Sylvia is followed by Saul, a former classmate. At first alarmed, she learns that the widower is actually suffering from early-onset dementia. A entanglement develops between these two solitary creatures that will prove, thanks to subsequent revelations, to be as surprising as it is surprising. Written and directed by Michel Franco, memory Featuring two great performances from Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard, J duty Can be heard during virtual conference.
“I read the script before I met Michelle, but after seeing her previous films, I knew it could be very dark,” Jessica Chastain explained during the video conference event.
“During the garden scene (where Sylvia describes the attack she once suffered), I immediately thought: ‘Okay, I understand: this is a film in reaction to the movement. me too”. A revenge film, with a woman who will wreak havoc… But the further I went, the more I realized what was beautiful about Mitchell, the way he writes, defies expectations and clichés. On every page, in every scene, I felt like I didn’t know what was going to happen next with the characters. »
Responding to his playing partner’s words, Peter Sarsgaard confirmed that the mentioned sequence, where Saul follows Sylvia to her house, was the most complicated for him to play.
“It felt important to me that the character, Saul, has a submerged part that people wonder about, and a visible part. I knew that this scene required ambiguity about my character’s intentions. But for my part, as an actor, I had a very specific idea of why Saul behaved the way he did. »
The actor therefore clings to the image of Saul’s dead wife. Like Sylvia, the deceased was a redhead, as can be seen in the photo. In his mental fog, does Saul simply confuse the two women? in memoryNo visual detail is overlooked…
“The thought of Saul’s spouse kept coming to my mind. She was always on my mind. It was wonderful to be able to play a man with such respect for women: it led me to think that Saul’s relationship with his wife must be loving and equal. This is why Saul has so much love to give, but nowhere to put it. And that’s when Sylvia appears, and Saul will give her as much love as it takes,” continues Peter Sarsgaard, who won Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for his remarkable performance.
Will an Oscar nomination for Best Actor follow? Time will tell.
Meanwhile, it’s the past that’s in the heart memory. A past with which the protagonist has conflicting relationships: while Sylvia, in post-traumatic shock, is haunted by it, Saul, whose cognitive abilities are disintegrating, no longer has access to it.
Mismatched, the pair become strangely complementary when Sylvia agrees to take care of Saul.
Control the tempo
The rest, delicate, moving, subtle, are presented in a series of long shots or medium shots, often still, like pictures animated only by characters. Bottom line, the device is both clinical and public: it’s not for nothing that Michel Franco had a nickname. Diversity “Mexican Michael Haneke”.
“Mitchell’s approach, which favors these wide shots, ensures that it is us, the actors, who control the tempo. That’s why I was so happy to have Jessica in front of me: in every take all the little organic and complex things that happened between us could live and breathe instead of being reproduced in various cutaway shots. It makes things a lot easier, especially the emotional part,” says Peter Sarsgaard.
The fact that the directorial choices of the filmmaker also pleased Jessica Chastain, the latter especially appreciated the minimal – not to say harsh – filming conditions. In fact, on memory, there were no private trailers or lodges. The team was so small that the actress was responsible for its costumes, hair and makeup.
“I started out in this business playing in small theater productions where I had to do it all. It is common to do your own hair and makeup in the theater. So it didn’t bother me in the least. The film is the one that immediately followed the Oscar Tammy Faye’s eyes (In Tammy Fay’s eyes), and Michelle admitted to me that some of her friends were convinced that I would leave the project for something bigger. People have this preconceived idea of artists who seek luxury and comfort at any cost…”
When it comes to Jessica Chastain, nothing could be further from the truth. On the contrary, it thrives on risk.
Embrace the unexpected
Certainly, in the realm of risk-taking, the realm of “crisis,” memory Actress filled. Indeed, in the same way he manages so many narrative twists, Michel Franco reserves many surprises for his interpreters.
Recalls Jessica Chastain: “When I showed up the very first day, I saw that I was at a real Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, with a group of real people who had agreed to attend. I was totally unprepared for this. Except that by acting in this way, he forced me, as an actress, not to be an actress, but simply to be a human being; to be present I loved working this way. »
In short, far from making the two stars restless, these unexpected events prompted them to invest as never before. It’s no wonder that the Venice and Toronto festivals, in particular, have seen repeats of Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard giving the best performances of their respective illustrious careers. To finish first:
“Michelle likes people to come with an open mind and an open heart. »
And it turns out that this applies to the audience as much as to the actors.
film memory It will release in theaters on January 19.
To see in the video
