Personne n’était sympa relates a long walk through Paris on May 1st, 1986. The ending (no spoilers intended) provides an unexpected meaning to this stroll. Why did you decide to relate this specific day, and why is it relevant in the present time? How did you approach writing the voice-over text?
Two years ago, Hélèna left Paris for Marseille, whilst David remained in Paris. We developed a habit of having long video conversations. These were transcripted into a corpus labelled « I and he, she and I », which could be described as our memories dating back to our encounter in 1983. The text for Personne n’était sympa is based on our fourth interview, which took place on September 28th 2022. It relates a single day in 1986, which was particularly meaningful to us. As we discussed it, we brought up memories which were often imprecise and sometimes truly fictional. The tale is a reconstruction, a recreation. It also reads as a self-portrait of our duo. Back then, we felt like characters in a fictional film, with made-to-measure sceneries and costumes. This impression has only felt more and more plausible ever since. And then there’s the apocalyptic theme. Growing up in the aftermath of the Hiroshima catastrophe, we’d become accustomed to the idea the world was coming to an end. This feeling became more acute on May 1st, 1986. As for 2023, well … meters are off the chart!
The images form a palimpsest saturated with overlays, over-framings, superimpositions, high-gloss and flickering effects … Where do the displayed images come from? Could you elaborate on the editing process?
We started to edit images extracted from our personal archives (newspaper images, photographs, super 8, videos, thermal paper photos, drawings, texts). First, we built up sets of images that we then deteriorated by accentuating chroma, by layering and demultiplying, by modifying rhythm and concealing parts of the images. The sets were deteriorated as to seem the possible result of a nuclear irradiation of the image. The keyword is Fusion!
At the end of the film, the meaning of one specific noise is revealed through the soundtrack. How did you go about editing sound for the film?
Because this was originally designed as a « cinepoem », it was crucial that the text remain perfectly audible and intelligible, soundtracked by a single and sustained organ note reinforcing the tragical dimension. We needed a sonic composition to complete the image editing, and we were yet to receive the recording of actress Juliette Bineau’s performance of the text; so we recorded our two voices separately and reunified them in order to obtain a working basis from which we could operate.
There are two versions of the film, one featuring Juliette’s voice, and the other (the one we’re presenting now) featuring Hélèna’s and David’s. Our voices.
We also needed to create a post-nuclear vibe to recreate this apocalyptic picnic, which is why we resolved to using a recording of a berserk Geiger counter.
Towards the end, the voices form a Chorus guiding the spectator in the tradition of ancient Greek tragedy: the Chorus as a collective protagonist bearing witness to the woes of the fate-stricken characters.
Interview by Nathan Letoré
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