Twists in location, identity, relationships… director Alexandre Lemoine explores the highly contemporary theme of the hyper-reality in his film “City Game”, chosen for this year’s Official Selection ECU 2010.
By Susannah Nash
Q: With the idea of computer games, your film seems to have a very direct link to modern day society and leisure. Why specifically did you choose computer games?
Video games are a modern day phenomenon. This type of media is totally integrated into youth culture and lifestyle and has an effect on young people’s imagination and way of thinking. If the games aren’t shared, the gap between generations and how they understand each other only widens. Where there’s parental conflict, this problem can become worse, with kids who take refuge in a parallel universe- the world they can control. They imagine their reality through a prism made up of video games.
Q: Your characters change their clothes a lot. What is the importance of costume in the film?
Costumes are, of course, important. First of all they symbolise the passing of time. They also represent the child’s desire to reconstruct his own version of his father, creating a new identity for him. They are also, of course, an important aspect of the game that had to be shown in order to visualize the artificial nature of Toni’s world.
Q: Is there any significance in the fact that almost each character is from a different culture/ethnicity?
Diversity in my films is really important to me and there is never any link between actors’ geographical origin and their role in the story. The choice of actors was only based on their talent.
Q: What made you choose the 13th arrondissement as your location in Paris?
The film was filmed entirely in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, near Bibliothèque François Mitterrand. This area is all new with original, ultra modern architecture but yet isn’t futurist. It perfectly suits a setting timeless, almost artificial setting.
Q: Control and identity seem to be important themes in the film. Were these concepts you wanted to concentrate on, and if so why?
Yes, the whole film is based on these themes. The game allows the child to reverse the traditional power relationship and take the upper hand over a father he doesn’t understand. That allows him to control his father’s identity and “reconstruct” him- reinvent him just as he’d like him to be.
Q: The music is almost continuously present. How did you decide what music you wanted to use?
The use of music is a really personal wish, because I think it’s very important. I wanted it to be omnipresent (like in video games, in fact), really to accompany the image and add life to the scenes. Each sequence has its own musical theme, which is the fruit of long and early collaboration with the composer, before the final work based on the film itself.
Q: Are their any directors that have influenced your work or the atmosphere you wished to create?
As far as direct influences on this film, I can list a series of “Alfred Hitchcock presents” (short films, based on suspense plots directed partly by Hitchcock and made for TV), or one of the episodes of The Fourth Dimension. More generally, directors whose work influences me are: Christopher Nolan, Guy Ritchie, or, going further back, Louis Malle and Truffaut.
Q: Have you got any new projects on the horizon?
At the moment I’m continuing my more institutional directing work (adverts, web series, ad-campaigns) whilst I also work on a feature-length film script. I also have a short film project on the go.
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