“Sweet and joyful, it’s a spicy chronicle, delightfully vintage and nostalgic, carried by a perfect cast. Camille Cottin, president of the last César ceremony, plays the wife of Louis Garrel, irresistible as a protective father overwhelmed by events. Interview. How did Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache convince you to work with them? Camille Cottin. They didn’t have to convince me: I really wanted to work with them. Before even reading the script, I had told them that I was eager to work with them. Louis Garrel. When they told me they had written a film inspired by their adolescence and their parents’ lives, I was thrilled to be part of the adventure from the start. We quickly did some improvisations and had a lot of fun. Some situations could have been treated seriously or gravely by other filmmakers. But they have a lighter and more comical way of telling things. It’s always very enjoyable. ‘Adolescence is a bit like knocking on the door of the box to get out. So the moment of the first transgressions’ (Camille Cottin) Adolescence is at the heart of ‘Just an Illusion’. What kind of teenager were you, both of you? C.C. I can’t say everything. If my children ever come across your journal… (laughs). I wouldn’t want it to be too contrasting with what I ask them to be. There’s something about adolescence, this urgent need for freedom and the impossibility of having it completely. It’s a bit like knocking on the door of the box to get out, and so the moment of the first transgressions. As for me, I was still happy to finish high school. LG. I first belonged to a group of about fifteen friends. And I defined myself a lot in relation to others. Then I changed my group and suddenly, it completely transformed my way of dressing and my personality… which must not have been very stable! But I have wonderful memories of adolescence. We spent our days outside, all together, skating the streets of Paris… I loved it. Today, when I see young people walking in groups on the street, I envy them a lot. At 14, walking around Paris and discovering life, it’s great. Music is very present in the film. How important is it in your lives? LG. For a long time, I was content to adopt what others liked. I remember one day deciding to listen to Iron Maiden, thinking ‘that way, I’ll have a style: hard rock’. But I also listened to Maurane, William Sheller’s records that my mother loved… So it was a bit all over the place. I remember also buying the compilation ‘Hostile Hip-Hop’. C.C. As a teenager, I really liked 70s rock. Then in the 90s, I listened to Nirvana on repeat… Today, I find those random playlists that platforms offer great: from something we like, we discover a lot of new artists. ‘Yves and Sandrine Dayan, two parents facing their teens’ torment.’ It had to be incredible to see the youth chanting ‘Don’t touch my buddy’ (Louis Garrel) With this film, we dive back into the year 1985… LG. What is striking is the difficulty, before cell phones, of getting in touch with others. To convey a message, one of the characters calls an FM radio station for the presenter to dedicate a song to a girl before such a song… I remember moving and standing under a girl’s window to discreetly ask her to come out so we could talk… C.C. With the landline phone, conversations were always at risk of being intercepted by parents… LG. On a political and societal level, the film shows the birth of SOS-Racisme, this general surge of solidarity towards people struggling to be considered French. Harlem Désir’s first speech, the support concert at Place de la Bastille… It had to be incredible to see the youth chant ‘Don’t touch my buddy’, and say ‘we are all together’. What insight does this provide into the world, very polarized, of today? LG. I’m not sure that, on the timeline of history, things have evolved as much as we imagine. In 1985, the Berlin Wall was still standing. So this world seems more readable to us because the opposition between communism and capitalism was very clear. But let’s remember that only five years later, the Gulf War happened and it was the first global conflict for oil. Today, the return of religion in geopolitics leads to other antagonisms. But I don’t believe that the world was simpler in the 80s. It’s the illusion of a film: since you have to condense to paint a picture of an era in a few strokes, you get the feeling of a more readable world.”
