With the help of diaries, photos, and letters, film director Mona Achache tried to create a filmic image of her mother Carole Achache – in the film "Little girl blue" portrayed by Marion Cotillard.
It became a story about pain and catastrophe that ended with suicide, a long story about violence, says Mona Achache, when TT meets her and the French megastar Marion Cotillard in Paris.
When I read the script, I realized that this was something completely new for me, something I would never experience again, says Marion Cotillard.
"Women can participate in abuse"
Carole Achache was a well-known intellectual in Paris. Her own mother, Monique Lange, socialized with literary giants like Jean Genet and William Faulkner.
When Carole Achache took her life, she left no explanation behind. Instead, her daughter Mona found 26 boxes with letters, photos, and diaries. At first, she had thought of ignoring them, but the content revealed a picture of a different woman than the one she had thought she knew.
Mona Achache found out that her mother, at the age of 12, with her grandmother's consent, was subjected to sexual abuse by Jean Genet and one of his lovers.
I was angry, but I began to feel a passion for this woman I didn't really know. When it comes to my grandmother, it's more complex. It shows how women can participate in abuse. She loved Genet so much that she gave him everything, even her own daughter, says Mona Achache.
"Healing process"
Marion Cotillard, who enters the film by coming to Mona Achache's studio and putting on her mother Carole's clothes, calls the film a "healing process".
It resonated with me too, through the generations of women I come from, through all the stories of sexual abuse.
After making this film, I know more than ever how important it is for women to be listened to. Carole spoke but no one listened. She told things, but they didn't take her seriously, which became extremely destructive. Now, thanks to the film, her suffering will be known. It's never too late.
The film's title is taken from Janis Joplin's interpretation of the song with the same name.
We played it at mom's funeral. It expresses so much about how self-destructive you can be, says Mona Achache.
Age: 49.
Family: Husband Guillaume Canet, two children.
Lives: Paris.
Occupation: Actress.
Films in selection: "La vie en rose" (Oscar-awarded for best female lead), "Inception", "Midnight in Paris", "Rust and bone", "Two days one night", "Assassins creed", "Asterix & Obelix: In the kingdom of the dragon".
Current: In the role of Carole Achache in "Little girl blue".
