An actress will play Barbara, the French singer. The shoot will soon start. The actress works on her character, her voice, the songs, scores, the gestures, knitting, scenes she has to learn, things are going okay, there's progress, development, she is even overwhelmed. The film director also works, through his encounters, through archives, music, he let's himself be submerged, overwhelmed like the actress, by the actress.
Acting
Jeanne Balibar's shapeshifting—she becomes Barbara without ever fully arriving.
Direction
Amalric blurs documentary and fiction until neither exists.
Director
Mathieu Amalric
Jeanne Balibar
Brigitte / Barbara
Mathieu Amalric
Yves Zand
Aurore Clément
Esther, la mère de Barbara
Grégoire Colin
Charley Marouani
Marie Desgranges
La phoniatre
Erwan Ribard
Monsieur Victor
Pierre Léon
Jacques Tournier (jeune)
Lisa Ray-Jacobs
L'agent de Brigitte
Marc Bodnar
Peter, le chauffeur
Antoine Simony
Le contrebassiste
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Amalric originally planned a straightforward biopic before Jeanne Balibar's preparation process became the actual subject.
The real Barbara was famously private; the film honors this by refusing to show her directly, only ever approaching through mirrors of performance.
FR
