After her 2017 debut feature Ava, which bowed in Critics’ Week, followed by Directors’ Fortnight 2022 premiere The Five Devils, French writer/director Léa Mysius steps up to Cannes Competition with The Birthday Party (Histoires De La Nuit).
The adaptation of Laurent Mauvignier’s novel is set in a remote French marshland, where a family is preparing for a birthday celebration, but unexpected guests disrupt their plans. Hafsia Herzi, Monica Bellucci, Benoît Magimel and Bastien Bouillon star in the film, which reteams Mysius with longtime producer Jean-Louis Livi of F Comme Film. The film premieres her on May 22, and mk2 Films handles international sales.
After making your first two films from your own original screenplays, what drew you to adapting this book into a feature?
I read a lot and I’ve been lured by literature for as long as I can remember. Someone had recommended this book, but before I had the chance to read it, Jean-Louis Livi told me he had a book he thought I might want to adapt, and it was The Birthday Party. It was meant to be. I read it in two days — it was so addictive.
Was there anything in particular that seduced you ?
It reminded me of The Five Devils, in that it’s about a family with a young daughter and many buried secrets. It’s a bit like David Cronenberg’s A History Of Violence but with a feminine angle. It’s a thriller, a film noir, a genre film, but it also depicts the realism of modern France.
How close is it to Livi’s book?
It’s not loyal to the book, but I tried not to betray it. I wanted to keep the style and the essence of the story, but I changed things like opting not to include any flashbacks. The challenge was to help audiences understand what happened to the characters in the past without showing it. Cinema is the power of embodiment; Hafsia Herzi’s gaze can say so many things a book cannot depict.
The story takes place within a very claustrophobic space. Did you film in the same conditions?
We had 31 days to shoot The Birthday Party and it was a long script. We shot last summer in the town of Bellac — between Poitiers and Angoulême — in the middle of a sweltering heatwave.
We ended up building a makeshift artisanal studio so we could be closed inside in the dark, even on a sunny 38°c day. It was very intense but it made it much more cinematographic.
Florencia Di Concilio’s score also contributes to the suspense and often opposes what we’re seeing on screen. Was that intentional?
Yes, in the beginning the music is noisy and in opposition to the seemingly happy family we are seeing. Then, as we dive into the tension and high stakes in the story, it becomes Romanesque and we really get into the minds of the characters.
How does it feel to be in Cannes this time?
A festival is a marvellous place to show a film for the first time, in any selection. I make films because I want people to see them, and knowing 2,500 people will get to see The Birthday Party in the Lumière theatre is incredible. There is something magical that happens there.
What’s next after the Cannes party is over?
I have ideas, but first I need to put The Birthday Party out into the world. A film is a balance between those who make it and those who watch it. My next project will be born out of how this film is received.
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