“It is only in the cinema that the characters are taller than oneself”, proclaims Albert Dupontel

Seven Caesar and a smile for his return to theaters. Albert Dupontel is delighted to see Goodbye idiots return to the cinema on May 19, having drawn nearly
600,000 spectators in the month of October 2020 alone.

Let us remind all those who missed it that this is the meeting of a suicidal employee, a hairdresser suffering from an incurable disease and a blind archivist who seduced the public by making them laugh, cry and to think with great tenderness. Smiling and modest, the actor and director received 20 minutes to talk about the film again, but also to talk about his activities during confinement and to proclaim his intact love for the 7th Art.

You did not intervene after winning your Caesar, did you not like it?

Movie rewards are not necessarily a sign of quality. I even find it embarrassing to be defined as the best. I understand that you can be the best in football or tennis, but from an art point of view, it’s subjective. The taste is something very intimate. Like sexuality and religion, it only concerns individuals. The best movie is the one you liked. The best wine is the one you like, even if it’s a local piquette. I have known culinary trips to taverns and I got bored in gourmet restaurants.

Is that why you didn’t come to the ceremony?

I haven’t even watched it, I don’t have TV. I am consistent with this. Already when Bernie was cited in the “first film” category in 1997, I did not go. The film was a protest, perhaps a petty-bourgeois protest, but a protest all the same! It would be ridiculous to go get a Caesar. I was relieved that I didn’t have it for Bernie, but I am not arrogant. Between spitting in the soup and rolling in it, there is a nuance.

Didn’t you really feel any joy?

For 30 years, I have balanced myself on the edge of the plate. I never did this job for the glory, but because I need it. I see failures and success as collateral damage. Joy is not my thing, at best I am satisfied. When I make a film, I have a little self-esteem for two weeks, three weeks. No more. The only thing that really relieved me was to tell me that these awards were going to force the distributor to come out in theaters.

Is the movie theater important to you?

The relationship you have with a film is different when you see it on the big screen. So much stronger. This link will exist for a long time. The theatrical cinema will undoubtedly evolve, but it will not die. It’s a joyful submission, the only place where you can get carried away with characters bigger than yourself! This need will always exist: we will always want to sit in a room in front of a big screen.

Didn’t you miss that much during confinement?

I saw a lot of films recommended by the great Bertrand Tavernier, several per day. One in the morning, one in the afternoon and others at night. He sent me lists of films to see, wonders to discover. When he no longer answered me, I knew he was not doing well. Shortly before his death, he told me that he had seen Goodbye up thereand that it had made him forget his pancreatitis, so much the film had made him travel. He was passionately fond of the cinema. He was a man of great generosity who liked to share his passion.

Did you have any ideas for a new movie?

I wrote a first version of a political tale whose title is Second round. I wanted to talk about the people who govern us and who are unable to recognize their mistakes. I tell the story of a forty-something launched into politics and a journalist who investigates him when she knew him at school. I know that I always tell the same thing a little bit, but I tend to get closer and closer to reality for ten years. As I learned to love myself better, I also learned to appreciate others better and to find ways to show myself more understanding of my characters.

How do you see your future?

I’m going to polish this script, find some money, get some actors and my crew together, then come up with some fun stuff on set. I would like to rediscover the furious joy that one feels when one makes cinoche. Hoping that a resurgence of the pandemic will not come back to torpedo my plans. When Bertrand Tavernier left, it gave me a strong desire to get back to work. This is what I want now.