Burnt-out scribe Bernier passes away his retirement in his idyllic abode overlooking the Mediterranean with his girlfriend Luce. Their Bohemian lifestyle is shattered one sweltering summer afternoon by Bernier’s acquaintance Rino, who shows up with his gang and a giant payload of gold bullion that they just knocked over an armored car for, killing one guard. Looking for a place to lay low, Rino and his crew left enough of a breadcrumb trail to lead a couple of detectives and other interested parties to Bernier and Luce’s hideout. What ensues is an intense 24-hour standoff that will forever alter their once peaceful existence.





Amer (2010) and The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears (2014), Cattet & Forzani turn their attention to the Italian Eurocrime films of the 70s and the Spaghetti Western, mashing up the two genres with an equally fetishistic fervor. Using staccato editing, lush photography and an assaulting soundtrack, Let the Corpses Tan is a sensory feast that you can’t take your eyes from. You can read our full review of the film And that’s way more plot than one comes to expect from the Belgian directing duo of Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani. Having conquered the giallo style in(2010) and(2014), Cattet & Forzani turn their attention to the Italian Eurocrime films of the 70s and the Spaghetti Western, mashing up the two genres with an equally fetishistic fervor. Using staccato editing, lush photography and an assaulting soundtrack,is a sensory feast that you can’t take your eyes from. You can read our full review of the film here









We had the opportunity to speak with actor Pierre Nisse about the film and some of his other projects. The interview is presented in both English and French.









TMS: First off, can you provide us with a little bit of background information. Did you always want to be involved in filmmaking? What type of training or schooling did you have?





PN: When I was a kid, I wanted to become a cook, at that time I made a school friend believe that I was the kid who helped Willy escape in “Free Willy”. José Garcia (I believe) said the most accurate words, those that moved me the most, on the reason that led him to become an actor. He explained that when you're a dunce all through school, you better make classmates laugh... otherwise you're dead! When I finished high school, I thought about going to University to study psychology, for about an hour. A small inner voice reminded me that from six to eighteen (years) I had never held my school books in front of me for more than ten minutes. So, I decided to go to the Liège Conservatory. In addition, I had already started doing theater at fourteen at the Antoine Vitez Center in Liège, where I discovered my future calling. I have endless memories of my six years there. On the other hand, at the Liège Conservatory, in spite of some quality lessons, most of my drama teachers were relatively nil, beyond presenting résumés as thick as a roll of toilet paper. Well, even if what I say is actually true, I do not care a bit about them, because I feel that telling a nineteen year old acting student that he is not made for this job and never will amount to anything, is something absolutely disgusting. More so, it is even worse, being that I am, I believe, pretty much the only actor of that first year who is still working regularly. Like, what the hell… I will take the opportunity to mention the fact that acting is a job that requires kindness, because it is our body, our face, our voice that we engage with, we cannot hide behind anything else other than ourselves. It is a job that can drive you crazy really fast, I think. I spent my final three years at the Brussels Conservatory. I have very fond memories too.





:

Did you have a lot of support when you decided to get into filmmaking?





PN: Yes. I am lucky to have a mother who is my first fan, who listens to me when I have doubts, anxieties, many questions that besiege me. And also the chance of having a lot of real friends with whom I share a lot. Yes, I feel very supported.









:

What’s up with Let the Corpses Tan? Where can people see it? And, What do you want people to know about the movie?





PN: As I answer, it is no longer playing in cinemas, unfortunately. However, people can buy it on DVD. This film is, I would say, an object, a cinematographic work of art. A great immersive trip that gives you the impression of drinking good old whiskey after taking an LSD blotter.





:

What attracted you to the project?





PN: The singular, brilliant and festive universe of Hélène and Bruno. Plus the artistic and human quality of all the people around them - here I am thinking particularly of Eve Commenge, the producer, who was omnipresent, and worked thoroughly, communicating the desire to give herself to the project. There was an amazing atmosphere which gives a meaning to the job.









:

How did you end up being cast? Did you go through an audition process?





