BISFF Correspondence 通信计划
This program involves conducting brief email interviews with the directors of the international films featured in the festival, in lieu of the traditional Q&A session that follows the screenings. Through this program, we hope to provide a platform for filmmakers to discuss their work and share their insights with our audience in China.
为了跨越种种障碍，开辟更多交流空间，我们设置了“BISFF Correspondence 通信计划”，对部分国际单元的参展作者进行系列访谈，这些访谈将在作品放映后发布在联展各个媒体平台。
Furious｜Furieuses｜狂怒
Thomas Vernay
2024｜0:20:51｜France｜French｜Asian Premiere
Director: Thomas Vernay
Interviewer & Translator: Zifei Wang
Coordinator & Editor: Suliko
导演：托马斯·维尔奈
采访、翻译：王紫菲
统筹、编辑：苏丽珂
Q1: Furious unfolds as a story of “Bad Girls helping Bad Girls,” with characters exuding a raw, volatile energy – angry, combative, and deeply unsettled, as the title suggests. Yet, the exact sources of their rage and the reasons for their presence at the detention centre remain ambiguous. You’ve mentioned conducting research on girls in these institutions—how did this inform your approach to their narratives, particularly your decision to leave their backstories inexplicit?
您的作品《狂怒》展现了一个“坏女孩”之间的互助故事。这些女孩身上散发出一种原始且不稳定的能量——愤怒、好斗，又极度的不安，这与片名形成了呼应。然而，影片并没有明确揭示她们愤怒的根源，以及她们为何会身处拘留中心。您曾提到对这些女孩进行过研究，那么这些研究是如何影响您的叙事策略的呢？特别是，您为何选择淡化角色的背景故事？
A1: The term “mauvaises filles” (bad girls) was used in France in the 1950s and 1960s to describe vagabonds, girls who hung around outside when it was forbidden to do so. Emancipated girls, as it were. They were locked up in boarding schools or convents.
There have been quite a few books and documentaries on the subject, such as Véronique Blanchard's highly instructive book Vagabondes, voleuses, vicieuses! My film takes place in France's only closed educational center for teenage girls, in Doudeville. We didn't shoot there, but it was the center that inspired the film. In France, there's a very interesting podcast about this center, produced by Pauline Maucort, with whom I spoke to ensure the film's veracity during the writing process. Listening to the podcast, you realize that many of the girls are there because of bad relationships with men. In the film, I didn't want to specify for each of them why they were there, because in the end there was no point, except for the main character. She's here because of her violent ex-boyfriend, and the sisterhood that develops around Lola also makes us realize that all the girls have a history with boys. They all quickly understand what's going on! What's perhaps different from other films about prison environments is that in Furious, the center becomes a space of protection from the outside world, designed by and for men.
“坏女孩”（mauvaises filles）一词在20世纪50至60年代的法国用来指代那些流浪街头、不顾禁令在外游荡的女孩；她们追求自由，渴望摆脱束缚。这些女孩常常被禁锢在寄宿学校或修道院。关于这一话题，已有许多书籍和纪录片进行探讨，例如Véronique
Blanchard的极具启发性的著作《流浪者、小偷、堕落者！》（Vagabondes, voleuses, vicieuses!）。这部影片的故事被设定在法国唯一一所针对少女的封闭教育中心，它地处杜德维尔（Doudeville）。尽管我们没有在那里取景拍摄，但它确实是整部影片的灵感来源。在剧本创作过程中，为了确保故事的可信性，我曾与Pauline Maucort交流，她制作了一档专⻔探讨这一中心的播客。通过播客可以了解到，许多女孩因与男性陷入糟糕关系而被送至该中心。在影片中，我选择不详细描绘每个女孩的背景，因为除了主角外，这些细节并非重点。主角洛拉（Lola）因暴力前男友而来到拘留中心，而围绕她形成的姐妹情谊让人意识到，其他女孩同样经历过与男孩相关的创伤。她们很快就能明⽩彼此的处境！《狂怒》与其他聚焦监狱环境的影片或许有所不同，这个中心更像是一个保护空间，用以抵御那个由男性设计、为男性服务的外部世界。
Furious, Thomas Vernay, 2024
Q2: The use of a 1:1 aspect ratio creates an intimate and constrained visual experience, which, for me, evokes a claustrophobic feeling. What inspired this framing choice, and how do you think it influences the audience’s perception of the characters, as well as their physical and emotional space?
影片采用1:1的画幅比例，营造出一种既亲密又受限的视觉体验；对我个人来说，我感受到这种画幅带来的一种幽闭感。请问是什么促使您选择了这种画幅比例？您认为这种选择如何影响观众对角色以及他们所处的物理和情感环境的感知？
A2: The 1.33: 1 frame (and not 1:1!) does indeed allow the space to be tightened up, and thus to focus on the main character and her feelings. I don't agree with the idea of claustrophobia though. I think that even in 16:9, if you frame a face very closely, you'll get this feeling. So I think it's more a question of image composition than frame format. In fact, the 1.33 frame allowed me to ensure that Lola was rarely in the picture with the girls, as if she were rejecting the presence of the other girls. There's this tipping point in the film when Lola finds herself in the educator's office with Ashley, the first time Lola has been next to a girl without it being tight and suffocating. But even then, we sense her difficulty in confiding, in opening up. The camera moves slowly towards her face, while at the same time taking Ashley out of the frame. It will be a long time before she lets the girls into “her” frame.
