06/10/2008

Having set aside his project on Napoleon, Patrice Chéreau starts shooting in Paris today on his tenth feature: Persécution.

A regular at major festivals (in competition three times at Cannes and a Jury Award winner in 1994, the Golden Bear at Berlin in 2001 and Silver Bear in 2003, in competition at Venice in 2005), the director has put together an impressive cast. His new work stars Romain Duris (The Beat That My Heart Skipped [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Paris [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) and Charlotte Gainsbourg (who has just finished filming Lars von Trier’s Antichrist - see news).

The title also features Jean-Hugues Anglade (who teams up again with Chéreau after The Wounded Man and Queen Margot) and Gilles Cohen (The Girl from Monaco [+see also:
trailer
film profile]).

Co-written by the director and his collaborator Anne-Louise Trividic (who has co-penned Chéreau’s latest three works: Intimacy, His Brother and Gabrielle), Persécution explores the destructive relations of domination within a love triangle. Against a background of betrayal, jealousy and power over the other, the persecutors become the persecuted, with each character depending on a person who eludes them.

The film centres on Daniel (Duris), a single man who keeps up an affair with Sonia (Gainsbourg), whom he dominates by loving, tormenting and following her. But Sonia in turn torments another man (Anglade) who starts to pursue Daniel and stalk her as well.

Produced by the director’s company, Azor Films, Persécution is co-produced by Move Movie (Bruno Lévy) and Arte France Cinéma. The film also received pre-sales from Canal +.

Shooting will take place in the Paris area in two phases (October 6-November 14, and the second half of February 2009). The title will be lensed by Yves Cape (Flanders [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]). MK2 are handling domestic distribution and international sales.

(Translated from French)