Angel skin, the title of the film, is the story of an odd girl named Angele, played by Morgane More, who is curious and emits a great interior beauty. She leaves her family's farm to seek work. She then meets Gregoire, played by Guillaume Depardieu. It is a meeting that will change her life. Exiting his plane, the actor-turned-director acknowledges his nervousness. The screening in the Maisonneuve room will be the first time he will receive reaction from the public. The film will debut in France on October 9, and sometime this winter in Montreal. After the screening, some were perplexed. Perez: "Destiny is the subject of the film in relation to the sacred, time and the past. Perhaps I was the character of Angele at twenty, and then I became Gregoire at thirty. This relationship with destiny is what I find very interesting but difficult to convey." He compares Peau d'ange to a fable. Gregoire is the wolf and Angele, the goat or ewe. He also includes faires like Josiane. From the point of view of style, one would sense a Bressonian air. (Robert Bresson was an early French director, who used classic sources for his films, which were fused with the look of poetic realism with a concern for spirituality and transcendence). Perez: "It is what Laurent Terzieff said to me after reading the script. He also referred to Dostoevsky." Terzieff plays the owner of a pharmaceutical company, where Gregoire ends up working. Brooding over the death of his mother, Gregoire suddenly becomes very bold, asking for the hand of Laure, the owner's daughter. This last role is played by Karine Silla, the co-scriptwriter of the film with Perez and Jerome Tonnerre. Karine is also Mrs. Perez. For her, the return to Montreal reminded her of when she spent part of her childhood there. Vincent is known as an actor, particularly in Cyrano de Bergerac and Indochine. But Perez, who has already directed some short films, says that he still remains a photographer. Perez: "I am better able to express my vision of the world through images rather than by words. I've always thought I would make a film, and if God gives me the chance, I intend to make several more." If he denies the influence of Bresson or Therese d'Alain Cavalier, or even Antonioni, he does admit that he is influenced by Mizoguchi. In the films of this Japanese screenwriter, characters appear and disappear without notice. It is what occurs with Angele. Her role is to make it possible for Gregoire to become an adult. Let's say that Peau d'ange is among the good surprises at the Montreal World Film Festival up to now. Perez is aware that his film, with its timeless vision and very modest point of view, goes against the Parisian modes. Tomorrow he intends to be an actor again. He will be playing Fanfan in the remake of Fanfan la Tulipe, produced by Luc Besson and directed by Gerard Krawczyk. Perez: "I will get off the plane at 6:30 and go straight to filming my cascades. It is nothing to step into the boots of Gerard Philipe (the 1952 Fanfan)."
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The
magic moment arrived yesterday with the screening of the first feature-length film of
Vincent Perez as director. The films opens with a poetic image of a young girl perched on
a rock, bearing a seagull on her back. When the wings of the bird are spread, the young
girl suddenly has