"Sometimes, Mylène Farmer would say to me:" Are you tired of filming me? " "

Mylène Farmer in the documentary L'ultime creation.

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Mylène Farmer tirelessly repeating a choreography.

Mylène Farmer excited like a chip by discovering the huge scene of her show.

Mylène Farmer trying for the first time to stand on a scooter.

Mylène Farmer recounting her last nightmare: only one spectator came to attend her show ...

The documentary mini-series

, available since Friday on Amazon Prime, shows the artist as we have never seen her.

Throughout the three episodes, we follow her in her preparation and behind the scenes of her concerts given last year at the Paris La Défense Arena.

“It's a whole new approach and point of view.

It was the bias of this project.

The fact that she opens her doors, that she puts on a microphone… She wanted to jump into the water for the first time, ”explains

director Mathieu Spadaro

at

.

He tells.

How did you end up on this project?

I had the chance to make the making-of for the video for

directed by Bruno Aveillan in 2018. She found the result great.

It all started then, I think.

She called me a few months later to invite me to film behind the scenes of her show and, very quickly, the idea of ​​making a big documentary film was born.

What image of Mylène Farmer did you have before?

Is she an artist you followed?

Obviously, I knew his work, his exceptional short film clips, the flagship titles, the universe that everyone knows.

But no more than that.

I learned to really discover the artist and the woman.

In any case, I rediscovered it on this project.

These three episodes tend to prove that this artist's taste for discretion and the shyness that we attribute to her are not feigned ...

Absolutely.

There is no trick.

She has her modesty.

The documentary tells exactly who she is: both shy and very involved in the projects.

She can be a leader in all the decisions taken.

What were the specifications set by Mylène Farmer on what you could or could not film?

We saw each other for the first time at the musical Seine [where she rehearsed with her dancers and musicians] and she said to me: “You have carte blanche, make the film you want to see.

This is the command.

Didn't she veto situations in which she might have seemed less to her advantage?

No.

It really is filterless.

It was the idea: for her to trust me enough that I felt what might or might not please her.

When she felt that I was too much, she kindly invited me to go for a walk elsewhere.

She said to me, laughing "But aren't you tired of filming me?"

Go have a coffee!

"

Was it a particular pressure to have the possibility, as a director, to capture what an artist like Mylène Farmer relying on discretion and media withdrawal is not used to revealing?

Not really.

The desire to do something good, genuine, sincere, true to what it is, I don't know if it's a form of pressure.

Of course, I had the feeling of being privileged to be in this place, so close, to also experience this whole process while having carte blanche, being able to go everywhere.

It's a gift.

The first episode opens with objects, photos, filmed in close-ups.

Where was this filmed?

This is one of the passages that I like a lot.

It's her home.

The idea was to turn this like a cabinet of curiosities.

All the objects we see are either souvenirs, gifts, or things she cares about.

Did you have a lot of rushes?

It does not count in hours of rushes.

I filmed two and a half months 24 hours, so I really filmed at the kilometer.

If we put these rushes end to end, it would take something like three weeks without sleeping.

How did you decide on the division of the three episodes?

Making a film and making a series are two different approaches.

In a series, the rhythm is not the same, you need climaxes in each episode, you have to make people want to see the next one and thematize them so that they follow each other without being alike.

We therefore logically followed Mylène's process, with a first episode on rehearsals, a second on the discovery of the Paris La Défense Arena room and the setting up on the stage and a third more personal chapter on her excitement of the first date and apprehension.

There are sequences of repetition of the choreographies or with the musicians which could, a priori, have been the object of a more tightened assembly.

Did you want to show as much of it as possible with the fans in mind?

My bias is to show that there is work, that we repeat, we repeat, we repeat and, even if we tire of it, we must continue.

I wanted to insist on this repetition.

Mylène Farmer participated in the editing to write her comments?

The commission was for me to make the movie I wanted to make, so I did what I thought was right, relevant, fair, and strong.

We got together at the end to watch it together.

She came to bring the final touch, the varnish, on this documentary by writing the voice over.

This is what she tells in the third episode, she sees the images scrolling on the editing table, and it gives something strong and astonishing.

The last sentence she pronounces, "Next time, I will make a normal entrance", is not therefore trivial to close the last episode?

In any case, the idea is to reopen.

It is up to her to follow up on this.

It is also a nod to our history to her and me.

What is your strongest memory of the shoot?

This whole project is in itself a strong memory.

It marks a stage in my life.

There are moments of the concert that touched me a lot.

I remember on

be at the back of the stage and see all these fireflies [lights disseminated by public phones], this picture of shining stars.

It completely shocked me, I almost stopped filming to take advantage of this moment.

There are also more intimate moments when I'm just with Mylène… It's an incredible experience overall.

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