For fans outside of Europe, filmmaker Claire Denis probably doesn’t rank in such high regard as some of the legendary American filmmakers. However, make no mistake, Denis is a master at her craft, and with her latest project, the Toronto International Film Festival premiere film “High Life,” she’s poised to finally break through to a worldwide audience.
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In a recent interview with Deadline, Denis breaks down how she put together her star-studded cast for her sci-fi film “High Life,” as well as clears up earlier comments about Harvey Weinstein and her thoughts on female inclusivity at film festivals.
For those not aware, “High Life” stars Robert Pattinson, Mia Goth, Andre Benjamin, and Juliette Binoche and follows the aforementioned actors as a group of criminals that sign up for a space mission they aren’t fully prepared for. And according to Denis, the way the cast came together was a mixture of her own fan-casting and some good old-fashioned luck.
First, she was able to snag Pattinson, who she admits she has been a fan of for a while, “I think he is a great young man and a wonderful young actor. He is intelligent, poetic, he is like a knight to me. I saw the four parts of the ‘Twilight’ series when it was released. I was amazed by the two heroic young leads.”
Does that make Denis a “Twilight” fan? Who knew!
However, for the roles occupied by Benjamin and Binoche, the director said, “I was dreaming of working with André Benjamin. When we flew to Atlanta to meet him I think he was very surprised, that he thought it was a joke. Patricia Arquette was originally going to play the Juliette Binoche role but she had some schedule conflicts, but Juliette called me to ask if she could do it, which was perfect.”
Moving on to more general topics, the interview pivoted to talk about two of the biggest issues in Hollywood today, Harvey Weinstein and female representation. Earlier this year, Denis had made some controversial comments about Weinstein but used this as an opportunity to speak more clearly.
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“When you are a woman in a very weak position economically or psychologically, I understand [how such things happen]. But if you’re not, if you believe you can fight back, I was like that as a young woman. I think I was raised differently, in something of a boyish way. Women who were aggressed by Weinstein were often in-demand or in a weak position. That’s terrible. I can understand young actresses being afraid,” explains the filmmaker.
But when it comes to more female representation at festivals, she doesn’t have much sympathy. As TIFF, Venice, and Cannes, among other fests, implement policies to help include more female filmmakers, Denis says all that recognition should be earned by merit, not by gender.
“I think it’s so much better to be chosen because the selectors like your film and not because you are a woman. I would be a little ashamed. I never felt like my films were at Cannes because I was a woman. I would have been terrified to be chosen because of my gender,” said Denis.
“High Life” premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival, with worldwide distribution to be determined.