Καμουφλάζ|Masquarade

A story of crime, betrayal, cosmopolitan luxury, and passion. Following La Belle Epoque, Nicolas Bedos brings a fascinating noir love story to the screen set under the bright sun of the French Riviera.

Festival de Cannes Official Selection (out of competition).

Adrien, a former dancer whose career was shattered by an accident, now spends his days as an escort to Martha Duval, a rich former movie star who reminisces about her old glory. Their relationship seems to be dominated by mutual benefit: for her, Adrien is a company; for him, Martha is a livelihood or an escape from the boredom of life.

Things are turned upside down when Adrien meets Margot, who seems equally lost in life. Yet Margo is a beauty taking risks, making Adrien wake up from his slumber and causing him to fall hopelessly in love with her. When the duo meets Simon, they get their eyes on his money, setting up a diabolical scheme: Simon must fall for Margo. Will they succeed in carrying out their plan?

A cast consisting of French Cinema’s new blood alongside legendary actors, such as Isabelle Adjani and François Cluzet, adds up to latest film of Nicolas Bedos who masterfully draws inspiration from suspenseful and lively-spirited classic Hollywood films such as To Catch a Thief, Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity. Bedos intends to weave a fabric of complex schemes, secret motifs, and complicated feelings in an elegant, fascinating story where nothing seems to be what it really is – and where love makes everyone seem foolish.

Nicolas Bedos’ statement (extract):

How would you summarise the film?
I am never good at this… This is the adaptation of the book that I tried in vain to write for a year, and which recounted in a very fictionalized way a rather distressing period of my life, around the age of 23, when I was drowning in idleness and other people’s money. Let's say it’s the story of a loser maintained by older women who falls in love with a loser maintained by older guys, their affair leading to a vast love manipulation. It is also the story of a muted war between the sexes and generations. And then it’s the very subjective portrait I wanted to make of the French Riviera.

So the film is an adaptation of one of your books?
One of the three books that were never published. No false modesty: I am a failed novelist. I lose myself in derogations, I get stuck for weeks on stylistic adaptations, I miss the whole point for no reason: in short, I am found at a cul-de-sac. On the contrary, when it comes to screenwriting, I am confident about my work.

The time you “spent” writing the book eventually aided the script?
Yes, incredibly! All the stories took shape in advance, which helped me tell their stories, but also direct the actors.

Would it be fair to say that this is the least romantic and most cynical of your films?
This film is my personal nightmare about human relations in general, and romantic relations in particular. A poet had once called this “an exquisite pain”. My previous films portrayed my almost neurotic fear of forgetting. On the contrary, for the romantics around me Camouflage is a horror film. This is why, I believe, it creates a rather masochistic delight, this knot in the heart that you feel when relating to one character or another.

The first women I fell in love with were characters in a film noir. I directed each of my films as if I were addressing the young teenager I once was. I talked to him about love. Here, my intention was to evoke his desire. That doesn’t mean I don’t like the characters of my film – on the contrary, it simply means that I made them experience hard situations. None of them has a truly enviable destiny. They are all loved, whether too early or too late.

In order to direct this admittedly dark film, were you inspired by the era we live in? I believe so. We span a period where relations between men and women, as well as between young and old people, are tested. Just like in every revolution, this produces a certain kind of violence, a radicalisation that may indeed be alarming. My film bears no didacticism, yet it is connected to today’s society, its intensity and exaggeration. In addition to the class struggles, there suddenly appears a struggle between genders and generations. I have never in my life met so many people feeling so upset. I am trying to be entertaining, but at the same time, I ask the audience to reflect on questions I set for myself on a daily basis.

Directed by: Nicolas Bedos
Written by: Nicolas Bedos
Cast: Pierre Niney, Marine Vacht, Isabelle Adjani, François Cluzet
Distribution: Rosebud .21

Rialto Cinema @SEK Parking Place

All films will be screened in their original language with Greek and English subtitles.

Duration: 134'

Tickets: €8