PN: Hélène and Bruno wrote me an e-mail asking to meet me. They had seen me in Cédric Bourgeois’s short film “La bête entre les murs”, as well as in Guillaume Nicloux’s “The Nun”. I watched their films, and told myself that if I did not take the role, I would jump out of a window, that I would never recover (yes, yes, I swear)! I arrived at their place all wound up, pushing myself like never before. We did some tests with an old holiday camera from the 90s. At the end of the tests, I took the camera in my hand for a few seconds as I told them that I had ruined some computers before, just by touching them, and had also burnt a coffee machine by pressing the "Espresso" button. They contacted me a few weeks later because the images had been lost ...





TMS: Did you do any research or prep for the role? Was there anything you specifically drew from in crafting the character?





PN: Given the fact that it is a production where the shots are cut together at high speed, and that they often isolate specific parts of the body of their actors, I told myself that after we had agreed on the look, it would be especially important to know what they wanted to frame on a tight shot of my character’s eyes, for example. What I mean by that is that there is a fairly technical aspect to the interpretation, given the speed and the tightness of the shots. It is important, where there is no sincerity, playfulness, fun, in the way a director shoots, the character cannot exist. There is a lot of work on every moment of the film. Sometimes Helen was whispering to me: "more jaw" so that I could bring my jaw out.









TMS: Were there any rehearsals before filming?





PN: They offered me time, but we talked more about the film, the sets, the look of the character, my partners ... I perceived that it would also be helpful to be in contact with my two gangster acolytes so that I could feel how to play my character, in hierarchy...





TMS: What was the shooting schedule like? Was it fast or prolonged?





PN: Everything was set like sheet music. There were countless set ups to shoot every day, hence the need for a very well thought-out work plan.









TMS: With the intense action and hot environment, it looked like it would have been a challenging film to make. How was the shoot? Was it tougher than other films that you've worked on?





PN: To shoot in Corsica during the summer, just before the arrival of the tourists, it doesn’t get any better than that. It's a shoot, as I told you, where I met really great people in an artistic context that just makes you want to continue doing this job. A project that gives you strength.









TMS: How was it working with directors Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani? Can you talk about their approach to filmmaking. How different is it working with two directors as opposed to one?





PN: What is immediately nice is that they are both very intelligent but most importantly they are authentic. Very dreamy. A little bit out there. The relationship settled down with time. Helen was a little more focused on acting, if I remember correctly, and Bruno on the technical aspect, though it changed. The advantage of shooting with two directors instead of one is that when asking a question, you can choose the one that seems the most available.





TMS: How was your experience working with the rest of the cast?





PN: Very good, we had a great time together ...









TMS: You also appear in : You also appear in Cruelle est la nuit . Can you talk about how you ended up working on the project?





PN: On Cruelle est la nuit, two things come straight to my mind. First, my meeting with the director, Alan Deprez, a man who since then has become one of my closest friends. Also a director, with a singular universe, tortured, dense, interesting. Second, there is this famous scene, where I had the opportunity to parade among real libertines and play “porn star” for the first time in my life.





This film had a good life in festivals. I went from one to the other; I love meeting the public that attends genre film festivals ...









TMS: Did you have any reservations about being completely nude for the entirety of the film?





PN: Yes. I do not care about showing my genitals, but I do not like to go shirtless, I find it vulgar. I tried to negotiate a wife-beater but Alan did not want to. Naked my friend!





TMS: What was it like working with director Alan Deprez?





PN: Alan put me at ease because he is very funny, he likes closed proposals ... We clicked, I assure you.





TMS: Can you tell us anything about the other projects that you are working on or planning on working on? Or, anything else that you would like to plug?





PN: On a personal project level I'm working on a comic book with cartoonist Maxime Mercier. A project that talks about love and sex, in a short format, it is a hybrid. We are still in the phase where we are having fun writing, agreeing on the structure, the characters, the universe…





Regarding more cinema output, you can see me in Martine Doyen’s latest feature “Witz”. Also, in Virginie Gourmel’s first feature “Cavale”.





Without forgetting “D’un château l’autre”, Emmanuel Marre’s latest creation.





I want to thank you for proposing this interview.





