It’s been 10 months since Gaspar Noé’s “Climax” became the most talked about movie at the 2018 Cannes Festival and it’s finally arriving in theaters on this side of the Atlantic. I’ve been an unabashed fan of the film since catching in on la Croisette (it was my no. 2 film of 2018) because it’s the sort of cinematic experience that cries for a big screen. In fact, it’s somewhat disheartening it isn’t being blown up for an IMAX screen somewhere.
The film’s storyline is somewhat straightforward. It’s 1996 (although the year only matters as it eliminates cell phones) and a French dance troupe is celebrating the end of a long period of rehearsals before heading out on tour. They have been rehearsing in a remote facility in the French countryside in the middle of the winter, but are excited about what’s next. Of course, with a group this large, there are all sorts of social dynamics at play including those that veer toward the romantic part of the spectrum and those that are grounded in deep jealousy. When someone spikes the sangria with an unknown drug (it doesn’t really matter, but it’s LSD) the entire night takes a dark and deadly turn.
Noé shot most of the film in long continuous takes (there must be at least four of them) and recruited dancers for all of the roles but one. That would be the centerpiece of the dance troupe, Selva, played by Sofia Boutella. You might not recognize her at first (likely the blonde hair this time around), but Boutella has starred in films such as “Star Trek Beyond,” “Atomic Blonde,” “The Mummy” and “Hotel Artemis.” She made her mark, however, as a dancer and that her the perfect lead for Noé latest fantastical creation.
Boutella recently sat down to chat about the very fast and unique creative process making “Climax.” There are mild spoilers ahead.
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The Playlist: Hi Sofia! How’re you doing?
Sofia Boutella: Hi, good. How are you?
I’m pretty good. Congratulations on the movie.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
I was lucky enough to get into one of the screenings of “Climax” at Cannes last year and I have been a huge fan of it ever since. How did you get involved with Gaspar in this project in the first place?
He sent me a message on Instagram and I happen to follow him, and that’s why I think I saw it and I was pretty baffled by it. I happened to be in Paris, and I told my agent, “FYI, I’m going to go meet him”, and they highly encouraged it as well and we sat together and that’s how it started.
Did he already have the whole movie planned out or was it still formulating?
No, I mean, at the time when he met me, all he said is, “I’ve seen your work as a dancer, and I really like what you’ve done, and I have in mind to do a movie with dancers [who get] spiked with LSD”, and I said, “What else?” He said, “I don’t know.” And I said, “Whom would you like me to play?” And he said, “I don’t know. I have a few ideas.” I’ve genuinely never met anybody who gave me those answers on the first meeting and I’ve certainly spent a lot of time with dancers and in their element, and that’s why I also respect him for that. He didn’t call for an audition and have people come in a dancing room. He went to balls, he went to dance competitions and observed them in their element. And that’s how he picked them for their dance abilities but also for their personalities as individuals.
By the time you got to set though was there a storyline already worked out or was it something that was slightly improvised on set?
By the time we got to set all we had was five pages treatment. But that five pages treatment was just a brief character description of some idea that he knew he wanted. [He wanted] a choreographer, he knew he wanted a pregnant girl, he knew he wanted the girl who spikes everybody with the LSD, so these are where the vague various ideas there were on the five-page treatment, but other than that every day we’d show up to set, and we’d rehearse scenes that were 8-10 minutes long. We would rehearse for about five hours, and then we’d break for lunch and then we would shoot between 14 and 17 takes. Yeah, it was a lot of improvisation, but what you see on camera was very well-rehearsed and manicured. But every day we’d come to set, we had no idea what we were going to do. So, we would look at [the previous days’ footage] when we’d come to set, except for the first day, of course, in order to see where we can go and what we’ve done.
What was more difficult for you: the long, intro sequence where everyone is involved in the intricate choreography or towards the end where the camera is following you what I can only describe as a “nightmare” sequence?
I think that the end corridor scene was the most difficult because it’s based on such an extreme psychological state. I was nervous and add that to movement, add that to the space, and add that [it being two in the] morning coming to set not knowing exactly what I was going to do and having the responsibility of taking my character in those dark waters. Seeing what would happen was something that was quite scary because I’ve never done that before.
How often would things change over the course of those 14 to 17 takes? For example in that last sequence shot, was it something specific at the beginning and by the time you got to the 17th take had it morphed into something else? Or was it pretty consistent the whole time?
No. So, first of all, that corridor scene, we only did 7 takes because it took the life out of me and the life out of everybody, really, including Gaspar, who’s filming that crazy scene, and [choreographer Nina McFeely] who’s behind the camera with a microphone guiding me through the movement because we did not set a choreography for that. We rehearsed in L.A., and we came up with that technique of working, which is playing the music, and me going through that and she was shouting at me guidelines and guide movements and I would listen to her and somehow disappear in the character. And then she would get a break and let me go and then she would have an idea, and I would go and listen to her. And she filmed that and sent it to Gaspar, and Gaspar said, “That’s it. That’s what we will do.” And so, that’s what we did on set. We rehearsed the path, but then he said, “Action.” I wanted to just embody the psychological nightmare that I was in to see what happened with my body, you know?
Yeah.
