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  René Manzor

The Passage

Interview

"Love is stronger than death" C.R. Dupin, Lyon Matin, December 1986

With his first feature, "The Passage", René Manzor creates a genuine surprise. This is a highly original film dealing with life and death, with the love of a father for his son, in a blend of animation and live action. An adventure that began for the director six years ago.

Lyon Matin : How did you get the idea for this film ?
René Manzor : It was six years ago. I was 19 at the time. And, over those six years, I tried in vain to set the film up. I saw every production company in Paris and I always got the same replies : too expensive, too ambitious, too American...

L.M. How did you reach your goal in the end ?
R.M. : For years, I worked on a pilot film that showed the way in which the screenplay would be adapted for the big screen. Then I set to work on the animated sequences because my initial training is as a graphic artist. The pilot film lasted ten minutes. But the people that I showed the film to didn’t feel up to producing the feature version.

L.M. :How did you get the idea of approaching Alain Delon ?
R.M. : I had originally thought of him to play the father. But it seemed like a wild dream. My brother, Francis Lalanne, met Alain’s right-hand men who liked the story a lot. They spoke about it to Delon, saying that he should produce it. And Delon replied, "But this is a part for me !"

L.M. : But how did you get the idea for the screenplay ? Did you lose someone close ?
R.M. : To be honest, I’m not really sure. Of course, I have lost loved ones like everybody else. I have also had friends touched by the death of someone close and whom I have tried to console. I have always been able to find the right words.

L.M. : Is it easier to say things in images rather than in words ?
R.M. : That’s what I think. The sensitivity is heightened with the image so you can go a lot further. Words are clumsy. You have to be a real acrobat with words and, even then, you don’t always get the meaning across.

L.M. : What sort of contact do you have with the audience ?
R.M. : I try to get as close to it as possible. That’s the problem with the cinema. Unlike music or theatre, you don’t have any direct contact with the audience. You don’t know its reactions. After screenings of the film, I have seen people in tears and others in a state of shock. They would start talking about it and, occasionally, would tell a totally different story.

L.M. : And did you wish to address children too ?
R.M. : That was, indeed, my intention. I made this film for children. And their reactions are fairly unexpected. A nine-year-old child asked me if, at the end, the father joined his son and resuscitated or if it was the child who joined him in the world of the dead.

L.M. : So what is the moral of the film ?
R.M. : I wanted to say that love is stronger than death. And to pass on my ideas on non-violence. Basically, recover a little of the childish side that each one of us continues to carry within him or her.
Copyright © 2006 - René Manzor