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RELEASES France

Two women remember one man in Watch While They Dance

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Set to be launched tomorrow in theatres by Wild Bunch Distribution, Claude Miller’s fifteenth feature, Watch While They Dance [+see also:
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, successfully interweaves a romantic storyline in the same vein as his character-driven work with the extraordinary setting of Canada’s natural surroundings. Adapted from Roy Parvin’s short story Menno’s Granddaughter, the film contains quality performances by a very European cast including French actress Marina Hands, Italy’s Maya Sansa and Swiss thesp James Thiérrée.

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Co-scripted by the director and Nathalie Carter, the film centres on a French video artist who travels across Canada from East to West on a train in the snow. This journey leads her to meet the final companion of her ex-husband, an internationally renowned showman, who is now dead. Each woman will try to understand how "the man of their life" loved and lived with the other.

"I liked the idea of a private conflict in a contrastingly airy and spectacular space, the idea of introspection in the context of a journey in cinemascope," explains Miller. "I really like showing human beings’ major or minor scheming in a natural world which just does as it pleases. This doesn’t belittle human beings’ feelings, quite the opposite. Seeing them struggle on this earth that doesn’t give a damn makes them even more moving and pathetic. Throughout a large part of my career in cinema, I was more of a close-up man. Here, on the contrary, I wanted to do some shots where the characters look small in the frame."

Over the course of his career, the director seems to be moving towards a freer and more personalised approach and here he has sprinkled a story tending more towards drama with several comic interludes. "The British and Americans aren’t afraid of forays into comedy, whereas the French are more inclined to choose either tragedy or comedy, Racine or Molière. I can admire this unity of tone but I think I’m much closer to what I consider the reality of human life in this mix of genres."

Produced by Alicéleo in co-production with France 2 Cinéma, Filmarto (Canada) and Les Productions Jean-Marc Henchoz (Switzerland), Watch While They Dance was also pre-bought by Canal + and Ciné+. The film is sold internationally by TF1 Droits Audiovisuels.

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(Translated from French)

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