"Dancer in Paris" Director Cedric Klapisch wanted to film a drama about dancers that had never been depicted before [Director's Interview Vol.350]

Cedric, a French master who has produced many masterpieces of youth films, as represented by the trilogy of `` Spanish Apartment'' (2002), ``Russian Dolls ' ' (2005), and ``Paris in New York '' (13). Directed by Klapisch. Another part of his life's work is dance. Klapisch, who has previously created documentaries that look at the dancers of the Paris Opera House and video works that approach choreographers, has completed a new work that is filled with his love for dance.

``Dancer in Paris'' is the story of Elise, who aims to become an étoile (top dancer) at the Opera House, but her life as a dancer is almost cut short due to an injury during a performance. After experiencing setbacks in the world of classical ballet, she discovers herself in the new world of contemporary dance. Marion Barbeau, who actually dances at the Opera House, plays the role of Elise. We asked director Cedric Klapisch, who has mastered the appeal of dance films at the highest level, both in terms of visuals and story, about his thoughts.

Index

• ' Black Swan' is questionable as a dance movie
• The part that is taken by feeling and the part that is calculated and constructed
• I want to capture the energy of young actors on film.

' Black Swan' is questionable as a dance movie

Q: I didn't know that you were a dance fan, although you specialize in human dramas set in Paris. Please tell us how you became interested in dance.

Klapisch: I think it was when I was 14 or 15. I had an audience passport for the Théâtre de la Ville de Paris, or what is now called a ``subscription'' membership card, and I went to see every contemporary dance performance. That was my encounter with dance. From the 1970s to the 1980s, dancers such as Carolin Carlson and Pina Bausch were active, and I was fascinated by them.

Q: Are you fascinated by the stage and have dreams of becoming a dancer yourself?

Klapisch: No, dancing at parties is enough for me (lol). I've never learned dancing.

"Dancer in Paris" © 2022 / CE QUI ME MEUT MOTION PICTURE - STUDIOCANAL - FRANCE 2 CINEMA

Q: Are there any movies that feature dancers that inspire you? He doesn't really like `` Black Swan '' (10), which replaced Natalie Portman's dance scenes with professional movements...

Klapisch: I'm not really influenced by past works. My feeling is that there aren't many fiction films that seriously deal with dance. When you think of famous dance scenes, musical movies from the 1940s and 1950s come to mind. Representative examples include ``Singin' in the Rain '' (52) and `` West Side Story '' (61). However, these films are not films about dance, but instead tell fictional dramas through dance. `` Black Swan '' is certainly a bad example of a dance movie for me (lol). So it didn't affect me.

Q: There is an example of a French movie in which an active professional dancer was cast as the main character in `` POLINA DANCES ME '' (2017).

Klapisch: I don't feel like I've been surpassed by Polina . What I wanted to tell with this work is a story that has not been depicted in previous films. There weren't many works that presented the dance itself as a video and conveyed the joy and enjoyment of dancing to the audience, so that's what I pursued. This time, we recorded three types of dance, classical ballet, hip hop, and contemporary, in video using different shooting methods. We wanted the audience to experience the ``fun of watching'' each of the three genres.

The part that is taken by feeling and the part that is calculated and constructed