November 22, 2006

Interview. Isild Le Besco.

Backstage "Emmanuelle Bercot has crafted one of the most self-assured debut features that I've seen in years," declared Jonathan Marlow in May. "The cast is remarkable. Emmanuelle Seigner is quite exceptional as the troubled singer and Isild Le Besco's performance as an adoring fan is believably overwrought." In September, he got a chance to grab a quick chat with Le Besco about Backstage and more at the Toronto International Film Festival.

"The 24-year-old French actress Isild Le Besco has one of the most exotic faces in movies," writes J Hoberman in the Voice. "An enjoyably overwrought meditation on the consequences of celebrity and the vicissitudes of fandom, Backstage stars Le Besco as the schoolgirl acolyte of Emmanuelle Seigner's pop diva, a singer-songwriter and high priestess of cheese."

Updated.

Stephen Holden in the New York Times: "Backstage, above all, is a showcase for Ms Seigner, who is quite a good singer, and Ms Le Besco, the fearless young French actress who specializes in playing naïve, headstrong girls derailed by passion."

Earlier: Filmbrain and Aaron Hillis.

Update: Nick Schager at Slant: "Depicting the thorny relationship shared by pop star and fan, Emmanuelle Bercot's Backstage radiates not the nostalgic sentimentality of Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous but raw, pathetic, obsessive desperation.... Bercot's over-the-top representation of Lauren's frazzled hotel-room existence benefits immensely from DP Agnes Godard's grimy, underlit cinematography, which quietly mirrors the moral miasma engulfing artist and admirer."

Posted by dwhudson at November 22, 2006 9:22 AM

Comments

Pleased to see that I was at "overwrought" before J. Hoberman got there. Absolutely good company to find myself.

Posted by: Jonathan Marlow at November 22, 2006 9:43 AM

David: I doubt you celebrate Thanksgiving over there in Berlin, but, notwithstanding, I wanted to make sure to wish you and yours a happy day of friends and family, good food, and providence. Among the many blessings I count in this last year, high on the list has been the opportunity to interact with you--albeit in this disembodied medium--and to learn from you. You have a gift for animating film culture, for which I remain forever respectful and grateful. My best to you. As we say here in the states, gobble, gobble.

Posted by: Michael Guillen at November 23, 2006 10:31 AM

Many thanks to you, Michael, and I hope that you, too, will have a wonderful and peaceful long weekend.

And actually, we've got some fine pumpkin bread over here, so we're set!

Posted by: David Hudson at November 23, 2006 1:29 PM