I want to talk to you about French cinema a little bit. I don't know it very well. Ha. Ha. Ha. (laughs all around) Since the big American studio films have, let's say, "invaded" Europe, has it made your film making anymore difficult? How has it affected your craft? Every time I visit Europe, I find fewer and fewer homemade films on theater marquis. Is it becoming a struggle against the Arnold Schwarzeneggers and Sylvester Stallones of the American cinema? Contrary to what one might believe, the balance has been about the same for several years now. There are always huge comic French films that make a big splash and make just as much of a splash as big American films and continue to do so. My position is not typically a French one. But there are many films that succeed in France that could have been made in France for example "Smoke," "The Bridges of Madison County,". There have always been spectacle films and adventure films in France coming from the U.S. even before the second World War. It's the system and the dollars, the means, that Americans have and besides that, kids love them. The big success of American films in the world stems from the fact that they are dubbed. which means they are accessible to a vast public. And there is always a smaller audience or say a more narrow audience for subtitled films, or films in their original version. This is a problem for the distributors of cinema, the sales people. Not a problem for me. Whether the film is Japanese, Swedish, American, or whatever, I always prefer it in the original. The voice, the subtleties of a language, the emotions, you can't dub those things. Exactly.

Let's talk about your lead actors When I wrote the script I didn't even think of Michel Serrault. What I knew about him was his surrealistic comedic side. I didn't know if he would be particularly interested in playing such a character. On the other hand when I met him, I learned that it was quite the contrary, he'd always hoped to play such a character. And then I understood that this surrealistic comical side, this fantastical side of him was masking an extreme modesty and prudishness. And in fact, he was very deeply vulnerable. A great deal of vulnerability is in Michel Serrault. He shot the film with an attentiveness and a concentration which were both exemplary. And the beautiful Emmanuelle Béart? I didn't really think of her at first for this film either. I didn't even know if she was available. After we first collaborated on "Un Coeur en Hiver" four years ago, she told me she wanted for us to work together again. So I offered her the role and she quickly agreed. I saw her in a cafe once after not seeing her for awhile and there she was with her hair in this bun. It made her appear vulnerable, naked. I insisted later that she had to do the film with that bun. What are your favorite American films? Do you have any? That's an easy answer. Woody Allen films. Whether they are more or less successful films I don't feel like an idiot watching them. Altman's films. Robert Altman, I enjoy his films also. Wayne Wang's "Smoke" and "Blue In The Face". I don't go to the cinema a lot though. Have you seen Woody's "Mighty Aphrodite"? No. It had just come out when I left France. I haven't seen it yet. I think it is one of the more enchanting of Woody's films in a while. That's what I've been told. That is what is so terrific about Woody Allen, he sort of leans in the direction of one mood or color in one film and then goes another way in the next one. It was truly a pleasure to converse with you. Indeed, the same here. I am very pleased.

Read the interview with Emanuelle Béart.