“I AM JUST SO CURIOUS ABOUT THE WORLD”

N=NIHAO

H=ISABELLE HUPPERT

N: The roles you choose are always very challenging. Is it because of your personal preferences and cultivation about the literature?

H: l'm not sure if l have a profound cultivation on literature, but l am sure l have a huge curiosity and desire for knowledge, for literature, theater and fi lm. For example, when l read the original of Elle, l felt it was a great role, for she had an outstanding personality, which would sometimes make people uncomfortable, but she was really impressive. l am lucky to get in touch with this. Many people are busy making a living, but l am grateful for my work and for the fi lm industry to give me a chance to fulfi ll my curiosity about the world.

N: As an important guest of Croisements Festival, have you ever been impressed by anything when you bring French culture to China?

H: This is a special experience. l was so surprised that there were so many audiences coming to my show. ln Shanghai there were about 2000 people, and in Guangzhou around 1500. The performance of reading is relatively more simple. There will be background music and simple stage setting when you do the reading. The music is originally from Marguerite Duras' fi lm lndia Song, which is intended to render a kind of atmosphere to help the audience feel it in personal as real. L'amant is an old fi lm adapted from Duras' book, which was written 40 years after her fi rst love, and there are a lot of beautiful scenes and moods. Reading is endangered, because it takes a lot of time for modern people to send e-mails and text messages, and less and less people would like to read. Thus, l feel very happy and honored that there were so many people coming to my reading in China.Besides, l am also amazed that Chinese audience are very familiar with Marguerite Duras and French Literature. l don't know if French people can be so familiar with Chinese literature. This is really beyond my imagination.

N: Since you travel a lot around the world, do you watch any foreign films during the flight sometimes?

H: Earlier when l was learning Russian, l watched a lot of Russian fi lms and l was also very interested in fi lms of other countries at that time. Moreover, not just during the fl ight, even if l am in France, l search out and watch some foreign fi lms. Luckily, the fi lm atmosphere in France is very good. There are many artistic fi lm theaters where l can enjoy many great fi lms made in other countries. l feel through the fi lm we can know more about the culture of others and it's a good way to communicate with each other and understand each other. Recently l also started to fi nd some fi lms directed by some emerging Chinese directors. l think from their perspectives l can see what Chinese young people are doing today, l can see the reality clearly, and that's also the thing l want to focus on.

N: In which way would you like to know about a strange country?

H: l like walking on the street, observing the life of the local people. The fi rst place l want to visit is museum. l visited some museums in Beijing and Shanghai. l think museum is a very inspiring place, where l can see the history and characteristics of a city.