It is an ordinary, everyday story, rather gloomy and pessimistic, seen entirely through the eyes of a nine-year-old girl," says director Lucile Hadzihalilovic about her second short, La bouche de Jean-Pierre, which debuts tonight in Un Certain Regard.
The film tells the story of Mimi, a little girl whose mother tries to commit suicide one night after her lover leaves her. The next day, when her mother is taken to hospital, aunt Solange takes Mimi to live with her in Parisian suburbia. Aunt Solange is not unkind, but she is not exactly prime parental material.
The first night of her stay, Mimi witnesses her aunt making love to Jean-Pierre. Feeling very lonely and the relationship between herself and her aunt becoming more strained, Mimi withdraws into herself, keeping her emotions in check. Pining for her mother, Mimi takes "action", swallowing some sleeping pills in the expectation that she will join her mother in hospital.
"The entire film is shot in interiors, reflecting the mood of Mimi," explains Hadzihalilovic. "It is quite sombre and claustrophobic, just like my first short, La Premiere mort de Nono. I was told that La Bouche de Jean-Pierre is reminiscent of early Polanski, namely Repulsion and The Tenant".
Mimi is played by Sandra Sammartino. "She is rather intense, a real natural and extremely perceptive," says Hadzihalilovic, "I was delighted by her performance." Jean-Pierre and Solange, are played by Michel Trillot and Denise Schopfer respectively, both theatre actors making their feature debut.
Hadzihalilovic hopes its appearance in Un Certain Regard will lead to a widescreen release with an onward life on television with Canal+, who were the funding entity behind the film.
Damjana Finci
Prod Co: Les Cinemas de la Zone
Prod/Dir/Scr/Ed: Lucile Hadzihalilovic
Ph: Gaspar Noe
Prod Des: William Abello
Mus: François Roy, Philippe Maleur, Loïc da Silva, John Milko
Cast: Sandra Sammartino, Michel Trillot, Denise Schropfer
Running time: 52mins
Int sales: Les Cinemas de la Zone
