Jacques Audiard: “Writing together allows you to thwart the literary character of a scenario”

On November 2, 2021, on the occasion of the theatrical release of his film The Olympiadsthe screenwriter and director Jacques Audiard returned, at the microphone of Arnaud Laporte, on his artistic career and his working methods.

Writing and Directing

Born in 1952 in Paris, Jacques Audiard studied literature and intended to teach. He finally moved away from it by learning editing and becoming an assistant editor in 1976 for The tenant by Roman Polanski and Judith Therpauve by Patrice Chéreau in 1978 with the editor Françoise Bonnot.

Son of director and dialogue writer Michel Audiard, the young editor grew up in a literary world and began writing as a co-screenwriter for the professional by Georges Lautner in 1981, then Deadly hike by Claude Miller in 1983, New Year’s Eve at Bob’s by Denys Granier-Deferre in 1984 or even Baxter by Jérôme Bovin in 1989. Jacques Audiard made his first feature film at the age of 40, in 1994, Watch the men fall with Mathieu Kassovitz and Jean-Louis Trintignant. The film was selected for Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival and won three Césars. Jacques Audiard shoots shortly after his second feature film A very discreet hero adapted from the novel by Jean-François Deniau and received the screenplay prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

Cinema is the only way for me to communicate with the world. There is something very simple and very rustic in cinema, very elementary. Jacques Audiard

Jacques Audiard continues his career as a director and continues to receive nominations at festivals and awards: On my lips with Emmanuelle Devos and Vincent Cassel in 2002, The Beat That My Heart Skipped with Romain Duris and Niels Arestrup in 2006, A prophet with Tahar Rahim in 2009, Rust and bone with Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts in 2012, DheepanPalme d’Or in 2015 at the Cannes Film Festival, The Sisters Brothers in 2018*,* an adaptation of the novel by Patrick deWitt which earned him the Silver Lion for best director at the Venice Film Festival.

Creation process

In front of the white sheet, Jacques Audiard will best identify his desire and his intuition will take shape, often through the theme of learning. Jacques Audiard’s cinema is based on writing but it also passes through images, he creates universes and intends to twist reality to make it realistic. According to him, cinema must remain a machine for creating emotion, it’s a hooligan’s art where actors “steal money from financiers to play with light, time, human beings and do beautiful things .”

I like the screenplay because it’s not literature and it certainly shouldn’t be. It’s a transitory object, it must designate only one thing: the film to come. Removing the literature from the screenplay is a step and it requires a lot of work. Jacques Audiard

Its news:

• Jacques Audiard is currently filming his next film in Mexico, Emilia Pereza musical scheduled to hit theaters in 2023.

• His latest movie The Olympiads is available on DVD and VOD

Sounds played during the show :

• Excerpt from the film A very discreet hero by Jacques Audiard
• Archive of philosopher Stanley Cavell
• Sonata 850 – 2nd movement – Con moto from Schubert by W. Kempff
• Original film soundtrack The Olympiads (Rone)
• Archive of David Lynch