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L'Idole
de/by Samantha Lang
France - 2002 - Drame/Drama - 110 mn - V.O sous-titrée anglais/French with English subtitles
Réalisatrice/Director: Samantha Lang
Scén/Script: Gérard Brach, Samantha Lang
Avec/With: Leelee Sobieski, James Hong, Jean-Paul Roussillon, Jalil Lespert, Marie Loboda
Photographie/Cinematography by: Benoît Delhomme
Mus.: Gabriel Yared
Prod.: Olivier Delbosc, Marc Missonnier
Société Prod./Prod.co: Fidélité Productions
Coprod. : Arte France Cinéma, Mars Films, Roissy Films, Gimages, Prima
Distributé en Australie par/Distributed in Australia by: Dendy Films
Ventes à l'étranger /World sales: TF1 International
 Working entirely in French and shooting in Paris, Australian director Samantha Lang (The Well) has fashioned a spellbinding tale that shows her at the height of her powers. Lang has assembled a talented cast, wonderfully led by Leelee Sobieski and James Hong. L'Idole is a superbly crafted film that is at once powerful and affirming.
Sobieski plays Sarah, a young actress who moves into a rambling old apartment block inhabited by an odd assortment of aging and endlessly curious tenants. She is initially accompanied by her boyfriend, with whom she engages in gymnastic sex. But he is soon dumped, arousing the benign - and not-so-benign - interests of a couple of older men, one of whom has ogled her shamelessly. The other, Zao (Hong), is an elderly, refined Chinese man with whom Sarah begins a relationship that forms the core of this exquisitely conceived film.
Zao slowly becomes intrigued by his beautiful new neighbour and begins entering Sarah's open doorway with increasing frequency. The day she reveals her plans for destructive revenge, he proposes a pact: he will cook for her until the fateful date. Thus a bond is forged, portrayed by Lang with loving care. Zao is a consummate gentleman and his old-world charms soon win over Sarah, who has known only the selfish behavior of loutish boyfriends. He brings order and serenity into her life, treats her like a lady and prepares magnificent, visually beautiful meals for her. His sensitivity slowly carries over into an ambiguously erotic relationship, subtly depicted by the actors and filmed with immense tenderness. However, as Sarah's behavior becomes more and more erratic, Zao finds that he must call upon all his inner resources to deal with his own growing emotions.
Reflective, serene and spiritual, L'Idole is truly erotic when it needs to be, but this is only one of its delights. The film is a meditation on despair, generosity and the power of the spirit to challenge the forces of darkness - and a tale of youth and age meeting on a strange battlefield.
The director hired an international cast for this film : an American actress (Leelee Sobieski), a Chinese actor (James Hong) and two French actors (Jean-Paul Roussillon and Jalil Lespert).
Une jeune Australienne, Sarah, s'installe dans un immeuble parisien en face de Zao, un vieux cuisinier chinois qui avait l'intention de partir. Castellac, l'un des voisins et ami de Zao, fantasme sur Sarah. Car elle fait bruyamment l'amour avec son amant, Philippe, acteur de théâtre prétentieux et méprisant. Elle est mal à l'aise car Philippe est le mari de l'actrice principale d'une pièce de théâtre dont Sarah n'est que la doublure. Elle rêve du premier rôle, et demande à Zao de l'aider à se perfectionner. Il décide finalement de rester dans l'immeuble et lui prépare des plats traditionnels. Il espère lui avoir fait reprendre confiance en elle, mais Sarah est rattrapée par des pulsions suicidaires : elle veut mourir le soir de la première. Zao essaie de lui redonner goût à la vie et retrouve lui-même une seconde jeunesse.
La réalisatrice a réuni ici un casting international composé entre autres d'une actrice américaine (Leelee Sobieski), d'un acteur chinois (James Hong) et de deux comédiens français (Jean-Paul Roussillon et Jalil Lespert).
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British Director, Screen Writer
Born on 8 December 1967 in London, Samantha Lang lived for a few years in Sydney. After studies of French literature and linguistics in Paris in the mid-eighties, she joined the Sydney Institute of Technology from which she graduated in visual communication.
After a first short film, Malady, based on a story by Marguerite Duras, she joined the Australian Film Television and Radio School. There she made three short films: God's Bones (1993), Out (1995) and Audacious. In 1997, she directed her first feature film, The Well, selected for the competition at the Cannes Festival. In 2000, she directed Susie Porter and Kelly McGillis as a lesbian couple in a thriller, The Monkey's Mask. In 2001, she added a new film to her works, The Idol, a drama depicting a strange relationship between an old Chinese man (James Hong) and a young suicidal girl (Leelee Sobieski). The film is based on a novel by Michelle Tourneur, A l'heure dite. |
Samantha Lang
Réalisatrice, Scénariste britannique
Née le 8 décembre 1967 à Londres (Grande-Bretagne), Samantha Lang a vécu à Sydney, en Australie. Après des études de littérature française et de linguistique à Paris au milieu des années quatre-vingt, elle intègre le Sydney Institute of Technology où elle obtient un diplôme de communication visuelle.
Après un premier court-métrage, Malady, librement inspiré d'un récit de Marguerite Duras, Samantha Lang entre à l'Australian Film Television and Radio School. Elle y tourne trois courts-métrages : God's bones (1993), Out (1995) et Audacious. En 1997, elle signe son premier long-métrage, Le Puits (The Well), qui sera sélectionné en compétition au Festival de Cannes. Trois ans plus tard, elle dirige Susie Porter et Kelly McGillis en duo lesbien dans le thriller Cercle intime (The Monkey's Mask). En 2001, elle enchaîne avec la réalisation de L'Idole, drame dans lequel elle met en scène une relation troublante entre un vieux Chinois (James Hong) et une jeune fille suicidaire (Leelee Sobieski). L'Idole est adapté du roman A l'heure dite de Michelle Tourneur. |
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