This year's Cannes Director's Fortnight saw French director Antony Cordier presenting the social satire The Party's Over! [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Antony Cordier
fiche film], in which the motto “eat the rich” reigns supreme. We chatted with the director about his personal connection to the story, his casting choices and the concept behind the set design.

Cineuropa: What interested you in this story? Was there a trigger moment that made you want to drill down into it?
Antony Cordier: It’s not actually my original screenplay. I was asked by my producer if I’d be interested in making the film. But the starting point for the script was definitely a personal experience the author had. He once encountered a similar situation as you see in the film, when he was on holiday. I laughed a lot when I read the script. I come from a working-class background myself, and I’ve evolved socially. I recognised myself in the main character, Mehdi; in his situation, his reactions, his complexes and his problems. I’d already covered these themes in my previous films and probably wouldn't have gone back to them on my own. So, to be able to adapt someone else’s script was a great opportunity to find a new perspective on it all. 

What were the most important changes you made to the script?
The structure is mostly the same. My co-author and I worked on the situations in more detail, trying to push them a little bit further. We added a profession for one of the main characters. We made her an actress and used it to develop her relationship with her daughter, who’s an aspiring actress herself. Also, all the characters were white in the script. I don’t think this represents the current French landscape, so I wanted to incorporate other characters, without necessarily highlighting the theme of diversity or of having foreign roots. But we were able to shed light on how people of Maghrebi origins, in this case, have also progressed and want to continue making progress on a social level.

The story goes into pretty precise detail around the legal sphere. Did you carry out much research in this area? How important is it for you to be as authentic as possible?
With subjects like these, it's normal to use consultants. I know a few lawyers who I asked to check the most important details. But I didn't do any deeper, technical research, besides that. There was no need. But we did carry out some research to find cases similar to the one we explore. And it's fascinating to see that quite a few famous and beloved household names were involved in these kinds of things, namely that they employed maids or housekeepers illegally. It's fascinating because they’re rich and well-known, but they still risk getting exposed by these kinds of stories. It happened to Francis Ford Coppola and his daughter Sofia, for example. They had an apartment in Paris which they employed a few people from Mauritius for. And they were sued for it.

Could you tell us more about the set design for the two houses which belong to the two families?
In terms of the look, we wanted there to be clear differences. But it was important that the Azizi family’s house, the poorer ones, didn't look too miserable. We worked with the décor team, keeping things as realistic as possible. One thing that distinguishes between the two is sound. We hear a lot of silence, wind and nature really clearly at the rich family's mansion, but at the poorer family's house we hear the neighbours and other people talking and having fun. The rich are isolated, they experience more solitude.

How did the cast of the film come together?
We tried to think about different, interesting couples. As for the Azizi family, there was a risk they might be perceived as sad or pathetic. It was really important that they were likable. That's why we looked for actors with a comic temperament. Ramzy Bédia, who plays Tony, for example, usually acts in comedies and sketches and is a comedian. He had to play the role of the clown who’s not very competent and who makes a lot of mistakes. Ramzy’s performance sidesteps misery, he adds something burlesque to the character. We also wanted that kind of comic ability for the rest of the cast. And we wanted to create couples who don’t often act together, but who are still quite well-known in France. As for the younger actors, Sami Outhalbali, who plays the main role of Mehdi, caught my attention when I saw him a few years ago in a film shown in Cannes, and I hoped to work with him at least once. As for the girls, I knew Mahia Zoukri from a few shorts she’d acted in, and, last but not least, Noée Abita came to us through the castings we held.