Le scribe brûlé Bernier laisse sa retraite dans sa demeure idyllique surplombant la Méditerranée avec sa copine Luce. Leur mode de vie bohémien est brisé un après-midi étouffant par la connaissance de Bernier Rino, qui se présente avec sa bande et une charge géante de lingots d'or pour laquelle ils ont renversé une voiture blindée, tuant un garde. Cherchant un endroit où coucher, Rino et son équipe ont laissé assez de fil d'Ariane pour mener quelques détectives et d'autres personnes intéressées à la cachette de Bernier et Luce. Ce qui s'ensuit est une impasse intense de 24 heures qui changera pour toujours leur existence autrefois paisible.



Et c'est bien plus compliqué qu'on ne l'attend du duo de réalisateurs belges Hélène Cattet et Bruno Forzani. Ayant conquis le style giallo dans Amer (2010) et The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears (2014), Cattet et Forzani se tournent vers les films italiens Eurocrime des années 70 et le Spaghetti Western, mélangeant les deux genres avec un fétichisme égal. ferveur. En utilisant le montage staccato, la photographie luxuriante et une bande sonore agressive, Let the Corpses Tan est un festin sensoriel dont vous ne pouvez pas oublier les yeux. Vous pouvez lire notre critique complète du film



Nous avons eu l'occasion de parler avec le comédien Pierre Nisse du film et de certains de ses autres projets. L'entrevue est présentée en anglais et en français. Et c'est bien plus compliqué qu'on ne l'attend du duo de réalisateurs belges Hélène Cattet et Bruno Forzani. Ayant conquis le style giallo dans(2010) et(2014), Cattet et Forzani se tournent vers les films italiens Eurocrime des années 70 et le Spaghetti Western, mélangeant les deux genres avec un fétichisme égal. ferveur. En utilisant le montage staccato, la photographie luxuriante et une bande sonore agressive,est un festin sensoriel dont vous ne pouvez pas oublier les yeux. Vous pouvez lire notre critique complète du film ici Nous avons eu l'occasion de parler avec le comédien Pierre Nisse du film et de certains de ses autres projets. L'entrevue est présentée en anglais et en français.



TMS : Tout d'abord, pouvez-vous nous fournir un peu d'information contextuelle ? Avez-vous toujours voulu être impliqué dans le cinéma? Quel type de formation ou d'études avez-vous suivi?



PN : Quand j’étais gamin, j’avais envie de devenir cuisinier, tout en faisant croire à un ami d’école que j’étais le gamin qui aidait Willy à s’évader dans le film Sauvez Willy.



José Garcia (je crois) a mis les mots les plus exacts, ceux qui m’ont le plus ému, sur les raisons qui l’ont amené à devenir acteur. Il expliquait que lorsque tu es un cancre tout le long de tes études, tu as intérêt à faire rire les camarades de classe… sinon t’es mort !



À la fin de mes études secondaires, j’ai pensé faire la psycho à l’université pendant une heure environ. Une petite voix intérieure m’a quand même rappelé que je n’ avais jamais tenu plus de dix minutes devant mes cahiers entre mes six et dix-huit ans. Du coup, j’ai décidé de faire le Conservatoire de Liège. Par ailleurs, j’avais déjà commencé le théâtre à quatorze ans au Centre Antoine Vitez à Liège, endroit où j’ai découvert mon futur métier. Il me reste des souvenirs impérissables de mes six années passées là-bas. Par contre, au Conservatoire de Liège, malgré certains cours de qualité, la plupart de mes profs d’art dramatique étaient relativement nuls en plus de présenter des curriculum vitæ aussi épais qu’un ticket de rouleau de p-cul. Bon, même si ce que je dis est factuellement vrai, je me moque un peu d’eux, car j’estime que dire à un jeune acteur de dix-neuf piges qui est en train d’apprendre qu’il n’est pas fait pour ce métier et n’y arrivera jamais, est quelque chose d’absolument dégueulasse. D’ailleurs, c’était d’autant plus faux que je suis, je crois et à peu de chose près, le seul comédien de cette première année qui travaille encore régulièrement. Comme quoi…



J’en profiterai pour rebondir sur le fait qu’acteur est un métier qui demande de la bienveillance, car c’est notre corps, notre visage, notre voix que nous engageons ; nous ne pouvons dès lors nous cacher derrière rien d’autre que nous. C’est un métier qui peut rendre très vite fou, je pense.



J’ai passé mes trois dernières années au Conservatoire de Bruxelles. De très bons souvenirs également.



