My Crime: A Post-Metoo Feminist Comedy

PARIS | Rising stars of French cinema, actresses Nadia Tereszkiewicz and Rebecca Marder star in filmmaker François Ozon's new film, Mon crime, a free adaptation of a play of the same title, written during the 1930s. Le Journal met them last January in Paris.

They play two best friends on screen and their bond is palpable when you meet them together. In Mon crime, the 22nd feature by French filmmaker François Ozon (Potiche, Eight women), Nadia Tereszkiewicz and Rebecca Marder play two young women penniless trying to make their way through the Paris of the 1930s.

The first, Madeleine (Tereszkiewicz), is an actress trying to launch her career, the second, Pauline (Marder), an unemployed lawyer. After being wrongly accused of murdering a theater producer who tried to sexually assault her, Madeleine will decide to pose as the murderess in order to obtain the fame she dreams of. 

With the help of Pauline, who will defend her in court, she will try to plead self-defense.

In an interview last January in Paris as part of the Rendez-vous d'Unifrance, Nadia Tereszkiewicz and Rebecca Marder say they had a blast playing in this feminist comedy with a light and theatrical tone. 

“François [Ozon] adapted the piece by infusing it with a bit of #Metoo and a bit of sorority,” observes Rebecca Marder. 

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“I think the setting of the film [the 1930s] makes these two characters visionary. They are young women who speak out at a time when speech was clearly not free and women did not even have the right to vote. Humor also makes it possible to denounce certain things and to ridicule the figures of old white males and the relationships of domination. It's a story of friendship, mischief and sisterhood. »

On the set of Mon crime, Nadia Tereszkiewicz and Rebecca Marder had the chance to rub shoulders with some “sacred monsters of French cinema”, including Isabelle Huppert, who portrays a former silent film star in the film, and Fabrice Luchini, who plays a judge of particularly unpleasant instruction. 

They also had the chance to see François Ozon, a very prolific filmmaker who makes practically a new film every year.

“  From the outside, we wonder how he manages to release a film a year, but when we see him working, we understand a little better, explains Nadia Tereszkiewicz, whom we saw last year in the comedy Babysitter, by Quebecer Monia Chokri.

“He has an oversized work energy. He is the one who frames his films, so he is very close to us during filming and he becomes like a playmate. He also succeeds very well in uniting his team. It's pretty crazy how 200% everyone is behind him. He sees everything and he is always focused. With his love for the game, he lifted us up. 

My Crime, running since Friday.