11/02/2003 - Having won the Golden Bear in 2001, the French director is back with a film about illness and a sibling relationship

Videointerview

Two years ago, he won the Golden Bear for Intimacy. Now Patrice Chéreau is back with a new film called Son frére (His Brother), based on the eponymous novel by Philippe Besson. This is a story of bodies, disease and the way it influences the human psyche.

Son Frère is about two brothers, one of whom afflicted by a rare blood disease, the other, his caregiver. Chéreau’s camerawork indulges in extenuating shots of the scars and pre-op procedures: "I wanted to portray this body too. I began making films because it allowed me to be with the actors. And also because I think that cinema is the most efficient art form for portraying contemporary life. It is this desire to understand and to look that gives my work meaning. "

Chéreau came up with the idea for this film and made it in just 8 months – from February to October 2002. Produced by Agnès b. (the fashion designer who has entered the filmmaking arena) together with ARTE France who will air the film on 16 May, four months prior to its French theatrical release. Chéreau shot the film with a minimal crew because he wanted to concentrate on the two actors, Eric Caravaca as the younger brother and Bruno Todeschini, who worked with Chéreau with La Reine Margot. In preparation for this role, Todeschini subjected himself to a Spartan diet, "as a way of getting under the skin of a man who has lost the will to live and is only too aware of his approaching demise. And he also realises that life is based on a lie. "

(Translated from Italian)