Thursday, November 14, 1996
FILM:
Juliette Binoche reveals her sole criteria in the selection of
rolesBy Emily Forster
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Actors have different ways of relating to emotionally distraught
characters without becoming emotionally distraught themselves.
Some try meditation, some rely on therapists, but French actress
Juliette Binoche avoids the trauma altogether. She tries not to
relate to the characters at all.
"When I tried to get into characters, I used to go through my
own personal experiences. It was all me, me, me," Binoche says.
"But now it seems that things are changing the way I work, the way
I get involved. I’m using my imagination more than my private life,
and I feel more free at the end of the day. I don’t feel I’ve
suffered so much and been through some sort of therapy
process."
After taking roles in films like Philip Kaufman’s "The
Unbearable Lightness of Being," Louis Malle’s "Damage" and
Krzysztof Kieslowski’s "Blue," for which the actress won the Venice
Film Festival Best Actress Award, a Caesar (France’s equivalent to
an Oscar) and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress, it’s no
wonder that Binoche had to devise a new way to deal with her
complex characters. And the result of her new approach to acting is
impressive.
In the upcoming "The English Patient," based on the novel by
Michael Ondaatie, Binoche shines as Hana, a French Canadian World
War II nurse surrounded by death and destruction. In the story she
adopts the responsibility for a dying patient and allows him to
revel in the searing memories of his tumultuous past. With a tragic
character like this, it was important for Binoche to use her new
method for playing dramatic roles.
"I remember Anthony (Minghella, director and writer of "The
English Patient") asking me about a scene where I’m crying with
Willem Dafoe," says Binoche. "We made like 40 takes of different
shots. There were so many shots and I cried each time. Anthony came
to see me and said ‘How can (you) do that?’ And I said, ‘I use my
imagination, that’s all.’"
Not that Minghella (writer and director of "Truly, Madly,
Deeply" and director of "Mr. Wonderful") was surprised at Binoche’s
success with the intensely emotional role of Hana. The director
knew from the very beginning that Binoche would be perfect for the
part.
"I sent her a copy of the book a week after I finished reading
it," Minghella recalls. "I envisioned her in the role. She accepted
the part before I had written one word of the screenplay."
Binoche’s impulsive acceptance of the role is typical. She picks
her roles based on little more than her instinctive likes or
dislikes for a project.
"My choices are related to my intuition and what I’m really
touched with. When you’re close to your intuition, you can’t make a
mistake," Binoche says. "If you go outside yourself and make a
decision because you’re thinking, ‘Well so and so said this was
good for so and so a reason,’ that’s when you’re losing contact
with yourself. So when I choose, it’s not about choosing a
prospective career. It’s my intuition and what it tells me."
But Binoche had reasons to do "The English Patient" that went
beyond instinct. She appreciated the intricate character
development through the story.
"I like to be involved in a movie where the characters have an
evolution or transformation," Binoche says. "I like when there is
some sort of beginning, middle and end to a character’s growth.
Most of the films I’ve been in have been very much like that, where
you can follow through the film what’s happening to the characters.
The characters aren’t stuck, they’re always moving."
And the character of Hana is exactly what Binoche looks for in a
role. Binoche’s inclination to play Hana was so strong that she
felt a physiological need for the part.
"When you’re reading a script that you like, it’s a physical
demand  in a way, it’s like when you feel like expressing
yourself," Binoche explains. "The most appealing thing about Hana
is that she’s losing everything in the beginning, and when she
makes the decision to go to the monastery, I think she’s completely
following her intuition and she becomes so mature. I think it was
the whole process that I was very keen on. She makes a very
independent choice to take care of the English patient. I was
touched by her story."
With Binoche’s new acting techniques and her devotion to the
story, she found working on the set of "The English Patient" to be
a rewarding experience. Although she has completed other films that
she deeply cared about, this film allowed her the greatest sense of
accomplishment.
"I found that on ‘English Patient,’ I was free, probably because
I was being asked to let go and not try to control my emotions,"
says Binoche. "It was a beautiful experience. Usually the American
movies are some kind of business machine. A movie seems to be more
about money than about movies. But when you’re attached to a
project like this, it doesn’t matter."
"The English Patient" will be released Friday, Nov. 15.
Miramax Films
Juliette Binoche in Anthony Minghella’s "The English
Patient."