INTERVIEW
Two years after Jeannette, the childhood of Joan of Arc , the director Bruno Dumont continues his work around the life of the Maid of Orleans. Wednesday comes out Jeanne , adaptation of parts 2 and 3 of Joan of Arc (1897) Charles Péguy. In Culture médias on Europe 1, the filmmaker returns to this character that is close to his heart.
"Bring Jeanne d'Arc up to date"
Carl Theodor Dreyer, Fleming Victor, Roberto Rossellini or Jacques Rivette, many filmmakers who embarked on a screen adaptation of the life of Joan of Arc. For Bruno Dumont, if we find so many films around this character, it's because "his story is great". "It's a perfect scenario: the story of a very small girl who is a very simple girl and who will become an extraordinary person, almost holy," says the filmmaker.
Beyond the character, the message carried by the story goes through the centuries, according to the director. "It represents something that is both historical and timeless, it is the story of the human heart, of the human dream," says Bruno Dumont. He adds: "there is a need to make it modern, to bring it up to date and to make us hear Jeanne today".
"I like working with real people"
Like most of his films, Bruno Dumont surrounded himself with amateur actors. Only headliner of the film: Fabrice Luchini, "come for free". For the rest of the cast, it's mostly unknown, from the region where the film was shot. "I like working with real people, there is something that sounds right and fragile, which I like, I really like people's music," he says.