With regards to the dance scene, camera-wise, how did you approach capturing the inherent physicality of dancing?
The dancing came pretty naturally to me when I was writing because, obviously, when you know you’re going to have two people who won’t be able to speak much, one that almost doesn’t speak, and the other who can’t speak with her because she doesn’t want to answer, it’s like, how do you make these people have some dialogue?
Dancing is a very good way to make bodies have a dialogue, and also to have a very clear view of the immediate stakes of a scene. Namely for example, when Vincent and Alexia dance in the living room. He pulls her into it, she doesn’t want to, and it ends up with a fight. You don’t need much more explanation to show that she’s looking for a way out of his fantasy of her being his son.
When I write, I always write about the image first. I try to go as far as the image can go, in terms of what it says, in terms of what it tells us, about the characters. And after that, if I feel that my scene is not complete, I’m going to think about the dialogue. But very often, I start with the image, and so dancing is really natural to me.
At the beginning, Alexa has sex with a lowrider, and later a firetruck. Could you speak about the aesthetic juxtaposition of the two vehicles?
Both cars are actually a collision between metal and fire, in their own ways. This collision between metal and fire is actually one of the precepts of the film. Calling the movie “Titane” is actually a feminization of the word ‘Titan’ in French, and I’ve considered my characters, Alexia and Vincent, to be like Gaia and Uranus. So the gods of earth and sky, who actually gave birth to the Titans. So this dichotomy, and sometimes they intertwine, is everywhere in the film, including in both those cars.
Also, there’s a moment where Vincent teaches Alexa how to do CPR to the rhythm of the “Macarena.” Where did that come from?
My film is not academically structured. It’s not three acts. It’s really ascending movements, ascending energy from darkness to light, from lack of love to unconditional love, and so on. The same way I think of my film as a movement, I think of my scenes as a movement too. I love to start a film, then make it morph to divert your expectations, and then to connect it to another emotion that is emerging, that you hadn’t planned to feel.
And for that matter, the scene with the “Macarena” is a very good example because it starts with this realistic tragedy that happens. And it’s filmed in a very realistic way. You don’t have as many colors in it as in other scenes. All of a sudden this kind of very tragic scene, because of the “Macarena,” becomes incredibly comedic. For me, it’s always interesting to put tragedy in perspective with some light laughter. Because I do believe that laughter brings you a lot of perspective.
And I chose the “Macarena” because it is, along with “Stayin Alive” by The Bee Gees, a song that’s at the perfect pace to do CPR. The Bee Gees would have cost the entire budget of the film. So I went with the “Macarena.” But in the end, I think it’s actually funnier with the “Macarena” and I’m glad that I did that.
“Titane” is currently in theaters and you can find screenings/buy tickets on the film’s official site.
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