Nestled in the heart of London, Soho House sits naked to the untrained eye. Of course, it is a private club for cinematic members but still, if you traipsed by you wouldn’t see it. Surrounded by the rainbow drenched hub of sexuality and openness, it seems fitting that The New Girlfriend, a film about transvestism and homosexuality, is hosting its press tour in the heart of London’s pride. After all, Soho is where people go to escape heteronormativity and meet kindred spirits or hook up with people who aren’t necessarily straight. From Drag Queens to She Bars, Soho is the capitol of freedom and embracing who you are.
Which is the tone that The New Girlfriend is really aiming for.
“I loved the plot. I tried at the time to make a short. But I didn’t find the money and I didn’t find the actors, so I gave up. I had still this story in my mind but I realised, this time, I didn’t want to make a murder story anymore,” Ozon says, talking about stumbling upon the thriller short story decades ago. However, when he finally was financed to create the film, he realised that he wanted to make some vast changes to the plot.. “In the short, Claire kills Virginia. I wanted this long story to have a happy ending so I changed the end and the start of the film. It is important , for me, to evolve the characters, to give them room to identify themselves and for the audience to understand the road of the characters.”
The sensitive portrayal of sexuality, both in Claire and David, is profoundly brilliant. The exploration of self, doubt, shame and unbridled belonging is executed perfectly in Ozon’s film, which was an active decision from the director when adapting the late Randall’s work. Popping sugars into his coffee (and making sure his mobile is switched off as it chimes mid conversation), Ozon discusses stretching the short story and adapting it to modern audiences.
“When I wanted to make a short, it was a faithful adaptation but when you want to make a feature, of course you have to change it so that is why I have this new start and I changed a lot of the relationships of the character. In the short story, Claire is very afraid of her feelings and that is why she kills Virginia. It’s more a story about repressed desire and the fear to be a lesbian,” he says, speaking of the short that was created in 1987. Unfortunately, Ruth Rendall passed away the weekend before our conversation with the actor and director who had hoped to showcase the film to her. “I would have loved to talk to Ruth Rendall about that (the repression) but, you know, she passed away and I’m very sad as she wouldn’t have seen the film.”
“I trust Francois,” he continues when asked about the worries he may have had portraying both David and Virginia. After all, as a straight man, portraying an LGBT character is often met with criticism, “We would agree with the vision and the femininity of David. I was sure that Francois wouldn’t ask me to do the Drag Queen. Sometimes in some scenes we were close to being over the top but I knew that Francois would shoot the story with profound feelings and something more serious.”
It’s an interesting exposure of cross-dressing, drag and transgender personalities. Ozon is clear that he never wanted to place David/Virginia into a box. “I did a lot of research on cross dressing, I met a lot of people and there is this stereotype to make a link between homosexuality and cross dressing” he says, clearly driving his film with kindliness and intellect. “But then you realise that 80% of the cross dressers are straight and have wives and children.. For this story, it was clear he was straight. The sexuality is complex for everybody. For David and Virginia it is all clear where for Claire, she is totally lost. She doesn’t know what she is feeling, it’s a new situation, and she asks “Am I a Lesbian? Was I in love with my best friend?” And at the end she realises “I am in love with Virginia but not David” and what is Virginia? It’s a man in woman’s clothing so I think there’s something special in that.”
Duris had a particularly tricky task, then, in portraying David and his alter ego, if you will, Virginia. Speaking of developing the role, the mannerisms and nature of the characters, he states that Virginia was first on his mind; “I thought David would be a promulgation of Virginia as he is more difficult to understand. He has a lot of contradictions. I spent times focusing of Virginia and let her grow inside me. I thought about David later.”
Yet gifting a character with dual personalities, sometimes even more, is a wrought and tentative role to go into, especially balancing the two sides of David. “That’s what Romain said,” Ozon says when confronted with the unique elements that dance inside of David, “David is quite sad and Virginia is a way to find himself and his wife again. It’s a story about grieving and they have this complexity. It’s a way to recreate Laura and that’s what connects them and they are happy together. They are good for each other.”
He says this is because at the time of writing, in France there were large anti-LGBT marriage protests - something that continuously happens in the country. “A lot of people were fighting about their rights and for homosexuality and equality. So it was shocking. So during the process of writing and trying to explain to people that there are new situations and you don’t have to be afraid, there is no drama. So I hope my film will make people understand it better. I don’t know if a film can’t change the world.
There’s a lot of laughs and jokes at this roundtable which that make it all the more compelling and fun, talking to two who have evocatively created this greatly received film. Of the hilarity, it was fun to find out that Ozon appeared in the film as the pervert who strokes Virginia’s leg in the cinema that she accepts, validating her as a woman and attractive to men Duris jokes that Ozon was a passionate stroker. As he slaps his thigh in an overblown gesture complimenting Ozon, he compares the director's groping to an extra who Duris says was middling - with a wavering hand and a scoffing, “eh.”
Apart from his skill at pleasing Duris, Ozon talks about his proud moments with the film.” I love the club moment as there is no judgement and they are accepted.” The scene itself is in a gay bar where both Virginia and Claire are free to explore their own sexuality without the scorn of the people they know. “It’s the heart of the film. So it was important this scene was very vital in portraying the emotions between the actors. They are completely free, surrounded by people who’ll accept them for who they are. It’s an idealistic moment in the film.”
As the interview winds down, poking fun at Clint Eastwood’s fake baby when Ozon explains how easy it is to make the baby look real (“you just add some special effects, makes me wonder what he spent the budget on.”) But ultimately, from this interview, it is clear that the pair were really invested in telling the story of Virginia and giving an accurate portrayal of transsexualism in the media without being bogged down by stereotypes. Ending the interview on talks of adaptations, the pair laugh about how The New Girlfriend came together
“I read your interview,” says Ozon to Duris, “that you wanted to play a woman so you know.”
There’s a brief pause. “It was a joke, Francois.”
“It’s too late now!”
The New Girlfriend is out May 22nd. Read Cookie’s Review now!