- Maja Komorowska and Leslie Caron in Zanussi’s The Contract (1980)
Read part one of this interview.
Well, the censorship was very tough [in Soviet bloc countries] on that subject matter. In The Constant Factor, the censors wanted to cut the story about the death of the [hero’s] mother [from cancer], because she was pronouncing a concept that is in fact only Christian, that suffering might make sense. In other religions, people think about how to avoid suffering. So, I’m more free to approach this now. Also because the world has become more lay [since then], I’m provoked to be more religious.
The main female character of the film is his opposite. She’s self-consciously immoral, and her transgressive behavior seems to stem from her rejection of God.
He was not an actor, no. He was my student.
- Stanislaw Latallo in The Illumination
Jean-Luc Godard also employs characters in this way.
I totally endorse this opinion. That’s why I often write scripts for given actors, if I have their consent and the production is likely to happen. I do this whenever it is possible. I’m now writing a film with particular actors in mind, but I have no financing yet. I’m taking a risk, but I’ll be most unhappy if it doesn’t happen.
- Camera Buff
