Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Audiard A–Z

2016; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 16; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14715880.2016.1238171

1758-9517

Julia Dobson,

Shakespeare, Adaptation, and Literary Criticism

A is for Anti-hero.AudiardÕs films demonstrate a sustained lack of interest in the moral or sentimental appeal of their central characters, but rather strive to ensure that we engage with and admire the work involved in the process of their selftransformation, their capacity for resistance and their commitment to survival against the odds.B is for Bach.BachÕs ÔToccata in E minorÕ sustains a stubborn, stuttering presence throughout De battre mon cÏur sÕest arr•tŽ (2005) as Tom (Romain Duris) struggles to master the piece in time for his improbable, punitive audition.Audiard retained the specific audition piece from the cult film Fingers (Toback, 1978) on which De battreÉ is loosely based.The impact of the piece in the film contains central functions of soundtrack as its fragmented, repeated extracts create a mood of heightened tension and discord rather than any emotional swell.The pieceÕs difficult, improvisatory structure is compounded in the audition when Mr. Fox (Sandy (Alexander) Whitelaw), TomÕs late motherÕs agent and impresario, asks him to start not at the beginning of the piece as he has prepared it, but with the fugue, thus causing and perhaps anticipating TomÕs humiliating flight from the audition.Romain Duris learnt the piece for the film, yet it is his sister, concert pianist Caroline Duris, who plays it on the soundtrack.C is for Cahiers.A central feature of AudiardÕs screenwriting and directing practice is the creation of two script documents for each film: cahier A and cahier B. Cahier A is the main script, which Audiard describes as necessary for the narrative and which includes all scenes which are expected to be in the finished film.Cahier B contains scenes whose primary function is to add depth to characterization and which are used for rehearsal with the main cast, undertaken whenever the main filming schedule permits (Ollivier 2011).A different cahier Ð Cahiers du cinŽma Ð has, as noted in the Editorial of this volume, often been the site of a negative critical response to Audiard and his work.