30/06/2003 - The Gallic filmmaker presents A la vitesse d'un cheval au galop, a pain-filled story about four adolescents’ passage to adulthood

A la vitesse d'un cheval au galop (At The Speed of a Gallopping Horse) by Darielle Tillon is one of the French titles screened in Pesaro this year. The director came to the Italian event in the company of actress Jeanne Delavenay, the star of this pain-filled story of four adolescents’ troubled passage to adulthood.
This is Fine Arts graduate Tillon’s second film after her debut, an animated short entitled Joyeux Anniversaire (Happy Birthday). Speaking at the press conference, Tillon was eager to deny that A la vitesse d'un cheval au galop is a pessimistic take on the fate of contemporary youth.

What’s the background to this film and why did you decide on the unusual running time of 45 minutes ?
"This film is the result of personal experience. One day I decided to take a walk in the woods even though I’d been warned that I was likely to encounter bears. I went ahead regardless; the knowledge of danger and the desire to take a risk regardless was just too strong to resist. That is where I got the idea to make a short film about four youngsters who take a walk along the seashore when the tide is out. They take their time, well aware of the danger of either being swept away by the incoming water or sucked up by quicksand. The project just mushroomed during development. I wanted to portray their desperation at having to face one of the most important rites of passage of their lives. This was a story that needed time for it to be told properly, and so the original short was extended to become a medium-length feature. "

This film comes across as a metaphor for young people fighting the world.
“I did not intend this film to in any way exemplify the entire condition of adolescence. The protagonists are going through a transition phase and perform the required rites of passage. That said, they are still just four individuals with four distinct lives. The walk they take at low tide and their subsequent getting lost when they risk being swept away by the incoming rush of water is a narrative expedient for a very real danger. It is not symbolic. I did not set out to express a universal or pessimistic point of view of youth. The themes of this film are the passage of time and the desperation of four youngsters who, in spite of everything, continue walking and may just beat the odds in the end. Perhaps in ten years’ time I will have changed my mind. Whatever the case, the variety of levels on which this film was interpreted is a great source of pleasure for me.”

Given that it is a medium-length feature, was this a difficult film to produce and distribute?
“In terms of production, my work was made easier by my earlier short film’s having won a few awards. I did not have a hard time finding the money for this one. Distribution was more complicated, but I cannot complain. Medium-length features are an accepted norm in France nowadays, and although they don’t get many, they are screened theatrically. A la vitesse d’un cheval au galop got the same treatment: it was released into theatres for a few days so that the critics and members of the public were given a chance to see my work.”