Sentimental lady

>> Emmanuelle Béart on Les Destinées sentimentales, being hysterical and her brilliant career

by SIOBHAN O'CONNOR

A three-hour costume drama set in rural France at the turn of the last century is possibly the last thing one would expect from French director Olivier Assayas. The director is probably best known on this side of the pond for Irma Vep, his witty indictment of the moviemaking business, which was lauded for its dark humour and its clever take on the film-within-a-film subgenre.

But the latest from Assayas is Les Destinées sentimentales, a heavy-handed love story that spans 30 years with Jean Barnaby (Charles Berling), playing a Protestant minister who leaves his family and abandons the cloth (and his clothes) for the delightful, young Pauline (Emmanuelle Béart). Not only does Assayas take himself out of a bustling, sexy Paris--where almost all his films are set--for provincial France, the Swiss Alps, a porcelain factory and WWI frontlines, it has none of the resolutely modern touches the director is known for. Which, ironically enough, is what drew Béart to the project.

Opposites attract

"It was this notion of an historical drama by a very contemporary director that interested me the most," says Béart. Though the actor had never worked with Assayas previously, close to a decade ago the two exchanged une petite promesse to work together some day. Béart was hesitant to take the role at first, but says it was her eagerness to work with Assayas that tipped the scale. "Assayas is the kind of director who is most comfortable being a witness: looking around him and using his films to tell others what he sees. He deals mostly with the day-to-day, quite far from the bourgeoisie, the costumes, the makeup and the landscape in Les Destinées sentimentales."

Though Les Destinées sentimentales--a sweeping, luscious epic--appears to have nothing in common with his other films, Béart insists that's not the case. "In terms of form, it has nothing to do with his other work," agrees Béart. "But in terms of theme there is a real continuity with his oeuvre. His obsessions are all intact: the passing of time, human relationships, taking the intimate and making it universal. It's all there."

Elemental shift

If Assayas was a little out of his element with Les Destinées sentimentales, he certainly took Béart with him. While she's probably best known over here for her role in Mission: Impossible opposite Tom Cruise, she's come a long way since she played the nude, blonde shepherd in '86's Manon des sources. Her impressive career has range, to be sure, but for the most part she's played, in her words, "the hysterical woman, the very desirable, hysterical woman." Which she does to a T. But over coffee, Béart--who's as lovely and eloquent in person as she is onscreen--intimates that this role was a much-needed change for her.

"My character is so calm and careful. I had to hold myself back from the emotional outbursts--the excess--that I am sometimes prone to," she blushes, adding that Assayas' direction was particularly challenging. "In terms of my own journey as an actor and as a woman, my work with Assayas holds a very important place. His patience on set, his curiosity about humans in general allowed me to feel--I think for the very first time--that I didn't need to prove anything. After almost two decades of needing to feel that others desire me, of playing outrageous women, constantly trying to prove myself, I was finally at peace to play Pauline: a humble wife who, more than anything, wants to give love."

Every woman

Béart certainly appears to be at a crossroads in her career. Reflecting on choices she's made, she adds that she has absolutely no regrets. "It is not in keeping with my temperament to have regrets," she says seriously. Though with her upcoming break after two years of non-stop work, the actor is most looking forward to returning to her two daughters at home in Paris. "I've often thought that the only real 'gift' I have is adaptation," says Béart. "I can bring myself anywhere and be anyone I want. At the same time, I am ready to be just be me. Be mom for a while."

When asked if she'd change anything about her performances, she says sternly, "Maybe I could've smiled a little more."

Les Destinées sentimentales opens Friday, Nov. 17