This is the role of his life. Elsa Zylberstein premieres this Wednesday Simone, the trip of the century, a moving film that chronicles the life of Simone Veil. A project in which she is totally devoted to embody the former Minister of Health from 36 to 87 years old (Rebecca Marder embodies her from adolescence to the dawn of her thirties).
“I’ve wanted to do this movie for ten years,” the actress tells BFMTV. “I got to know her a little bit. And the more I saw her, the more she fascinated me. When I read A life [son autobiographie, ndlr]I told myself that it was necessary to make a film about this great lady, about this exceptional destination.”
The film, which opens this Wednesday in theaters, is not a classic biopic, but a kaleidoscopic story that follows the journey of this 20th-century figure, who fought all his life for the dignity of beings, in a non-linear way. . “I didn’t want the film to be a Wikipedia page,” insists Elsa Zylberstein.
“A powerful and moving film.”
It was the actress herself who proposed the project to director Olivier Dahan, whom she adored The Mummyher biopic of Edith Piaf with Marion Cotillard. “But he was the one who had the idea of the deconstructed set,” she says. “That’s why I went looking for him. He had to take to the guts. It was necessary to make a strong and moving film.”
Objective achieved, according to the reactions of the public during the previews: “In the corridors, people are upset. I am very proud and happy that I did not make a mistake. I was impressed by the film.”
Unlike most biographies, Simone, the trip of the century he not only paints the portrait of an outstanding personality of our society. It is above all a film about the duty of memory, about the importance of transmitting the history of the Shoah, of which the last witnesses are disappearing.
An idea motivated by Elsa Zylberstein’s encounters with Simone Veil. “When I met her, I saw it all in her eyes. People who have been to camp think about it all the time. ‘We’re still in camp,'” Paul Schaffer told me. [rescapé d’Auschitz et proche de Simone Veil, ndlr].”
“Everyone I’ve ever met, whether it’s Ginette Kolinka, Marceline Loridan-Ivens or Paul Schaffer, they’re all obsessed with streaming, so the horror doesn’t happen again,” explains Elsa Zylberstein. “Simone, as a politician, coming to the highest office, she participated in this fight.”
“There is an echo with the news, it is maddening”
unconventional Biopic, Simone, the trip of the century Thus, from its first minutes, it evacuates Velo’s famous speech to defend the right to abortion in 1974. The film then explores other periods of her life, with her daily life in Auschwitz as the climax of the story, to make “a symbol of absolute resilience”.
simone he also avoids dwelling on his private life to focus on his fights. “We had no choice. Everything is intertwined in her life. Everything she experiences at camp will condition her life. If she hadn’t been there, she wouldn’t have been the same woman. When you rub shoulders with the monstrosity early in your life, what kind of woman do you become?
Simone Veil’s fights over Europe, immigration and abortion are more topical than ever. “Looks like they were written last week!” exclaims Elsa Zylberstein. “There’s an echo with the news, it’s maddening. And the movie was supposed to come out earlier! It’s still very, very disturbing.”
“I did everything to become her”
To embody Simone Veil, Elsa Zylberstein prepared for a year. “He had to infuse. I didn’t want to imitate him, but that my body was like a second skin, that it became something natural,” details the actress, who gained nine kilos for the role.
“I learned to talk like her, to walk like her. I worked with trainers. I did everything to become her. I learned every heartbeat, eyelash, gulp, stomp. I have a second skin. I watched hours of documentaries. I integrated it into me.”
After the shooting, Simone Veil was still inside her. “It’s the only time in my life that a role has stuck with me to such an extent. It’s such a personality that invaded me. She helped me live. I thought of her in my own life. I had a kind of identification with her after the shoot.”
And what to do after what is clearly the role of his life? “It’s not obvious” concedes Elsa Zylberstein. “We’ll see. You don’t have to push yourself. You have to go to different worlds, like I’ve always done. You have to have fun. On the other hand, the truth is that I want strong roles, intense roles.”
Source: BFM TV
