The opening film of Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival last May is a romantic and touching serenade. For his sixth feature film, Mathieu Amalric honors the singer Barbara with a work with a very judicious approach. The story of the filming of a biopic about the musician. A real mise en abyss of cinema, an art that the actor/screenwriter/director has loved since his childhood and to which he has become a pillar and a worthy representative. This chronicle is tender, fair, original and Jeanne Balibar delivers a performance at the limit of perfection. A huge crush for this duo who devotes an eternal love to the 7th art.
Amalric and cinema, a romance that has lasted for thirty years
This son of journalists discovered cinema at the age of 20 when he entered the FEMIS competition. Addicted to sets, he has exercised all the trades until putting suction cups as recalled by his main actress. In Barbara behind the scenes is revealed from the first scene and brings a new testimony on the professions of cinema. This biopic, which is not one, is a pretext to talk to us about the daily life of actors and their entourage. Mathieu Amalric plays Yves Zand, the director of a biopic on Barbara based on the book Barbara ou les parenthèses by Jacques Tournier. The author even has his own interpreter on screen. Barbara exposes the doubts felt by these film technicians who are not projected on the big screen. Some actors in the film are not and the result is all the more successful. We are touched when the director becomes a fan of his actress / singer. Amalric brings a true and intimate look at the profession of director. He, who is also an actor, draws a personal and touching portrait on an unspoken facet of this profession. He also talks about cinema in a lighter and humorous tone (Orlando and the piano will pay the price). We touch the autobiographical film.
The staging may surprise some. Amalric's rather particular look can be compared to the atypical treatments of Arnaud Desplechin. Nothing shocking because these two have known each other for 20 years. Mathieu Amalric plays in most of Desplechin's films. Barbara is a subtle patchwork of live action and archival footage. The metamorphosis also takes shape thanks to successful work on the choice of cameras and credible calibration. Amalric gives us a little lesson in cinema and directing. He knows his subject and it shows. His aesthetic approach has also been rewarded by the Jean Vigo Prize and in Cannes with the poetry prize (in addition to competing for Un Certain Regard). Pure product of Cannes, the narrative angle is daring and we settle with curiosity in this particular device that will rock us (and confuse us) for more than 90 minutes. This is not a classic approach to the biopic. It is also recalled that it is not one. It should be seen as a chronicle of the singer and the character she embodied on and off the stage.
A woman at the center of everything
We are speechless in front of Jeanne Balibar's performance. She subtly merges with Barbara and we often get lost in knowing who is who. It is no longer known if the actress plays the role of a comedian or Barbara. The director also plays with the voice by attributing that of Balibar on the image of the singer and vice versa. The actress is casual, unpredictable and her charm sticks us to the seat. She embodies the female character in its most total complexity with its ups and downs. The actress wanders in the musical universe of the singer carried by her impulsiveness. A role to be compared to those played by Mathieu Amalric in general. It is so fair and mesmerizing that it is difficult to describe it. The duo Brigitte / Barbara is firmly mixed while leaving room for each of the two characters. Sometimes actress in full immersion in her role, sometimes Barbara as soon as she is in front of her piano. That's how Jeanne Balibar sums up.
Barbara plunges us into the life of an actress. Don't expect a classic narrative (with a beginning and an end). This column is universal because it tells us about themes specific to each individual, regardless of their profession. We are dealing with a film about a passion, the daily hazards that it generates but also about the transformation that can take place. First of all, physical transformation with almost invisible makeup and costumes. Mental transformation since we refocus on ourselves, we sometimes isolate ourselves and we like to glimpse romances as futile as ephemeral. When Balibar/Brigitte is tall, perched on her yellow heeled shoes, Barbara/Monique Serf flies away. Everyone remembers the exceptional performance of Marion Cotillard playing Edith Piaf in La Môme (Olivier Dahan, 2007). We get wet to promise (hope) the same French future to the actress.
Barbara is a little gem driven by two complete and talented artists. An introspective and collective chronicle of cinema in all its complexity and nuances. Mathieu Amalric proves once again that he is also a great director. We are still speechless in front of Jeanne Balibar. It is by taking a step back that we realize that we have just seen something unusual and too rare in the cinema. A major work already in theaters on September 6.
