”There’s a lot being said and a lot being unsaid, and that really runs all along the film all the time,“ the actress says
Isabelle Huppert’s latest film, “Frankie” from director Ira Sachs, required the actress to be especially open and honest, trusting in the strength of the characters and the performers around her rather than a strict plot.
Huppert plays an internationally famous actress who learns she has a terminal illness and brings together friends and family at a resort in Portugal in order to find some closure and hope that her loved ones are taken care of after she’s gone. But as Huppert explains, that’s “only a small part of the film,” which examines deeper relationships between its entire ensemble.
“There’s a lot being said and a lot being unsaid, and that really runs all along the film all the time, and it’s really important to capture the spirit of the film,” Huppert told TheWrap’s Sharon Waxman at the Toronto International Film Festival. “It’s one of those films where you feel so much trust by the strength of the camera, which is able to have people talk, but you feel that a lot is going on underneath, and I think that’s really Ira Sachs’ skill.”
Also Read: 'Frankie' Film Review: Isabelle Huppert and Marisa Tomei Shine in Quiet Family Drama
Sachs assembled a cast that includes Marisa Tomei, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson and Jérémie Renier specifically because of how they could interact on screen together.
“They were a group of people who I had a sense when I cast them would work together as a family,” Sachs said. “It’s a common acting style, a way in which a group of people who are willing to be very open and vulnerable and human and present with the camera. The film is about presence, it’s about a simplicity of being.”
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Brian Welk
Film Reporter • brian.welk@thewrap.com • Twitter: @brianwelk