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Directed by Nils Tavernier, Dominique photographed this docu- mentary on super 16mm mixed with scenes shot by Tavernier on a mini DV cam. Black and white photographs by Vincent Tessier, which freeze the dancers movement and motion, add a poetic dimension to moments of ten- sion and grace.
Plaisirs. Their relationship dates over 11 years during which time he pho- tographed The Hairdresser’s Husband, Yvonne’s Perfume, Les Grands Ducs, and The Widow of Saint Pierre.
Leconte not only writes the script and directs the actors, he oper- ates the camera, often throwing it over his shoulder - handheld. Said Serra: “It is always interesting because Patrice does what no normal operator would do. He is always changing, moving, discovering new things which keeps it original and fresh... and keeps me on my toes”.
special feature
watching French films. We never imag- ined that Gout Des Autres would be that successful at the box-office, espe- cially when it was released at the same time as American Beauty and Magnolia - and they were all compet- ing for the same audience.
“We shot Asterix And Obelix at the studios in Ouarzazate, Morocco and in the surrounding desert. Then we returned to Paris to shoot five months in the studios. I had to use two completely different film stocks in order to cope with such extremely dif- ferent lighting conditions.
Dominique Le Rigoleur, member of the jury at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, was completing photography on Scratching The Inner Fields with choreographer Wim Vandekeybus. Dominique spent her formative years working with Francois Truffaut and later on, Nestor Almendros, her mentor, who had the greatest impact on her photo- graphic style and her love of cinema.
Just released in Paris movie the- atres is Tout Près Des Etoiles, first- ever look at the ballet dancers of the Paris Opera, one of the most impene- trable institutions in France.
Working in the same family is Alain Choquart, who began his career as camera assistant on the elder Tavernier’s films. As DP he has pho- tographed many of Bertrand Tavernier’s most celebrated films including Captain Conan, It All Starts Today, and L-627. He was completing photography in Macon and Tour on their latest collaboration, Laissez- Passer to return to Paris for the open- ing of two films he lit now showcasing at the Paris Film Festival: John Berry’s Boesman And Lena and José Jiovanni’s Mon Pere.
Eduardo Serra returned to France after Unbreakable to work again with director Patrice Leconte on Rue des
“The past year has been a very good year for filmmaking in France, but its been a great year for me! ” said Laurent Dailland who has been work- ing for over nine months on what might be France’s biggest-ever produc- tion - Asterix And Obelix: Mission Cleopatra, re-uniting Christian Clavier and Gerard Depardieu, as the wily hero and his hefty sidekick.
Dailland’s last film, Agnes Jaoui’s Le Gout Des Autres, competed in this year’s Cesars for Best Film and in the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Picture. His previous films East-West and Place Vendôme also received Oscar and Cesar nominations. “It seems that the public has returned to
“I shot an enormous amount of exteriors in the desert, in that violent, blistering August sun. I had strong back light all the time, but we had to see the blue sky, which is the opposite of what I do, normally. We knew from the start that the film would be digital- ly graded, so I did some experiment- ing with colour filters to create differ- ent times of day - early sunrise, high noon, evening sunset. I was very con- cerned with colour saturation.
“For the interior studio work involving the actors, their close ups, costumes, and the sets, we had soft- er, low-light conditions and I used Fuji 500 ASA, rated as 400 for all of it. I use the Varicon pre-flashing filter a lot, especially on the close ups of our beautiful actress, Monica Bellucci (as Cleopatra).
“I tend to over-expose a bit because I like the contrast. I like to get a more brilliant, saturated colour and I don’t like to see the grain. Even though in pre-production I actually do shoot a lot of tests to compare the different film stocks, I am not particularly technical.
“I don’t have a particular tech- nique, method or formula. I use a meter to calculate my levels, then I throw it away and just pay attention to the look... for me, its more like a feeling,” added Dailland. ■
Photos above (l-r): Laurent Dailland, Robert Alazraki and Eduardo Serra