And then, I think on the first take, when they would go and watch it, Nina would give me notes, “Lose this,” “Add this,” “Spend more time on the wall,” “On the floor,” “Less time” and we would manicure it that way. I think on the fourth take he told me, “I want to shoot you through the bathroom window.” And that was a new element for me. And we rehearsed that path again adding the scene going through the corridor, the main room, and then back to the kid and now we would do corridor, main room, back to the corridor, bathroom, and then the kid, and then back in the main room. As an actor, you say, “What’s going to take me to the bathroom?” So, at first, I wanted to wash my hands because they were dirty. He said, “No, don’t look at your hand that way, because Lea [Valmos] is wanting to wash the blood.” This other character has blood on her hands,and she wants it off. Basically, he didn’t want the same idea. So, when I have that moment when I’m on the couch sort of winding down or trying to take a breather, as a character I wanted to feel warmth. So, I put my hands under my tights, and then I started to enter that journey of starting to become and observing what’s around in a more peaceful way, maybe. And then wanting to get up, I just noticed that my hands are stuck in my tights, but in being high I didn’t play it as if my hands were stuck in my tights, I played it as my hand was stuck in my legs, in my skin, and so that’s what makes me to want to wash that feel off of my body. Then the last thing that you see in the film, because Gaspar said, “Do whatever you want,” that’s when I adjusted, I cannot look at my reflection in the mirror like if I’m looking at myself normally. I have to be frightened of my own reflection because it looks like, it’s like I’m looking at a monster. I have to feel like I’m looking at the worst thing I’ve ever seen and not recognizing my reflection. Then I decided to also put my head in the water. Because we didn’t have time to reset between takes, so I went for it on the last one, and that’s the one you see.”
When you saw the final film together, the final edited sound mix, everything, what was your initial reaction?
Holy shit! (Laughs.) That was my reaction. Because we didn’t have a script, so once we wrapped I think that’s when I realized who my character was, what the story was. But still in terms of sequence, and how we were shot, and the credit in the middle of the movie, and seeing the nightmare, and see how we created the art from going completely sober to this nightmare that we’re in, there’s something that moves on you in the movie and I watched the film three times. I usually watch my movies once. I wanted to watch it three times because I wasn’t understanding where he put in the arc and I wanted to keep watching technically to see how he built the tension and I found where it was. It’s not necessary for the audience to know where that is, because they definitely feel it, but I know now where he put it in. I felt like you read a script, and then you know what he’s going to do. [Gaspar] doesn’t really tell you, necessarily. So, what we ended up seeing in the end was something I was so surprised by, and I didn’t know that’s what I was going to find.
I caught the movie again at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in July and it was a late night screening where a lot of people had been drinking or smoking weed beforehand. They didn’t realize what they were getting into. [Laughs.]
Yeah. It’s so funny. I’ve heard people say it should be shown in schools as an educational program to get people to not do drugs and not get drunk as much. I think it’d work. [Laughs.] But, yeah, I think that should be advice before people walk into the screening room is to walk in entirely sober because you’re about to feel something and you don’t need anything else.
I wanted to ask really quickly about the dance choreography in particular. From a layman’s perspective, because there are so many people involved, it looks very complicated. Was that the case or was it just really well-done choreography?
It was really well-done choreography, I think, and Nina did a phenomenal job. I think that same thing. Gaspar spent so much time with each person and each dancer, and he picked them also for their personality and their immense talent. That’s what shines through. That’s what Nina was able to capture and put it all together in one piece. It was challenging. She was also able to achieve that in two days of rehearsals, and we filmed that scene in one day and after that one take that was maneuvered by crane, and that was Gaspar maneuvering the crane (Laughs) so that’s pretty cool.
Wait, you guys did that opening sequence in just two days of rehearsals?
Yep. Two days of rehearsals, one day of filming.
How much time was there in terms of the actors meeting each other and the characters coming to life?
I only did the second rehearsal, and then I rehearsed by myself a tiny bit with Nina, so I had two rehearsals and the dancers had two rehearsals, but I met the dancers on their second rehearsal. It was their second, it was my first with them. And the next day we started to film.
Have you ever made a movie that went this fast?
No, no never. Never. And it’s not a lack of rehearsal because of a lack of wanting to work or finish. I think Gaspar generally wants to leave room for spontaneity and wants to keep everything alive and he doesn’t want to overdo it. That’s the reason why he kept it that way. I think he wants to work at danger’s edge and make movies super fast. You know, a lot of artists do that. Tell you when you paint, paint super fast and see what happens. And I think Gaspar is somebody who explores. He doesn’t have a formula that is set in stone. In each movie he wanted to see something different. I think he wanted to explore dancers losing control and dancers being put in that frantic extreme situation.
I’ve got time for one more question. Are you in John Carney’s new series “Modern Love”?
Yes. Yes. I’m in just one episode, yeah. Me and John Gallagher, Jr.
Is it like his movies? What was your experience?
It was John Carney overseeing everything. He directed most of the episodes, but Tom Hall directed that one. For me, it was very different. I’ve never done a project like that, a bit more lighthearted and sort of romantic. Of course, it was interesting and very much a contrast to “Climax” for sure. (Laughs.)
“Climax” is now in limited release in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Austin.
