- Every Friday, 20 Minutes invites a personality to comment on a social phenomenon in his meeting “20 Minutes with…”.
- Adeline Picault, director and screenwriter of “T'as pécho? “Evokes sexuality and relationships between teens.
- For her, the need to wear a mask is not necessarily a barrier to seduction.
The comedy T'as pécho? better than its title! Closer to the Beaux Gosses (2009) by Riad Sattouf than to the Yankee saga American Pie , this tender fantasy is not a pochade. At 37, Adeline Picault signs the making of her first film, in which she explores with humor and accuracy the romantic relationships of a group of teenagers.
Coming from the theater and from writing novels, screenplays and series, the young woman has refined her story to give life to four boys who are given lessons in seduction - paying! - by a supposedly more sassy friend. than them. Adults played by Ramzy Bedia, Vincent Macaigne or Sophie-Marie Larrouy are just as amazing as the young actors she has unearthed. Inès d'Assomption and Paul Kircher (who could be the new Vincent Lacoste) are remarkable discoveries. Barely out of confinement, it is despite everything by phone that Adeline Picault spoke of love at 20 Minutes .
Who came up with the idea of the somewhat trivial title, “T'as pécho? "?
It's me, as soon as I started writing the screenplay. This expression fascinates me. It seems raw and, yet, when we dig a little deeper, we discover that the teenagers who use it are not that smart. Their relationship to love, as to sex, is not as free as one might imagine. The romanticism has not disappeared ... I wanted to show that and understand what is behind this question. I am aware that this can be taken the wrong way, but I want to make it clear that my film is not only made for young people. I believe that many adults can navigate it, either because they are parents of teens or because the situations will remind them of things from their past.
This title is like a film that one might think is vulgar, but which turns out to be tender?
This is indeed what I wanted to do. Show that the relationships between people have not been simplified over time. Even though teens often seek to project an image of freedom and indifference that they find cool, they sometimes find each other painfully. This is particularly the case of my heroine who pretends to know everything about sex when she has little more experience than those to whom she gives lessons in seduction.
Do you think we can learn to seduce?
Definitely not! And that's what the fillm shows. There is no manual for "pécho" either for girls or for boys and it is still happy. Love must remain something spontaneous and natural. We are not machines!
Have relationships changed between today's teens and those you knew in college and high school?
Not that much in fact… I have the impression that the questions and anxieties are still broadly the same. Of course, social media didn't exist when I was a teenager. I chose not to deal with this subject, because I did not want to just touch on it: it could have been the subject of a full feature film. For the rest, the angst in love, the seduction and the awkwardness, I did not find much difference between what my young actors told me and my memories of a young girl.
Did you go out to middle and high school to collect expressions or good words?
Not at all because I did not try to make a documentary. For the dialogues, I had fun embroidering on what I imagined. My approach was more literary than naturalistic. During rehearsals, it was the young actors who told me if I was fair or if the lines did not seem realistic to them. At first, they offered me their own version of the dialogue, but it was very rarely successful. They tried to improvise but we quickly gave up because they did not all have the same experience of acting, nor the same gifts for inventing dialogue. In fact, the film is very written.
What surprised you the most about the behavior of these teens?
To see how sensitive they are to other people. It struck me from the casting: several young actors were embarrassed at the idea of playing the role of the gay boy. Some said they had to refer it to the “big brothers” in their neighborhood before they could accept it. No matter how much I told them that there would be no love scenes between boys, or even a gesture of tenderness, playing a gay frightened them because they feared the mockery of those around them. These actors did not shoot the film in the end, but I wonder how they see the profession of actor if they are not so open.
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Did the ones you chose turn out to be at ease during the intimate scenes?
No, they were worried, although I reassured them by telling them that everything would remain very modest. But at least their embarrassment makes these sequences more believable. During the sex scene, Inès d'Assomption insisted on looking at the combo after each take to be sure that I wasn't filming anything that would have shocked or compromised her in front of her relatives. The boys had an amazing relationship with their bodies. They would show me their buttocks sometimes, which they found hilarious. But it was very difficult to make them take off their underpants for the sequence where they are in swimsuits. I told them it was ugly to see their underwear under their swimsuits but one of them categorically refused to remove his panties that can be clearly seen during the take. Modesty is a very strange thing.
Did you choose Ramzy Bedia and Vincent Macaigne because they represent two types of adult virility?
I wanted actors with different backgrounds. Razmy comes from stand-up and is a role model for kids. Vincent's training is more classic. Both show with their characters that adulthood does not solve all problems of love and seduction. Far from there ! It's an idea teens have in their heads to believe that their parents put all their worries behind them and have all the answers, when they obviously don't. The adults in the film express a fragility that seems to me to be close to today's men and which gives them infinite charm. The big machos are overwhelmed. They are no longer popular, no more with adults than with teenagers.
Do you think that in the world of cinema too, the big machos are out of fashion?
I think things are moving in the right direction! Even if you have to establish your authority on a set, where the technicians are often men, I never had the impression that my career was held back because I was a woman. With teenagers too, I had to gain respect, but it has nothing to do with being a woman. They just needed to be framed, like all 16-year-olds, in order to establish a working relationship that could develop through rehearsals. Afterwards, I am delighted that more and more female directors are speaking. I find it amazing although I'm not sure there is a feminine gaze. The gaze must be that of the artist regardless of his genre. Talent is not a question of gender. Women sometimes speak better of men than some filmmakers. And the reverse can also be true.
Would you have been frustrated if the confinement had prevented your film from being released in theaters?
It would have hurt my heart because T'as pécho? was really made to be watched in theaters. I can hardly imagine the public discovering it only at home without having the reactions of the other spectators. The cinema room is a magical, irreplaceable place, which does not prevent me from preparing series projects for various platforms. They are different and complementary types of pleasures. There is room for everyone, because it opens up new spaces for creation.
Can we still “catch on” today?
We will always succeed in "pécho" even with a mask! I admit that doesn't make it any easier. It is very strange to meet people who wear a mask and to communicate with them. I experienced this during the promotion of the film where everyone was obviously masked! We realize that we are used to seeing all the expressions on faces and it is very confusing to understand feelings only through the eyes and the voice. It's all the more surprising when it comes to people you meet for the first time. Having said that, when you are ready to “pick up”, it means that you are close enough to the person so that the mask is no longer a problem.
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- Teenager
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