30/06/2003 - One of Godard’s closest collaborators during the 1960s presented his latest film: a noir set against society's transexual underbelly

Jean-Henry Roger worked closely with Jean-Luc Godard in Dziga Vertov’s group in the late 1960s. Roger came to Pesaro to present his latest work, Lulù, a high definition film starring some of his closest friends and fellow filmmakers like Tony Gatlif, Mathieu Amalric and Robert Guédiguian.
Lulù is a transexual who leaves the streets and unsavoury relationships and sets up his own bar in the Camargue where he becomes Lucien, a man who lives discretely in relative obscurity. Unfortunately Lulù/Lucien’s past comes back to bite him and he must face the ghosts he thought he had put to rest ages ago. This film of Roger’s is a noir where every single character, Lulù included, must come to terms with who they are.

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The film is based on reality.
“That is correct. The bar that you see in the film and also Lulù’s home really do belong to a transexual. But everything else was invented. I really wanted to portray the dark side we all possess and try to push back and hide because it is not socially acceptable. The common denominator of all the characters in this film and the setting, the Camargue, is that they lie between the land and water, between black and white. In order to highlight all of this, I decided to make a noir. A crime takes place that leads the protagonists to experience a life crisis that they must overcome by going down a new road and making a choice.”

WHy did you decide to work in the HD format?
“First of all I did not have a lot of money to spend on 35mm film stock. When I heard that Sony would lend me their new camera, I decided to accept and see if it were really worth using. Together with my DP, Renato Berta, we ran some tests and the results were more than merely satisfying. The stability of the colours was wonderful and the night scenes were not grainy but good quality. We also wanted to shoot long sequences and the camera we used was perfect for that. Of course, had I been lucky enough to get more funding, I’d have preferred 35mm.”

Why did you decide against light digital?
“To be perfectly honest, I hate camcorders and the schizophrenic movement that some directors resort to instead of concentrating on the story and the characters. Instead they just shake their cameras around. Filmmaking requires careful thought and calm. However that does not mean it is impossible to make a good film with a video camera. The most important element is whether or not you have talent.”