Actress Abril puts new twist on love
Latest performance in French comedy gets rave reviews from both
sides of Atlantic
By Lael Loewenstein
Daily Bruin Staff
Free-spirited actress, 30-40, sought to play scorned wife in new
French romantic comedy production. Must be beautiful, feminine, and
quick-witted with fiery temperament, comfortable with lesbian sex
scenes and able to retain her dignity while prancing around wearing
only an apron.
Not many actresses could fit that casting description, but
Victoria Abril is not like many actresses.
Abril, currently starring in the new comic farce "French Twist,"
is winning raves on both sides of the Atlantic for her performance.
As the spurned wife Loli, Abril responds to her husband Laurent’s
(Alain Chabot) infidelities by taking a lover of her own – who
happens to be a woman (Josiane Balasko, who also directed).
One of the year’s most successful films in France, "French
Twist" has been selected as that country’s official submission for
the Academy Awards, a fact which doesn’t surprise Abril in the
least.
"To me, humor is the only key. It’s the best way to express
serious matters," says Abril from her suite in the Four Seasons
Hotel. "You can arrive right from the heart, right from the head.
Humor is the only key that opens both doors."
That said, though, Abril acknowledges that the French have
traditionally chosen sweeping historical epics as their official
Oscar submissions. In the past, France has offered films like
"Indochine" and "Cyrano de Bergerac," which might have suggested
that Claude LeLouch’s "Les Miserables" would have been given the
berth.
"I’m absolutely convinced that what people need nowadays is
tolerance, more than anything in the world, and this is what you
see in ‘French Twist,’" says Abril warmly.
"French Twist" is the latest in a long line of films from Europe
to treat romance and sexuality in a mature, sophisticated way. Some
have expected the film to shock American audiences with its extreme
hypothesis of a love triangle. But Abril, who has been promoting
the film around the globe, insists its themes are universal.
"Love, betrayal, joy – everybody can relate to these issues,"
she says. "Wherever I go – Canada, England, Japan, Taiwan, South
America – people react in the same way, laughing at the same
moments. The only difference is the volume of laughter."
The volume has been loudest in Latin countries like Brazil,
where the crowds could anticipate the jokes even before hearing
them. That warm reaction would also suggest the film will play well
in her native Spain, where it has only just opened and where Abril
is a major star.
A veteran of several Pedro Almodovar films, Abril most recently
made an unforgettable appearance in "Kika," in which she plays an
overzealous television tabloid reporter. Abril’s character is so
desperate to get the scoop on crime and vice that she straps a
camera to her head and intrepidly goes off in search of
material.
Working with Almodovar she describes simply as "vertigo. He’s
like a torrent. I lose four kilos with each film I make with
him."
By contrast, working with Balasko was a refreshing
experience.
"At first I didn’t know what to expect because she was my first
woman director. And there is always this seduction that has to
happen with your director," Abril explains. "But ironically, she
seduces me in the movie."
And what of Alain Chabot, who as poor, bedraggled Laurent has to
stand by while his wife and another woman cavort on-screen? Did
Chabot ever feel excluded from the feminine machinations of Balasko
and Abril?
"Alain was so happy," Abril says, laughing. "Working with us he
felt like the jam in a sandwich."
Josiane Balasko attempts to rough up her lover’s (Victoria
Abril) husband (Alain Chabot) in the bizarre and humorous love
triangle shown in comedic film "French Twist."
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