“Annie Colère”: the late hatching of Laure Calamy

With her ardor and boundless energy, Laure Calamy has often distinguished herself in comedies. But her social and political commitment also sometimes pushes her to accept more dramatic roles. This is what happened with Annie Colère, the new film by director Blandine Lenoir (Aurore), which focuses on the actions of the Movement for the Freedom of the Abortion and Contraception (MLAC), which helped change abortion law in France in the mid-1970s.

Laure Calamy embodies the character of Annie, a worker and mother of two children who accidentally becomes pregnant. Not wanting to have a third child, she appealed to the MLAC, a group of women practicing clandestine abortions. Well received by the movement, Annie decided to get involved in its fight for the adoption of the law on abortion.

“When Blandine [Lenoir] approached me to talk to me about this , I was immediately attracted by the idea of ​​highlighting the actions of the MLAC which I had already heard about by my mother, relates Laure Calamy. 

“In a way, I felt like I was telling a bit of a distant story about my mother's life. She was well aware of this reality having been a nurse herself at that time. It gave rise to fascinating conversations between her and me. She told me that between nurses, they helped each other to have an abortion with cannulas and by giving each other penicillin injections to prevent infections. You can't imagine how hell it was for these young women who wanted to live their sexuality freely and who always had to live with this sword of Damocles which fell on their heads regularly.” 

In addition to being seduced by the subject of the film, Laure Calamy fell in love with the character of Annie, a more modest and internalized role than those she is used to playing in cinema.

“She is a woman who has undoubtedly led her life without questioning herself in depth about certain things and following the path that seemed already marked out for her, that is to say to marry and have children, she explains. 

“But by meeting the MLAC activists, she will finally gain confidence in herself and allow herself to become a thinking head. And that, I find beautiful. The characters that I like the most are those that are in motion and that evolve. That's what I found very beautiful and moving in that of Annie Colère.”

♦ The film Annie Colère hits theaters February 10.