Luc Besson

Renowned French writer/director Luc Besson is retiring. There are, however, enough asterisks and footnotes to that statement that the movie-going public doesn’t need to worry about an absense of Besson in any conventional sense.

From very early on in his …

Renowned French writer/director Luc Besson is retiring. There are, however, enough asterisks and footnotes to that statement that the movie-going public doesn’t need to worry about an absense of Besson in any conventional sense.

From very early on in his more than 30-year filmmaking career, Besson has said he would retire from directing after his tenth film; a milestone he hit with the 2007 animated feature Arthur and the Invisibles.

“Oh,” Besson laughs about the situation. “When the news broke, I was not so happy about it. It wasn’t exactly a misunderstanding, [but it was close]. I had a long conversation with a journalist friend of mine.”  He stops for a second and says resignedly, “Journalists tend to pick up only two or three lines in an interview, you know? It was like ‘Luc’s going to sell everything and disappear. He’s going to stop everything!’ That wasn’t the message at all!”

For a man who has as an accomplished a directorial presence and resume as Besson does–he is the French Spielberg–he has a surprisingly laissez faire attitude about himself and his work. “It’s like the sports people,” he starts, attempting to describe his weariness. “It’s not that you are not good anymore.  I feel strong. But do I have the courage and the strength to start a new project and spend two or three or four years on it?”  He trails off, not answering his own question. “It’s just diffiuclt,” he finally sighs.

I query whether this is a sign that, several years down the road, Besson might make a Michael Jordan-like return to the game. “It might have been a possibility [if I] stopped at 32 or 35,” he grins, “but I’m 47.”

It’s here that our conversation takes an unexpected turn. Attempting to describe how tiring and exhaustive the directorial process is, Besson shakes his head and begins speaking, “Filmmaking is a passion for sure.  Either you have it in your blood or you don’t. If it’s running in your blood, you don’t think. You know that working on a movie is going to hurt; it’s going to be difficult and everything.. After 30 years of loyal service, I’m tired and hurt.” As an example of how detailed and exacting the process of directing is, he smiles and says, “On Arthur and the Invisibles, we spent like six months putting dirt on the film. We added shadows, scratches and imperfections.” Besson pauses for a second and then adds, “There are four people who will notice this… and for them, it just put up their level of satisfaction.”

He exhales deeply and reiterates that filmmaking, particularly as a director, is tiring and difficult (the two words are favorites of Besson’s during our talk). “But, you know what makes it worth it?” he asks, not waiting for a guess from me, “Really it’s just the pleasure of seeing the face of a kid glued to the screen. That’s worth it.”

The sentiment sounds maudlin and hokey enough that Besson is forced to acknowledge this. However, to him, it is what it is: the truth. And since that’s the case, he can make the statement with impunity. “I remember with my previous films, Big Blue for example or The Professional,” he states, naming two of his past movies. “You can see it in the eyes of the people getting out of the theater that they were totally captivated by the movie. What I love is when they come up to me to talk about the film and are so passionate that they forget that I did the film.”  He grins broadly, chuckles and continues, “They always come to this point where they tell me, ‘No, no, you just don’t understand!’ and I’m like, ‘Yes, yes I do!’”

Audiences are a fickle beast and Besson has come to grips with this over the years. “The biggest part of the [population], they don’t even go to your movies,” he says very matter-of-factly. “Then there’s a part of the population that goes, but inside they’re torn; there’s a little part of them that doesn’t like the movie and a part of them that also says, ‘Yeah, it’s good.’ Then there is another little part of the population that is totally silent and amazed by [your film]. The latter group is never a big, big number, but it’s always good to see.”

Besson is a definitive and unabashed populist at heart and, unlike a lot of Hollywood directors who shy away from the label of being a big, mainstream director, isn’t afraid to admit it. “The one person that I care the most about is the guy who pays,” Besson says. “That guy says, ‘This film looks cool, I’m going to pay ten dollars to watch it.’”  Another chuckle and, “Now I feel concerned because this guy is putting his trust into me. He pays me first! I don’t want him to be deceived or disappointed after the movie is over.”

This subject touches a nerve with Besson and he begins talking more animatedly. It’s not just that he is concerned about his movies’ box office takes (though he is), it’s that he wants his audiences, however big they be, to have a genuinely good time watching his movies. “You know sometimes when you start a film that it’s not going to be huge and popular,” he states, “but you want to sleep with dignity. You want to be able to go to bed and say, ‘I’m happy because I did my best.’ And audiences notice and appreciate that effort.”

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