Jason Wood has quite an interesting interview with Claire Denis in Talking Movies (Wallflower Press, 2006). The focus of much of the interview is on Beau Travail, her adaptation of Billy Budd, but he also discusses certain themes present in Denis’ work more generally: rootlessness, dispossession, the struggle to belong. Denis also touches on the use of music in film and on film-making as an artistic process. Here is a key quote, almost a credo:
One has to cope with the world as it is… cinema has to deal with what is going on while you are alive. I don’t see myself doing a science fiction movie because there are so many things that I do not understand in my own times.
Intense Intimacy – The Cinema of Claire Denis is a retrospective of the director’s work that will be appearing at various cinemas throughout the UK during July. It will be at the Cornerhouse from 20 to 29 July, details here.