我们采用的画幅并非1:1，而是1.33:1。这样的选择确实让空间显得更加紧凑，帮助我们更集中地关注主角及其感受。不过，我不认同这种画幅制造了幽闭感的观点。我认为，即便是在16:9的宽屏画幅中，如果你非常近距离地拍摄一张脸，同样也会产生类似的感觉。因此，我更倾向于认为这是一个画面构图的问题，而非画幅格式的问题。事实上，1.33:1的画幅比例让我能够有意识地避免洛拉与其他女孩同时出现在同一画面中，仿佛她在排斥她们的存在。影片中有一个重要的转折点，当洛拉和艾什莉（Ashley）一起出现在老师的办公室时，这是洛拉第一次以一种非紧凑、非压迫的方式与另一个女孩并排出现。然而，即使在这一刻，我们依然能感受到她在尝试倾诉和敞开心扉时的困难。镜头缓缓推进洛拉的脸，同时将艾什莉移出画面。直到很久之后，她才真正让其他女孩进⼊“她的”画面中。
Q3: The casting choices for Lola and Ashley are key to the film’s dynamic, and both actresses did a wonderful job. How did you approach the casting process, and what made these two actresses the right fit for their respective characters?
洛拉和艾什莉的角色选择对电影的整体构建至关重要，两位女演员的表现都非常出色。能否分享一下选角过程？是什么让她们成为各自角色的理想人选？
A3: Marion Peyret, the casting director, did a fantastic job. All the actresses are so talented! It was a pleasure to direct them. They made their characters completely their own. As far as Lola and Ashley were concerned, we felt that Shirel Nataf and Lucie Charles Alfred complemented each other, and it was simply a matter of course for us to see them together on screen. The fact that we hesitated over which of the two would be Lola or Ashley just made us realize that they were two sides of the same mirror.
选角导演Marion Peyret做得非常棒。所有女演员都才华横溢！指导她们是一种乐趣。她们完全将角色融⼊自己。至于洛拉和艾什莉，我们认为Shirel Nataf和Lucie Charles Alfred两位女演员相得益彰，让她们在银幕上同框是自然而然的选择。我们曾犹豫过让她们中的哪一位饰演洛拉或艾什莉，而这种犹豫也让我们意识到，她们就像是同一面镜子的两面，相互映衬。
Furious, Thomas Vernay, 2024
Q4: R'May’s “Leur dire” is featured twice in the film—once during the girls’ trip and again during the credits. Could you share more about your choice of this song?
R'May的歌曲 Leur dire 在电影中出现了两次——一次是在女孩们的旅行中，另一次则是在片尾字幕播放时。您能分享一下选择这首歌的原因吗？
A4: I was looking for rap music that wasn't too famous, so that it would belong entirely to the girls, so that most of the audience would discover it at the same time as the girls, as Lola does. I came across this music while looking for female rappers, and R'may was incredible in letting us use the sound. I think it's the perfect track to define the sisterhood of the girl group.
当时，我在寻找一些不太出名的说唱音乐，希望找到一首能够完全属于这些女孩的歌，让观众能像片中的女孩们一样，和洛拉一起首次发现它。在寻找女性说唱歌手时，我偶然发现了这首歌，R'may非常慷慨地授权我们使用它。我认为，这首歌完美地诠释了女孩之间的姐妹情谊。
Q5: Your film was shot in your native region, a place with a deep emotional connection for you. How did revisiting these landscapes affect your creative process, and how does your personal relationship with the area influence the portrayal of the characters and their journey?
您的影片在您的故乡取景，这个地方对您来说情感深厚。请问，重返这些熟悉的景致对您的创作过程有何影响？您与这片土地的个人情感是如何塑造角色以及他们旅程的？
A5: Since Miss Chazelles, my previous short film, I've tended to return to filming in the landscapes of my childhood. I think it's necessary for me to confront my adult self with my child self. To tell you the truth, when I was a kid, I didn't understand what I was looking at, it was just a place to get bored, hang out and pass the time. But in fact, it's all magnificent, the landscapes are really beautiful. I miss the countryside! I don't know if it influences my creative process, but I think it all adds a touch of melancholy.
自从我上一部短片《查泽尔小姐》(Miss Chazelles) 以来，我便倾向于回到童年的景致中进行拍摄。对我来说，让成年后的自我面对童年的自我是很有必要的。坦白说，当我还是个孩童时，我并不理解我的所见，故乡对我而言只是一个无聊、闲逛和消磨时间的地方。但如今回望，才发现那里的一切都如此壮丽，风景美得令人陶醉。我怀念那片乡村！虽然我不确定这是否直接影响了我的创作过程，但我相信这一切无疑为我的作品增添了一丝淡淡的忧郁。
more information: https://www.bisff.co/selection/furious-