Isabelle Huppert: "I would love to work with Albert Serra"

San Sebastián"No questions about age, please." The warning is repeated before interviews with Isabelle Huppert (Paris, 1953), but it is unnecessary: at 72 years old, the great diva of French cinema maintains an admirable vitality and restlessness that are evident in The traveler, his new collaboration with Korean director and cinephile hero Hong Sang-soo, with whom he had already worked on In another country (2012) and Claire's Camera (2017)In the film, which premieres this Wednesday, Huppert tours South Korea offering French classes with a learning method as disconcerting as her attempts at flirting with her students. "I had a great time in these scenes; they're very funny," the actress admits.

What's on at the movies Hong Sang-soo What attracts you so much?

— Definitely his way of making films, which is very special, because he films them in just a few days. In another country It was nine days, Claire's Camera There were six, and this time there were thirteen, which is a lot for a Hong Sang-soo film. And I don't know how he turns it into a film. For me, that's the miracle. There are very specific dialogues, but there's no story, no characters, no explanations. And yet, in the end, you have a film. It's extraordinary.

Is this way of working a challenge? You're used to larger productions and different work rhythms.

— No, it's just different. In a way, it's a demonstration of the diversity of cinema, which can be a production of hundreds of people but also one of three or four, like Hong Sang-soo's. After all, it's still cinema. There's no single way to make films. Cinema is something, but you can approach it in different ways, and that's fascinating. Whenever I work with Hong, I think about how cinema is a very flexible material.

And don't you miss the simplicity of Hong Sang-soo's films when you work on more conventional productions?

— No, because I like to do different things. And at the same time, they're not different because it's all cinema. What fascinates me most about Hong's cinema is his time management, because he makes films in a very short time but at the same time takes a long time to make them. We work hard every day and make a lot of movies, but without rushing. It's something to think about.

In In another country She was a director bewildered by Korean culture, while in The traveler She's a French teacher who baffles her students. In the twelve years between the films, has your approach to collaborations with Hong Sang-soo changed?

— No. And, in fact, I think my way of acting is very similar. What I see of myself in his films, I don't see anywhere else. It's as if he has a particular vision of me as a character, a little more naive, which translates into his way of writing my dialogue. Through me, he expresses a certain lightness, something malicious and childish.

You've developed a special relationship with him, this is evident, just as you have in the past with Claude Chabrol. How do you create a special artistic relationship with Isabelle Huppert?

— It's a question of trust. From the first minute, everything was easy with Hong, no questions or anything. Chabrol made films in a more, let's say, conventional way, but there was no need to ask him anything either. I mean, it's not that I ask too many questions during filming. But it's as if, despite the cultural distance, because he's Korean and I'm French, we've known each other forever. Hong doesn't talk much; he's very quiet. I like to think he has everything in his head and that his way of expressing himself is the film. And I love this. I know immediately what I have to do, from day one. There's something very powerful in his dialogue that gives you all the answers.

Another absolutely radical and unique director of contemporary cinema is Albert SerraDo you know his work?

— Of course I know him, and I would love to work with him. Albert Serra is a director who can be compared to Hong Sang-soo in many ways. With Serra's films, you get a similar pleasure from not knowing exactly where he's going, but knowing for sure that he has a purpose and that the end result will be satisfying. Both Hong and Serra have an unconventional way of making films, but in both cases you feel their personality very intensely.

At the last Venice Film Festival she was president of the jury that awarded the Golden Lion to Pedro AlmodóvarI won't ask you if you'd like to work with him...

— And now, what are you saying? No way! [Laughs] Can you imagine?

...But I suppose it must have been a special moment for you, after so many years defending Almodóvar's cinema.

— Of course! A very happy moment. Not just for me, but for the entire jury, and also for many people who love Pedro's films. Plus, it turns out it's the first Spanish production to win the Golden Lion, which makes me feel proud.