An interview with Julien Rouyet, noted down by Tamar Noort.

How did you come up with the idea for the film?

Initially, I didn’t have a precise idea, but a couple of feelings linked to the character of Stephanie, her gestures, her gait, her voice. I imagined a young independent and elusive woman as if at every moment she was trying to be freer. Gradually, I realized that what I wanted to talk about was the oppression and alienation that someone feels when he’s invaded in his own environment. Stephanie would free herself from her environment and conquer a new living space. Like in a Western!

Having a place to feel at home is linked to identity in your film. How important is that link to you? Do you think people need to feel at home somewhere to have a stable identity?

I feel we all need a living space. It is a question of stability and security. But I also feel that we all seek to escape, somehow, from our milieu to try to become the person we want to be and integrate ourselves in the milieu to which we aspire. We "play" who we want to be. And we become this person more and more.

Stephanie is too weak to keep invaders out of her own house, but at the same time, she is strong enough to become an invader herself. Would you say that Stephanie lives two different lives –  in two different worlds?

Indeed. The film is entirely structured on the idea of double life and double universe. The "real" life of Stephanie, modest and oppressive, is treated on the dramatic mode (Stephanie suffers the situation). The fantasy life that Stephanie won by playing the role of the owner is treated more comically: it is a game, in which Stephanie believes completely. She is not in reality, but in a kind of madness. What makes Stephanie so weak against the invaders and so strong against the owner is, I think, that she doesn’t want to live in her apartment. She is driven by a strong desire to free herself from her environment.

Is Stephanie victim or offender in this story?

Stephanie is the offender because her desire for liberation precedes the invasion of her apartment. For me, the invasion of the boys in her apartment is only a catalyst. The entire film is driven by the desire of Stephanie. No desire, no story.

In the end of the film, Stephanie seems to realise that the life she invaded in is not perfect at all. How important was it to you to get that message through?

It seems extremely important to me. First, because for Stephanie it is the realization of what she has become, of the reality of her new environment. That's when she leaves the game and her bad faith of "imposter". Then this is also a message with a political connotation to target, I think, the gentrification of the anti-bourgeois generation of the 70s, and especially of the women.

When Stephanie is caught by the woman who owns the house, the film develops a lot of suspense – without using typical means like music. How did you create that atmosphere of suspense?

The TV series are often trying to convince the viewer that there is suspense in a scene filmed and edited so banally by adding a "suspense" music. I do not like this kind of process because it doesn’t use the language of cinema that is based on the assembly of images and sounds to express something or create an atmosphere.

In the first shot of the scene, we find Stephanie in the bath, then we hear that the owner enter in the house, which is confirmed by the following shot. Once the situation has arisen, I simply tried to prolong the crescendo of suspense by progressively showing elements (the sound of the record player, the discs, the bath drain that is being emptied – we know that Stephanie left the tub but we don’t know where she is now and what she is going to do – then the cream). These elements are shown in close-up to hide things from the audience and keep mystery. The work of editing has mainly been to use images and sounds to make a rhythm (as in music).

How did you decide on the aesthetics for the film?

I tried to create a radical contrast between the two lives of Stephanie. First, plans for the house were turned by day and with the camera on a tripod. The light is soft and cold. The framing is precise. Then, shots of the apartment were filmed by night, often with a handheld camera and sometimes without a real story board. The light is warm and hard. The minimalist music moves from chords in major (universe of the villa) to chords in minor (universe of the flat).

You have worked with Julia Perazzini also on another short film. Did you already know when writing the script that you wanted her to be Stephanie?

Yes, I wrote the screenplay with her in mind. In moments where I didn’t believe anymore in the film, I was trying to imagine Julia Perazzini in a scene and thought of her special energy, her manner of speaking, her gestures, and the film seemed possible again. In fact, I was almost sure she would get the part. But I still did a casting to verify this intuition.

What do you like about the short form? Or do you prefer the feature film length?

I don’t know what to answer. What I don’t like with the short form is that it is often used to tell "little stories", often jokes. In fact I think you can have the same goal by making a short film than making a feature film. But if it’s a short you have to make the film more effective and more intense. It seems that the short form is also very popular in the festivals. But as a filmmaker, it is only possible to make a career and to distribute your films on a large scale by making feature films.

With this film, you graduated from film school. Which films or filmmakers inspire you in your work? What do you admire about them?

The filmmakers who made me want to make films are mostly European filmmakers of the 60s and 70s. Especially Sergio Leone, but Dario Argento and Marco Ferreri too. Recently I discovered the films of Robert Bresson, that fascinate me. First by what they target and their subjects. But also because Bresson – who was a sort of extremist – has not only attempted to intensively use the language of cinema, but also to eliminate from his films all what wasn’t cinematographic – including acting. Generally, what I find in movies of the 60s and 70s that I don’t find in contemporary films is a radically and real critical spirit.

Links

• MAID TO OUST (CH 2008. Julien Rouyet)
• Finding Refuge in an Unknown Set of Rules – Tamar Noort about MAID TO OUST
• Missed Opportunities – Tamar Noort about the Swiss film market