Nicola Mathieu. “We must mourn the loss of the book so that it becomes a different kind of creation.”

The fourth episode of “Collections”, the literary show Madame Figarotook place on Wednesday, December 18. A publication dedicated to the links between cinema and literature, with the collaboration of the house of Chanel. To address this topic, director Audrey Divan and writer Nicolas Mathieu were invited to answer the questions of Joseph Goss, deputy editor-in-chief, Pascaline Potdevin, head of the culture department. Madame Figaroand Bernard Babkin, responsible for the magazine’s book pages.

Author, director and screenwriter Audrey Divan has adapted several literary works for cinema. co-author of love fu By Gilles Lelouch and Love and forestsBy Valerie Donzelli, she notably won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2021 for her film. the event, adapted from the novel by Annie Erno. This year he is the director of the film Emmanuelinspired by a text written by Emmanuel Arsan in 1959 before the 1974 film.

Nicolas Mathieu won the 2018 Prix Goncourt for his novel After them their childrenwhich spawned the Bukerma Brothers film, now in theaters. In Collections, the two were able to compare their views on adapting a book to film, and the role of a director responsible for giving a work a fresh look.

On both sides of the mirror

“Adaptation is a betrayal,” said Nicolas Mathieu, a necessary betrayal for a writer speaking from experience. He actually saw three of his novels adapted for the small and big screen in 2018. War with animals has become a series that airs on France 3. Currently in cinemas, After them their children received a very good reception. Paul Kircher, who plays Anthony, the film’s protagonist, notably won the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival in September.

As for his latest novel. Connemara (2022), it is now being adapted under the direction of Alex Lutz. The writer elaborates. if the adaptation is certainly a betrayal of the original work, that is not necessarily a bad thing. “Hasin is better in the movie than in the book,” emphasized the author, referring to one of the heroes of the movie. After them their children.

Trained journalist, writer, screenwriter and director Audrey Divan, for her part, was afraid of not being faithful enough to Annie Erno’s novel when she adapted; The event in cinemas in 2021. Until the latter announced to him after watching the film. “It is true. But there is still a problem: there was no Tupperware in the 1960s.” To the great relief of the director.

Audrey Divan did not feel this fear of betraying the text when she prepared it Emmanuel. “I didn’t have the novel and the 1974 film in mind, even if I kept certain foundations,” he said.The director created a completely different work while incorporating parts of the novel. For him, the author and the director must coexist to create an effective adaptation.

Nicolas Mathieu and Audrey Divan confirm loud and clear. There is no book that cannot be adapted. For Nicolas Mathieu, there are simply more difficult texts, which in abundance are transformed into feature films.

Literature on the big screen

The “Collections” program also considered significant literary works adapted for cinema. Diamonds on the sofa (1961), Donkey skin (1970), It shines (1980), Dangerous connections (1981)Out of Africa (1985), Sand dune (2021), The Count of Monte Cristo (2024)… is Audrey Dewan’s most beautiful novel ever adapted for the big screen the cat written by Georges Simenon, directed in 1971 by Pierre Granier-Défer.

Nicolas Mathieu is an unreserved fan 2001 A Space Odyssey By Stanley Kubrick, adapted from the novel by Arthur Clarke. Both want to see other works adapted for film, Audrey Dewan in particular would like to see Vegetarian by Han Kong, the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, to become a film. Nicolas Mathieu would be interesting to see the adaptation progress Journey to the end of the night By Celine, by Joan Sfar, which hits theaters in 2026.

In the video, Vasily Schneider explained how he immerses himself in the characters he plays, which come from books. From February 5 to March 8, 2025, he will play at the Port Saint-Martin Theater, c. Next time you bite the dustAdaptation of the work of Panayiotis Pascoe. Leaving to better master the roles, a complex exercise that the 25-year-old actor wanted to explain to us.