Isabelle Huppert hadn’t starred in an English language film since 2015’s “Louder than Bombs” and, more notably, since she earned an Oscar nomination for her role in “Elle” a little over two years ago. So, when Neil Jordan’s “Greta” was announced as a world premiere for the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival there were plenty of cinephiles and distributors interested. What “Greta” turned out to be was something of a surprise not only for audiences but Huppert herself. It was a twisty thriller filled with some unexpected comedy as well.
“That was a very nice surprise to everybody” Huppert recalls. “It was the first time we screened and we were watching the movie with an audience. And that was really nothing that we anticipated to that point, people laughing and people being really scared but laughing a lot at the same time. So it was really interesting.”
Set in modern-day New York, “Greta” begins with a seemingly innocent meeting between Frances (Chloë Grace Moretz), a struggling waitress who recently lost her mother, and the title character (Huppert), a widower who claims to be a piano teacher. The two quickly become friends until Frances begins to suspect Greta is not completely what she seems. When she tries to create some distance between them all hell breaks loose.
Jordan is known for sometimes playing with different genres and Huppert feels the film’s tone reflects the filmmaker’s own sensibility in that manner.
“You know, that’s also the way Neil is. He’s a very strange, sometimes, person himself,” Huppert says. “Very funny with very unexpected reactions and I think that he just did a movie that, in a way, reflects what he is. It was still a surprise when we saw the movie in Toronto because, again, we did not anticipate that response being so funny.”
In my review from TIFF, I pointed out that Huppert seemed to be “having a grand old time” playing the increasingly crazy Greta. She didn’t argue the point.
“I really enjoyed it. I mean, when you do a role like this, you have to do it all the way down the line without trying to be shy about it and try to excuse her,” Huppert says. “No! You have to take it for what she is, which is a real psychopath and monster. And so that’s what I did. And she’s also a multiple-faced character. ‘Cause she looks so nice at the beginning and she turns out to be this horrible person. Even when you find out that she’s horrible, you still can’t believe that she’s that horrible also because it’s me doing it.”
Greta’s actions are so over the top that it eventually influenced how both she and Jordan handled the character in key some moments. She notes, “For instance, when I just do this little dance after the murder, I mean that wasn’t anticipated. It wasn’t written in the script. And I think that the film allows you to make this kind of things happen, in a way. There’s the spirit of the film. And that was not anticipated. It just happened. I was just twirling around like this, and then Neil said, ‘Oh it’s nice! You should do it.’ And then I did.”
Huppert has been somewhat prolific this decade often shooting four projects a year. 2019 will be no different as she already has three films in post-production. One of those, Ira Sachs’ “Frankie,” will find the French icon starring alongside Marisa Tomei, Brendan Gleeson and Greg Kinnear in yet another English language role.
“I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I’m sure it’s gonna be great,” Huppert says. “I really enjoyed it very, very much. It’s a completely different kind of material. I mean, not so often in movies you have this possibility to be so true to yourself, nothing that you can hide behind. I will need no sense of humor, no manipulation. Just being yourself. Which is also what movies are made for.”
“Greta” is now playing in limited release.