"UNE AFFAIRE D'ETAT": ERIC VALETTE'S KICK-ASS THRILLER (INTERVIEW EXCERPT)

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"... What we liked about the characters of the novel (1) was the fact that they were shades of gray.  Nothing was really black or white and they were all pretty ambiguous and complex.  We decided to keep that edge for our material and keep the subtleties of the characters. But what we mainly changed was the character ofNora, the female cop, the “” of the movie..."

" ...We made her a little more physically involved in the action since most of the time in the novel she is more like a witness: she observes a lot, she learns a lot.  She’s pretty cerebral; she doesn’t do a lot in the novel, especially in the second half. So we wanted her to be a little more physical, and also to provide a certain level of entertainment.  We decided to have her more involved in the movie.  Not being heroic in a silly way but in a kind of logical way.  So that is what we changed quite radically in the second half of the movie..." 

" ...If you look back in time, action girls, action female characters are pretty scarce in French cinema. I think the name that first comes to mind, especially for foreign audiences, is “Nikita” [Luc Besson,1991].  After “Nikita” then you can considerCécile De Francein “High Tension” [Alexandre Aja’s “Haute Tension”, 2003].  Aside from that, there are not a lot of names that come to mind.  This is why it was interesting to try to humbly add a new building block to this genre.  But it is very tough; there are not a lot of action films, thrillers or adventure movies in France.  And most of them do not have a female lead..."  

  Eric Valette's full interview, coming soon on http://www.actionqueens.com/

" Une Affaire d'Etat" (2009). Directed by Eric Valette. Written by Alexandre Charlot &

Franck Magnier. Starring André Dussollier,

Rachida Brakni, Thierry Frémont &

Christine Boisson. French theatrical release: Nov. 25th, 2009 

  (1) The novel which inspired the movie, " Affairs of State" by Dominique Manotti, will be released in English next year (June 2010) http://tinyurl.com/yd36vx6