Having just been nominated for five Golden Globes, the waves triggered by Coralie Fargeat's 'The Substance' aren't diminishing any time soon. Euronews Culture sat down with the French director to discuss the film and the vital changes society needs to implement.
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00:00Right, this is also the least professional I'm being.
00:03Oh my god, it's amazing!
00:21Yes, so the substance has had such a huge reaction ever since its can debuted
00:26and even online, trending with memes and everything like that.
00:30How has it been for you, witnessing all of this, just from the inception to it taking a life of its own?
00:35I mean, it's been really amazing because I think every filmmaker, you know,
00:41wants his movie to be seen and to be received and to be loved,
00:45but I think for this one, especially with what it was about,
00:49with the very important message that I wanted to let out and, you know,
00:54do a real kick in the system to spread it out there,
00:59it's been like so incredible to see that it had rich people, you know,
01:05that it had also sparked so many conversations,
01:08that it had let an imprint, you know, on the cultural life.
01:15And recently, Demi Moore made some comments, I'm going to quote her,
01:19that the US is built on puritans, religious fanatics and criminals
01:23and she's also said that sexuality remains taboo and there's a lot of fear in America around the body.
01:29Now, could the same, in your opinion, be said about Europe?
01:32Is it more important now, more than ever, to celebrate the body on screen?
01:36Well, I mean, unfortunately, I think what she says about the body is true
01:42all over the world, especially for women's bodies.
01:47And the fact that now you see that Trump, you know, comes back
01:52and again, we are going to live the same story about the limitations,
01:57that the fundamental rights that are threatened again in 2024.
02:03This is just insane.
02:05I mean, unfortunately, the story that is said in the substance is true from the beginning of humanity.
02:11You know, the relationship to women's bodies, how we want to hide it,
02:15how we want to comment on it, how we want to control it,
02:19how we want to dominate it, how we want, you know, to shape it.
02:23This is what the movie is about.
02:25Like, we should let women do whatever they want with their bodies.
02:30They should be able to use it the way they want, be sexy if they want to,
02:35be not sexy if they don't want to, cover it, not cover it, do whatever the fuck they want.
02:42Sorry, but that's really the fact that we are still, you know, so much commenting it,
02:49criticizing, scrutinizing it, restricting it.
02:53We need a real change because you see the story repeats itself again and again and again.
02:59And it's like different people, but same story.
03:02It's time for a change, for a real change.
03:05And the change cannot be delicate.
03:07It cannot be gentle.
03:08It cannot be small.
03:09It needs to be massive.
03:11It needs to be everywhere.
03:13And it needs to be now.
03:18There's been a slight misuse of the substance.
03:22And there was also this thing, this slightly troubling trend I found.
03:26Because when I saw the film in Cannes, it was very much an electroshock.
03:30And it did remind me of Titan as well.
03:33And I remember speaking to Juliet de Corneau at the time.
03:37And the press were constantly saying, oh, my God, there are people fainting and vomiting and leaving the theatre.
03:43And it was the same thing with your film.
03:45And I remember asking Juliet de Corneau, this feels like a little bit of a sexist double standard here.
03:50Because if it was a man behind the camera, then maybe people would just go, oh, well, this is a very violent film.
03:56And, you know, here, I don't know.
03:58What do you make of that?
03:59I don't, you know, I don't really care about those comments.
04:03Because, A, for me, like the fact that the movie creates so much violence.
04:09The movie is bold, it's provocative.
04:11So I'm also super happy that some people hate it.
04:15Like, everyone is welcome to the party.
04:18The fact that we are still making, you know, separate, like, male directors and women directors,
04:25it's still because the numbers are still so very few.
04:29So it means that, you know, we are still making, you know,
04:34the numbers are still so very few.
04:37So it means that we're not yet in a place where it's just not a subject of conversation, you know.
04:45I think there is still this thing where we're spotted in some, you know, sort of singularity,
04:53which I hope won't be the case in a few years, where we won't even comment,
04:59because, like, there will be space for everyone.
05:02Which is still very, very slow, I think.
05:12This one is done, which is great.
05:14And now I just generally can't wait to get some time back to start writing again,
05:21because I already know what I want to write next.
05:24And the fact that The Substance, for me, was a confirmation that I know what I like.
05:30I know how I love to express myself.
05:32I know how I love to make things.
05:35Brought me so much confidence, empowerment,
05:39that I know that the third one will be, yeah, such a happy moment.
05:44It's always tough to make a film, but I feel in a good place.
05:48And I just, yeah, can't wait to get back to work, to be honest.
05:52Brilliant. Well, Carly Fargeat, thank you so much for your time.
05:55Thank you so much.