Francois Ozon discusses the American Screwball inspiration behind his 'post #MeToo comedy' 'The Crime Is Mine' (EXCLUSIVE)

After "Peter van Kant", French director François Ozon goes much further to revisit the dynamics of gender and power in “The Crime Is Mine,” a lush ensemble comedy set in 1930s Paris.

Loosely inspired by the 1934 play by Georges Berr and Louis Verneuil, the film tells the story of Madeleine, a pretty penniless young actress, accused of the murder of a famous producer. Helped by her best friend Pauline, an unemployed lawyer, she is acquitted for self-defense and becomes a star, as well as a feminist icon.

"The Crime Is Mine", produced by Mandarin Cinema, brings together a sprawling cast, led by a pair of emerging actors, Nadia Tereszkiewicz ("Forever Young") and Rebecca Marder ("Simone"), alongside Isabelle Huppert, Fabrice Luchini, André Dussolier, Dany Boon and Félix Lefebvre. The film was sold by Playtime in many key markets.

Ozon discussed his new film with Variety after its world premiere in evening opening of the Rendez-Vous d'Unifrance in Paris at the beginning of the week.

Your film is like a fairy tale, a Cinderella story, isn't it?

I had the idea to make this movie at a time when everything was so depressing during the confinement. Of course, everything is still bad with the war in Ukraine, the recession, global warming… But at that time, I just wanted to come back to comedy, to do something light by tackling things that concern us today, which is the power dynamics and the status of women. In line with "8 women" and "Potiche", two other films that I made also dealt with women. In "8 Women" it was about renouncing patriarchy, and in "Potiche" it was about the rise of matriarchy, tracing the rise of a woman in politics. He was linked to Ségolène Royal's presidential campaign in France at the time. "The Crime Is Mine" is ultimately about the triumph of sisterhood. Obviously, this echoes what is happening in recent years in the Western world with a new wave of feminism.

This theme of power dynamics in the arts was also central to your previous film "Peter van Kant."

It's something that worries me because when you're a director, you're in a position of power, so it makes you think about your responsibilities. A lot of people in the film industry question their own positions, their ways of working. And it seemed that in order to approach all these subjects with a little freshness, I needed to take a little distance, which is why it was essential to set this story in the 1930s. Things were going on in France at this time with a series of murders committed by women. The film even evokes the true story of Violette Nozière, who was the subject of a film by Claude Chabrol with Isabelle Huppert, and there are also the Papin sisters, who inspired Jean Genet for his play "Les bonnes". . What is compelling is to look at these female criminals through the historical prism we have today and connect them to the condition of women at the time.

The dialogues sound so contemporary that I assumed there was some anachronism in your film .

It's not at all anachronistic. Apart from a few expressions, what is said in the film could have been said at the time. I think the word "sorority" did not exist. But there were still the suffragettes because women did not have the right to vote in France in the 1930s, they did not get it until 1945. The patriarchy triumphed but many women fought it to change things .

It's very pleasant – and rare – to see a French film with a happy ending.

Yes, there is something joyful; it ends with a play in the tradition of Jean Renoir. It's also a playful reference to François Truffaut's “Last Metro”, as we go from reality to theatre. Since there is a "mise en abyme" with an actress playing an actress, the film had to end with a play.

Character of Isabelle Huppert (Odette Chaumette)