It is well known that Jean-Luc Godard was passionate about sport. This is how Catherine Tanvier, bridgehead of French women’s tennis in the 80s, 20th in the world at the height of her career, in 1984, found herself playing in Movie Socialism. An indelible experience that she tells us, on the phone, from Saint-Ciers-sur-Gironde where she lives, writes, trains.
“We are in 2007. I am in Paris, at the end of the promotional tour for my book Downgraded [publié aux éditions Panama, ndlr]when suddenly my editor, Marc Grinsztajn, said to me: “By the way, Jean-Luc Godard called. He wants to meet you.” Moi : “Pardon ?” He confirms this incredible information. I know that Jean-Luc Godard is passionate about tennis, but well… I ask why. Him : “Ah, that, he’s the one who will tell you.” Some time later, Jean-Paul Battaggia, Godard’s right-hand man, contacted me and he was the one who organized the meeting, at his home in Paris.
“When the day comes, December 3, Jean-Luc Godard’s birthday, I am terribly impressed, especially since there is a camera, on foot, and I’m never comfortable in front of it. a camera. But I notice that Jean-Luc is also, in fact: we are two very shy people. Fortunately, very quickly, we start talking about tennis, and there the conversation becomes completely natural. I’m dealing with someone who knows the whole history of tennis, it’s frankly impressive. He talks about the great players of his time like Arthur Ashe and Ken Rosewall, he is surprised that the Czech Tomás Berdych is not in the top 3 in the world, he is also very interested in technique.
“The conversation lasts an hour and a half, and after a while I wonder what I’m doing here. It was then that Jean-Luc mentioned the idea of taking me in his next film. I object that I am not an actress. He replies with a small smile:But who asks you to play? Just be yourself.” And that’s how I found myself on the set of the second part of Movie Socialismwhich took place at his home, in Rolle, for seventeen days.
“Upstream, he just sent me a little text”namely by heart, without intention.” My role in the film is that of the mother of two children who take power. Once we arrived on set, we were given a binder, with the outline of the film, about 70 pages. There was a script written but Jean-Luc added to it, modified it, as he went along. I perceived him both boiling, always thinking, thinking, searching, very concentrated. We worked from morning to evening but taking our time, never in a rush, there was a dimension that was both very artisanal and very intellectual in his way of doing things. We were shooting in his surprisingly simple, minimalist apartment and in a garage. I saw him, at 80 years old, lying on the ground to check that the light was well plugged in… Not bossy, very gentle and very patient with everyone, he always said “Do not worry” when it was necessary to redo a take. Usually three or four was enough. Sometimes, I allowed myself to say that I didn’t understand where we were going, he was laughing…
“When he wasn’t inspired, his right arm would call me on the phone to ask me if I was OK with playing tennis, and Jean-Luc would pick me up at the hotel. He came in his old car full of cigar ash, and we were going to play ten minutes away, in a covered court of a super posh club lost between two vines. Before, we had always had a good snack, a strawberry pie, often with his partner Anne-Marie Miéville. He was playing in a T-shirt and dress pants, the extinguished cigar in his pocket. I was obviously careful, I played on him, at a speed that allowed him to return the ball, but he, the guy, did everything to get me around… We did that three or four times during the shoot, it was exquisite.
“At the end of filming, there was a tea party at the pastry shop where he was used to and at one point, I went to sit next to him. I had read somewhere that he had announced that this film would be his last. To have seen him work, this spirit in perpetual boiling, I could not believe it. So I said to him:So, like that, you won’t be touring anymore? He replied that it was true. And I didn’t believe him, so he asked me why. “Because you can’t stop thinking”, I said. He drew on his cigar, he smiled. I was right, he continued to think, to search. I am aware of having had an incredible opportunity to see such an artist evolve.