Karim Leclou. “I don’t tell myself if I don’t play, I die.”

It is an intense green look, a little hallucinatory, that is increasingly imprinting itself on the memory of the French public. This look is central to the plot Vincent must die, by Stéphane Castang, featured in Critics’ Week at the 76th Cannes Film Festival. Kareem Leclou plays a graphic designer whose colleagues, neighbors or strangers suddenly start attacking him for no apparent reason after a simple glance. Becoming a moving target, Vincent must save his skin and to do so he must confine himself, defend himself, pick up a weapon and pick up a dog (special mention to Susie, the crew the actor supports in his fight for the palm dog). And try, despite everything, to live a love story with a slightly innocent waitress (Vimala Pons). In this survival with tragic-comic undertones, a fable about a time when everything from a virus to an unfortunate word makes another a potential threat, Kareem Lecloux excels. And then For France, That’s my manOr A drop of gold Last year, he added the first role to his career, which established him as one of the most anticipated presences on French screens.

In the video: “06400 Cannes episode 2”, our card from the film festival

work the body

Madame Figaro: How did you feel when you read the script of the film? Vincent must die ?
Karim Leclou: Excitement, because there was originality, purpose. I find that films in which an actor can have fun are films that you can never give up; The world is yours (By Romain Gavras, released in 2018). Vincent must die also has a substantive discourse, he tells a lot about French society. But without ever making anything drastic out of it.

How did you work on a character that transforms and establishes itself over the course of the film?
At first, he is a rather self-satisfied character who doesn’t ask questions about others and is at the center of his own world. He will be stunned by the violence that falls upon him. Working on the stunts helped me a lot to get into the role because they brought the burlesque dimension to the film; from the moment we started experimenting with the fight that takes place in the septic tank, it went through the flesh, it helped flesh me out. the character

Don’t want to give your characters a psyche?
No, and besides, I like it less and less. I actually like not having a perspective on the character and being with him in the moment. It allows not to judge him, to be in action. The psychology of the scene risks placing the character in a place from which he will then move very little. Meanwhile, when we pass through the body, I have the impression that something else is happening.

Catharsis

The look is the key to the film, the camera lingers a lot. How did you work on this?
I had sessions with Stepan where we tried to figure out which look was triggering the violence and which could help Vincent protect himself. It helped me a lot. For the other characters, we set a process before each attack: a fixed look, a small open mouth, the fact of bumping into someone without emotion… There is no emotion during the attack, no screaming, no. crying. It’s something that was put in place with Stephen to dehumanize the aggression and make it as brutal as possible.

Comedy occurs at inappropriate moments, scenes of extreme violence… We laugh at disturbing sequences.
That’s because the movie is staging things that we’re not allowed to. He allows himself what the brain and society do not allow. Being able to play it is liberating, very fulfilling. And I find it very funny too.

Vincent must die is survival . Have any other genre films inspired you?
No, but I was happy to participate in a film of the French genre, which is not empty, it has content. in general, that’s what Americans do very well. In Vincent must die, found this without giving the impression of a duplicate. It tells about moral violence, physical violence, violence in society, also state violence, an institution that no longer works. Violence against children, women, violence against the elderly… There is a scene, for example, where my character’s father slaps an old woman. so we never talk about it. But there’s also something quite beautiful about Stefan not giving in to pessimism, while the film takes place in a pre-apocalyptic world very similar to our own.

The only way is the love that emerges despite everything between the two characters.
Yes, and thankfully, I do see it every day. When we shoot the series Hippocrates I, for example, see what human beings dedicate in capable hospitals.

It’s been two years since you played the main roles. How are you navigating this phase of your career? Does that give you more freedom in choosing your characters?
I avoid looking at myself except when drawing (laughs). The choices, I make them the way I started. This work does not interest me to suffer from it, but I am interested in having the opportunity to defend the projects. For me, there is no such thing as a career, but an experience that is enriched with each film. I’m really lucky to have a little more choice than I used to. But if one day it has to stop, it will. I’m not addicted to this job, I don’t tell myself “if I don’t play, I die”. No way.