It’s the movie they wanted to see when they were 16. A true film about the real things in life. Interview with the creators of Cœur de slush, in theaters this Friday 16 (no, that’s not fortuitous).
“Completely”, confirms Mariloup Wolfe (Arlette), who signs her fourth feature film here, recently met at the chic Roseline wine bar, boulevard Saint-Laurent, of which she is the new co-owner. “I would have liked to see a film like that because the character of Billie is inspiring, she is candid, endearing. We want to be like her: she’s fun, she has a nice circle of friends, a nice sisterhood, and she’s a dream come true with her love story. »
Remember that the film, which stars Liliane Skelly in the role of Billie, tells the story of her 16-year-old summer, from her first love to her first sentence, including her first time.
The director, a big fan of films of the coming of age genre, had deliberately not read Sarah-Maude Beauchesne’s bestselling novel (published in 2014 and sold more than 30,000 copies), before delving into the screenplay, at the author’s invitation. It was partly his “poetry” that charmed her: “his poetic voice that makes you let yourself be carried away by the narration”, she explains, a “voice” also skillfully transposed on the screen. , in texts, but also in images – emotions, dizziness and flotation included (we won’t tell you more!).
It must be said that even if the text is almost 10 years old, the subject remains “timeless and universal”, specifies the director, who has slipped here and there, in aesthetics and music, a touch of timelessness to the story, question of “expand the audience”. Hard to be dropped by the subject, whether you are 16, 36 or 66 years old, and it is wanted that way. After all, we were all 16. And we usually remember it for a long time.
Ultimately, “I think we’re sending a positive message of adolescence, Mariloup Wolfe continues, of respect, consent, and the first [sexual] relationship, without rose-colored glasses.” With an unprecedented realism, and that too, it is obviously intended, from the duration of the thing to its disillusionment: “what, is it just that? Yep: “That’s real life!” “, says the director, laughing, accomplice.
A demystification that is no stranger to the very origin of the text, as readers of Sarah-Maude Beauchesne, who has made authenticity her trademark, know. “That’s exactly why I wrote Heart of Slush in the first place! “recalls the author, who signs the screenplay here. “My goal was to tell the story of lust, sexuality from my point of view, completely authentic! »
Which is not the case with many films for teenagers, let’s be frank. “I grew up with teen movies where it’s always the nerdy girl who ends up with the popular guy!” “Says in turn Camille Felton (Noémie – Le secret), who here embodies Annette, the perfect big sister, also Billie’s love rival. “But fuck the bratty guys!” “, she launches, welcoming the finally cheerful moral of Cœur de slush: “Friendship and fraternity reign above all! she summarizes. The important thing is to be well surrounded. »
Even though she’s only 23, Camille Felton wouldn’t have hated to hear that kind of younger message: “So much,” she said. It might have changed the way I see things: the famous guy endorsement that values us women so much. High School Musical, that was it! “, she laments.
As for Liliane Skelly, who embodies the famous Billie, with a resemblance as fair as it is striking (a little makeup and dyeing extra), she confirms to be very close to the character in life as well. “Compared to living late in relation to his friends, to wanting to live magical moments,” slips the 18-year-old actress, seen in District 31.
She does not hide it, she has grown up with this film. In good. “I learned to love myself through Billie,” she said. She has my body, she is clumsy, but even if she is not perfect, she assumes herself. And then she learned a lot about life, too. And not least. “It’s okay not to be perfect, there are imperfect love affairs; there is beauty, there is ugliness, but even if it is not perfect, she concludes, that does not mean that it is not worth living…”
