‘Custody’: Filmmaker Xavier Legrand Talks About His Masterful Domestic Violence Drama

Filmmaker Xavier Legrand began his career as an actor. A graduate of the prestigious Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique of Paris, Legrand has acted onstage since the age of ten. Legrand’s impressive career as a filmmaker has taken a decidedly different route. The actor, writer, and director dove headfirst into the medium of directing with his 2013 Oscar-nominated short film, “Just Before Losing Everything” (“Avant que de tout perdre”), learning as much as he could about the craft, hands-on. Recently, Legrand completed his first feature film, “Custody” (“Jusqu’à la garde”), based off of his short film, for which he won the coveted Silver Lion (Best Director) award at the Venice Film Festival.

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In “Custody,” divorced parents Miriam (Léa Drucker) and Antoine Besson (Denis Ménochet) are in the middle of a custody battle, in which Miriam is seeking sole custody of their son Julien (Thomas Gioria) in order to protect him from Antoine, who she claims is violent. Antoine pleads his case as a shunned dad whose feelings are hurt by Miriam’s rejection, and he wins joint custody. Julien, a victim trapped in between Antoine’s war of the wilted roses, is pushed to his limits in order to save himself and his family.

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On the cusp of the U.S. theatrical release (June 29, 2018) of “Custody,” I had a chance to catch up with Legrand and discuss his new film and its themes, his acting and filmmaking careers, and more.

What was your inspiration behind the story of “Jusqu’à la garde” and the short upon which it’s based, “Avant que de tout perdre?”
First of all, it was a desire to write about family, about the home, but also to rediscover the themes of classic tragedies: blood ties, revenge, honor killings – the choice between the heart or reason and madness in our contemporary world.

I was interested in violence in the family, and more particularly domestic violence. From the moment I decided to write about this painful subject, I did a lot of research to understand the phenomenon from a psychological, social and political point of view.

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For a first time filmmaker, an Oscar nomination and a Silver Lion is impressive. Before making the leap from acting into directing, did you anticipate a potential future like this where you would receive such critical acclaim for your work? Has it helped build your confidence as a filmmaker?
I’m a theatre actor. I’ve been playing on stage since I was about ten years old and I’ve devoted all my studies to training as an actor. I haven’t done any cinematic studies or training. I never expected my first two films to be so successful – it’s absolutely amazing. It’s true that receiving so many awards from professional juries who notice your film gives you confidence.

I admit that when I made “Custody,” I still had trouble seeing myself as a real director. But the Silver Lion for best director I received from the Jury at Venice, presided over by Annette Bening, caused me such emotion that I began to accept this idea: I am a legitimate director.

Bit by bit, small details of the plot are unveiled, building tension at an escalating pace. How did you decide Miriam and Antoine’s respective motivations and how far Antoine was willing to take his war of the wilted roses?
I based this on a large number of family situations described in newspapers, on the facts in testimonies I read, and on the people I met who told me their stories.
I have noticed that in the majority of these cases, the moment of separation is a dangerous, tense moment that sometimes leads to tragic outcomes.

I quickly understood that it is this moment of separation for a couple, especially when there are children involved, that was the moment an important social, societal, political, and psychological debate could be put on the table: “Can a violent spouse be a good parent?” It is from this moral debate that I conceived the objectives and motivations of each of the characters.

Antoine is a man who has chosen violence and who is pro-patriarchal; in the sense that he considers that his wife belongs to him and that his children are his property. He feels he can act and demand what he wants from them. He put the ring on this woman’s finger, she bears his name, she carried his children, so it is unbearable that she could go and live elsewhere without him. In France, a woman is murdered by her spouse or ex-spouse every 2 or 3 days. In 90% of cases, it is at the time of separation or just after that these murders occur. Antoine is one of those men who act in France and all over the world. What’s chilling is that many men today still think this way – “We are married until death do us part. Only death will separate us – it is not you who has the control to separate us. I’d rather know you were dead than alive without me.” There’s nothing romantic about this way of loving.