Cinema
Directed by Fabrice Aragno, a close friend of Jean-Luc Godard, the film presented at Locarno unites the Swiss sailor with French actress Clotilde Courau in a race on Lake Geneva. The images are breathtakingly beautiful.
Bernard Stamm acting? A piece of information that hardly comes as a surprise. With a face honed by years spent in the great outdoors, the most Breton of Vaudois stars in the film Le Lac. A feature film by NeuchĂątel director Fabrice Aragno, presented this summer at the Locarno International Film Festival. Although it didn’t win the Golden Leopard, Le Lac was awarded the First Prize by the Youth Jury. An original award that touched the director, who is delighted to have won over the spectators of tomorrow. In this age of social networks, all-images and all-screens, it’s quite original and gratifying to note that it’s a film of few words, poetic aesthetics and a rather slow pace that has won acclaim. Le Lac stars Bernard Stamm and Clotilde Courau. A superb couple who commit themselves body and soul to a sailing race. A sublime huis clos on a sailboat, where the duo brush against each other, touching, pulling apart and drawing closer. Le Surprise moves from a Hodler painting to one by Vallotton or Turner. Shot over several editions of the 5 Jours du LĂ©man, some of the sequences are splendid. The departure scene is a real tour de force. The viewer is plunged into the middle of the fleet, and the tension is palpable. French actress Clotilde Courau was an obvious choice for Jean-Luc Godard’s former assistant. We met ten years ago at Locarno, when we were on the jury,” explains Fabrice Aragno. The desire to make the film together was immediate. All that remained was to find the right man.
It was when he saw a photo of Bernard Stamm in the press that it was love at first sight. A phone call and a few tests later, the sailor was tempted to discover a world totally foreign to him. Without too much surprise, Bernard Stamm melts into Le Lac, quickly forgetting that he is Bernard Stamm. At 62, the sailor may have discovered a new life for himself. And then some.