'When I was making the film, I thought that it would prove controversial with audiences, but most people's misgivings are gone by the time they leave the theatre,' comments director Alain Berliner of his new feature, Ma Vie en Rose .
The title is significant, hinting that in a child's world nothing is forbidden. Given that this is the story of a little boy who one day decides that he wants to be a girl, it may or may not take on a political significance as well. 'Only a child can make the statement 'I want to be a girl' without fear of the consequences,' explains Berliner, ignoring this inference.
'I made the film because the subject was very original and had never before been covered,' he continues. 'Ma Vie En Rose is a story about difference, a story about social attitudes in both the neighbourhood and in the family environment. I also found a great character in the little boy.'
The film details prejudice, but ends on an optimistic note - eventually, the boy's decision is accepted. 'The subject is taboo - and of course it is dramatically more interesting that a boy, as opposed to a girl, wishes to be the opposite sex - but what the film really does is to explore human relationships. The essential question is 'Will the family accept the child how he wants to be?''
Berliner's films deal with tough topical issues, but the difficulties his characters encounter are generally resolved in a poetic way. He cites Tim Burton and Ken Loach as equal influences and considers Ma Vie en Rose a hybrid of Loach's social realism and Burton's sense of visual enchantment. 'The film is midway between dream and reality. The older we get in life, the more barriers spring up, narrowing the range of possibilities. I see life as a kind of funnel. That is why I make movies: to be able to go on inventing everything,' Nicholas Cunningham
Prod Co: Haut et Court
Prod: Carole Scotta
Dir: Alain Berliner
Scr: Chris Vander Stappenm Alain Berliner
Ph: Yves Cape
Art Dir: Veronique Melery (acute accent on 1st e)
Cos: Karen Muller Serreau
Ed: Sandrine Deegen
Cast: Georges du Fresne, Michele Laroque (grave accent on 1st e), Jean-Philippe Ecoffey
Running time: 88 mins
Int Sales: TF1
