Interview with Michael Lasserre

Synopsis of Memory of Water: A photo artist plagued by doubt (Loïc) is preparing his new exhibition, but his stubbornness to create his ultimate work of art forces him to confront a ghostly figure from his past.

IAG: This film is, at its core, a story about grief. It’s one of the things that drew me to it. May I ask what inspired the story?

ML: First and foremost it started with the will to make a film on an extremely low budget. Fred Sanchez and I wanted to make a film in natural locations that surround us in the South of France. Fred came up with a short story he wrote a while back in a futuristic setup that could be transposed into a road trip type of story. A couple was to leave the city for the mountains to escape the morbid addictions of the man in that couple. In parallel, I came up with the idea of a couple escaping the city to seek refuge in a forest. 

These stories evolved into the story of the film you can see now. This is closer to my tastes and to my life, an artist confronted with an obsessive idea, up to the breaking point. 

The relationship between an artist and his creations is complex and sometimes not easy to deal with. In a sense all lost creations, unfinished projects, are a form of Grief. 

IAG received a lot of film submissions this year, and none of them looked as sumptuous and stylized as this one. What are the key factors that allowed you to create such an amazing visual style?

ML: As I mentioned before, the film was done on a shoestring budget but I knew I wanted to have a very strong visual identity. I'm very versed in black and white photography and very aesthetic arts and cinema. So the result is a combination of these elements. Very early on, Fred and I agreed that we wanted a very moody film.

We knew we wanted to use the beautiful landscapes of our area and have them become almost a character of the movie, an organic backdrop, and ultimately a fantastical realm for the main character. And that would come pretty much from the way we were to photograph it. 

I also did a lot of research on the type of camera I could use to get the result you have seen. I like 16mm and I also like some Digital cameras. One of my goals was to have a specific image quality, not a perfect quality that you can see everywhere. it was not about the best camera but about the perfect camera for my vision.

We also spent a lot of time on post-production using different techniques. 

IAG: This film was extremely well done on pretty much all levels. So it looks like you had a really strong team behind you. How did you bring this team of people together? Did you know many people in the cast and crew prior to this project?

ML: The team was more than skeletal. Fred and I managed the whole project. From the beginning, we knew we wanted Loïc Swiny as our main character, and the film was written with him in mind. The character is even named Loïc as is Mel, his friend. These are their real names. We have been friends for over 20 years and event all the interior locations were filmed in the homes of close friends. Some actors also worked with us as scriptwriters or assistants. 

The film was shot over a period of several years as we were shooting mainly on weekends when everyone was available, which delayed the shooting very much and probably gave us the most headaches on the production side. 

For the post-production and the music, we worked with very close friends and a local band, to keep the same energy. 

IAG: As the director, you are effectively the captain of this team. How would you describe your management or leadership style with the rest of the cast and crew?

ML: I always perceived the Director’s role as being very authoritative, in the sense that I wrote the script, I have the finished project in mind and know how I want the characters to behave, move, talk. I’m also the editor of the film and I have done most of the music, so my friends were kind enough to indulge me and trust me with my vision and my directions. I often consulted with Fred for sanity checks as it’s important to keep your vision but also not lose yourself in it…

IAG: Loic Swiny's performance is so remarkably subtle. A less talented actor could have ruined this film by over-acting. The subtlety of his performance is—in my opinion—one of the key reasons for this movie's success. Was that a creative decision of yours, or his, or both of you?

ML: His performance was very much a collaboration between the two of us. As I said I have known Loïc for a very long time, he's a larger-than-life character, very vocal and you can’t miss him in a room full of people! He has this natural presence, and is an artist himself, and this is mainly why he was chosen for the part. Now, as you said I was looking for a very subtle, almost subdued performance for his character and I had to “tame the beast” a little bit as he had trouble understanding why I was asking him to be so unexpressive or “monolithic" as he used to said. In the editing room, I also refined his performance by cutting around the more exuberant parts because I wanted the character’s deep depression to really be felt by the audience.

IAG: What’s your next project?

ML: Fred and I are writing at the moment a story very close to his heart, telling his quest to get closer to the image of his maternal grandfather that he never knew. It is a transgenerational story. We would want to start shooting in 2024.

Currently, I’m editing a film I shot on my own while on a summer vacation in the US last year. It’s a story between New York (a place close to my heart) and the Nevada desert. 

I’m not sure of the form that the film is going to have at the end but it’s a very different project which helps me regenerate before starting the shooting with Fred in 2024. 

IAG: Last but not least, what are three films that have really inspired you?

ML: The holy trinity: Lars Von Trier, Tarkovsky, and Chris Marker. Pick any film you want from these directors—they have changed my life for the better, each one at a specific period of my life.