Charlotte Gainsbourg: Interview on her new film “Passengers of the Night”

by time news

Dhe film “Passengers of the Night” begins in 1981. To be precise, on May 10, 1981, when the socialist François Mitterrand was elected President of France. Charlotte Gainsbourg plays Elizabeth, whose marriage is just ending. To support her two children, she begins working for a late-night radio show. Then she takes in a homeless teenager and everything changes. A conversation with Charlotte Gainsbourg about the film, her role – and why she hates her age so much.

WELT: Ms. Gainsbourg, actually you could only act in big, prestigious films. Or?

Charlotte Gainsbourg: To get bored at some point? No way! Film materials have to grab me and inspire me immediately. Then I’d be happy to join you. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve heard the director’s name before.

WELT: What appealed to you about “Passengers of the Night”?

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Gainsbourg: On the one hand, of course, the figure. Elisabeth is very quiet, which I like. But she’s also brutally honest with herself. She trusts her feelings, has an inner compass. And the film is a tender journey back to the 80s. I grew up in that decade and remember many things well. It was like stepping into a time capsule and reliving the 80’s.

WELT: Your director Mikhael Hers told me that you both found a unique form of communication.

Gainsbourg: Because we’re both unusually quiet?

WELT: You could say it like this.

Gainsbourg: Yes, it is particularly good at keeping silent with some people. And Mikhael is undoubtedly one of them. I still vividly remember our first conversation. I really don’t like to talk a lot. But he sat there and let his producer do the talking. Exciting thing. Then I asked him questions about the script. He answered all of them. But always very sparingly with words. And we didn’t have to talk much while shooting. It really felt like he could see inside my head.

WELT: One glorifies a lot. How do you remember the 80s?

Gainsbourg: Well, the first impulse would be to say that everything was softer. But that’s my look back from today. You are absolutely right that looking back is always slightly more transfigured. What is certain is that it was quieter then than it is today, that people lived more in the moment because the digital temptations didn’t constantly tug at them. I like to think back to that feeling.

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WELT: Elisabeth, who you play here, finds new professional happiness at a radio station. How do you remember radio in the 80s? Or did it not play a role at all in your family?

Gainsbourg: Oh but! The radio was definitely heard. However, in the 80s I wasn’t as much on the night radio shows as I was in the movies. But radio interviews have always been my favourite.

WELT: It should be noted that you have never liked giving interviews.

Gainsbourg: Is correct. And that hasn’t changed over the decades. The TV interviews were always the worst, because you had to be careful about what you said and how you looked. Then came the print interviews, where you couldn’t be sure what questions would come up. And I’ve always found radio to be a kind of safe haven. What I said there was also broadcast. Unfortunately that has changed today. When I get to the radio, the whole thing is usually filmed. I do not like it!

Talulah (Noée Abita) and Elisabeth (Charlotte Gainsbourg)

Talulah (Noée Abita) and Elisabeth (Charlotte Gainsbourg)

Source: eksystent film distribution

WELT: You just mentioned that in the 80s you were even more in the moment. Are you struggling a lot today?

Gainsbourg: My work as an actress helps me a lot. When we start shooting – and shooting days can get very long – the smartphone is taken away and kept under lock and key. That means that for those hours together that we’re working on the film, well, we’re not necessarily stopping time… But it’s not running that fast. And we are all really in this moment. We’re just focusing on this one scene that’s being shot. That doesn’t correspond to our time at all, but I like it very much.

WELT: How well can you live without digital technology in everyday life?

Gainsbourg: Gotcha (laughs)! With our daughter Jo, who is now eleven, my husband Yvan and I have tried not to buy her a smartphone for as long as possible. We always told her that it’s not good to be dependent on these things. And then she saw us every day spending several hours on it. Then we had to put up with questions as to why we didn’t put it away when we ate together or something.

WELT: But these things also make life easier. For example, you sit at breakfast together and think about whether you want to hear Glenn Gould or the Kings Of Convenience. All available within seconds thanks to streaming services.

Gainsbourg: You are absolutely right! You know, what I often notice about myself and then somehow I feel very old: young people assess things within a fraction of a second and commit themselves. I can do that less and less. I have to think longer and longer whether I think things are good or bad. Take the digital life. Things are available immediately. On the one hand, that’s nice. But on the other hand also a curse.

WELT: Because we forget to wait?

Gainsbourg: Exactly! We want to own things immediately! We are no longer willing to wait. What happened to the beautiful saying “Anticipation is the most beautiful joy”? The band whose album you look forward to for weeks or months. You imagined what the music might sound like. I used to love that. Today everything has to be immediately available! We’re getting more and more restless. Which I don’t like at all.

WELT: So back to analogue life?

Gainsbourg: No, I don’t want that either. Otherwise my daughter wouldn’t have to remind me so often to put my digital devices aside. But they’re small things that we shouldn’t let go of without a fight.

WELT: For example?

Gainsbourg: photography! Don’t laugh at me, but I’ve ended up back in analog photography. That’s nothing compared to the impulse that you implement and the result of which you see immediately. How nice it is to think carefully about what you want to photograph, then pull the trigger and then wait a long time for the twelve photos to be ready. Ok, I should mention that I have a wonderful Hasselblad camera. This makes photography great fun. I would like a mix of both worlds – the digital and the analogue.

WELT: You said earlier that what you are saying feels old. You used to be old when you were in your early 50s. Today however…

Gainsbourg: …should that feel better? Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that! I hated turning 50.

WELT: But there are great advantages. You no longer have to pretend to be young. You don’t have to go to the club anymore.

Gainsbourg: Yes, I heard and read all that in advance. And yet it is one thing to hear and another to live. I hated turning 40. And now 50? That doesn’t make any sense to me at all! There is no woman sitting in front of you who feels like she is in her early 50s. I’m not ready to accept that. It feels terrible.

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WELT: So that means you feel 25 inside.

Gainsbourg: You know, that’s not exactly my favorite topic. But since you’ve asked.

WELT: You don’t have to answer.

Gainsbourg: Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that! That would be cowardly. So here’s the story on the subject: I remember I had a snowboarding accident once. The paramedics asked me my age and I mumbled something about 25. The truth was I was around 37. But I wasn’t ready to feel that old.

WELT: Do you know the reason?

Gainsbourg: There is an explanation, the more I think about it: No matter where I’ve been, I’ve always been the youngest for many years. I started work so early that everyone around me was getting older. That got stuck in my head. And when I’m picked up today by young assistants to shoot, they call me MADAME. That just sounds awful, doesn’t it?

WELT: But it’s also nice to have life experience and to be able to look back.

Gainsbourg: Nice try, thanks! But you cannot sugarcoat aging!

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