Autoproduction

The shoot of Nicola Sornaga’s latest film, Monsieur Morimoto, which recounts the adventures of a 60-year-old Japanese man lost in Paris and unable to speak a word of French, is a film in itself, burlesque and cacophonic, as was Making Fitzcarraldo by the Les Blank, which cost Werner Herzog a memorable pair of shoes. But a bet is a bet. Curiously, here, while all the sequences thrive on unbridled improvisation, it is the acted scenes that are the “truest”, the most realistic, whereas the shooting sequences themselves (directing of actors, rehearsals, choice of extras, cutting the shots) are the most surreal. (Yann Lardeau)