AVENUE MONTAIGNE: An Interview with Director/Screenwriter Christopher Thompson and Screenwriter Daniele Thompson, CONTINUED
By Nicole Schmuelian

It doesn’t have a blood tie. 

Christopher Thompson: This thing came up which was quit a strange relationship between the father and son.  This suddenly seemed like a different approach to a father- son relationship.  With this girl, which is an incredibly lovely girl, the ‘Gold Digger.’ 

Danièle Thompson: Gold digger is okay.  It’s okay.  She loves the older man. 

Christopher Thompson:  She loves him there is several reasons why she loves him.  One of them is money but it is not only that there are reasons too.  So why it was me?  It is also the pleasure of continuing working together.  If there is a character to be played and if it seems proper to both of us. 

Danièle Thompson: We don’t know when we start.  We don’t know anybody and we don’t focus on the idea if he is going to be in the film or not.  Suddenly this part came up and suddenly it was a very good idea for him to play that. 

Is there only one location in the world where the same thing could have happened? Only one location where these same stories could have developed? 

Christopher Thompson: I think it could happen at any big city.  It could happen in London.  In Paris there is less of a theater district.  There is not a Broadway, or a West End theater district like there is in London.  So we have the theater, the concert hall and the auction house all in the same building. 

All the events concurring at the same time.

Danièle Thompson:  It happens all the time.

Christopher Thompson: But the story can happen in any major city. 

In regards to why you changed the title, why did you change the title?

Danièle Thompson: We changed the title it was the suggestion of the distributors.  The title is different everywhere there is a different title in Italy.  Orchestra Seats, why not, there is something a little metaphoric.  It’s not as direct as Avenue Montaigne which means to the American audience you are going to see a French film; you are going to see something about Paris, something with glamour.  So I don’t think we betrayed the film with that title.  It is probably more direct.

Christopher Thompson: It could have been called Avenue Montaigne in French actually.  But it probably wouldn’t have the same connotations in French. 

What is the typical working day for you when you are writing?  Do write dialogue talking back and forth as characters?

Christopher Thompson: It is very 9-5 otherwise…

Danièle Thompson: Otherwise there are always other things we can do. 

So you come in and have your Coffee then?

Christopher Thompson: So we talk about the film, we start throwing around ideas.  In the phase where we are creating the characters there are lot of notes taken.  With some dialogue ideas, some vague ideas of scene situations that are written down.

Danièle Thompson:  It last for months.

How do you know when you have done that enough?  Is it sort of a feeling?

Danièle Thompson: Yes.

Christopher Thompson: We know enough about these people to start telling the story and then we start telling the story.  If we don’t know enough on one character, you go back and we start studying him and finding out who he is.  Deciding who he is and going back and forth. 

Danièle: Then we start writing a skeleton. 

So for one scene would you both write that skeleton or do you take one scene and you take another scene?

Christopher: No, we have a skeleton for the whole film and then, till now it has been, at that point she will go off and write the dialogue for that scene. 

Danièle: And then call him back and check that on him. It is very interesting because the first time he is reading you can see in his eyes ‘oh my god that line is terrible’. It is very interesting thing this exchange.

Christopher: I am a horrible audience too.

How is she as a director?

Christopher: She is a wonderful director and I say this in the name of the cast too because I heard them say it a lot.  First of all, a very nice person to be around and the atmosphere on the set are very much given by what the director exhales.  She brings people together it is a very nice work atmosphere and she knows exactly what she wants.  All this process of working on the script is the communicating of that exact feeling of what we wanted at that moment.  I think a lot of what directing actors is about, having them meet that moment and excepting what the have to offer.  

Danièle:  I love working with actors.

Anything in the performances here that surprised you?

Danièle: They surprise me all the time.  I like to rehearse a little bit before because it’s time and money and we have very little time to shoot our films.  I am answering the question afterwards because it was very funny Sydney Pollack, was amazed about how light.  If this was an American film they would have closed the Avenue Montaigne for two months with two hundred people.  We, we didn’t we can’t afford that we can’t do that.  We have less than ten weeks, less then ten million dollars, we have less and less and less.  So we don’t work like this it was surprising for an American director. 

Christopher: But for the actor the lighter the apparatus is the more fun it is.  The less of a wait there is. You wait already it’s a lot of waiting but the heavier films the more you wait.  That is why the trailers are so big. 

Danièle: Therefore we rehearsed before the amount of work that’s done before so we don’t waste so much time on the set.  Except for Christopher of course who has the knowledge of exactly what you mean.  It’s very surprising when you read with actors how sometimes they get it and sometimes they don’t get it at all.  Sometimes they read something and it is completely not what you expect and sometimes it is interesting they give you something else.  Sometimes it is way out.  But then once you work with them a bit and this is what I love with actors, with great actors they have a capacity of understanding what you want from them.  They are very demanding.  Some people say they don’t like this word direct-actors I think it’s wonderful.  It’s great because you get them to do what you want and yet they bring you a look, a way of something suddenly intense, something you don’t expect and this is wonderful. 

What was the most surprising moment? 

Danièle: That is very hard to say.  For instance, working with Claude Brasseur he is someone.. he works secretly.  He works very much by himself alone without telling you.  Then suddenly he arrives and comes up with, I mean that scene with Christopher at the Café.      

Christopher: It is really a joy when you are an actor opposite him it is very surprising.  Suddenly after the first take you go ‘okay he has worked a lot on this’. 

Danièle: We rehearsed with him like a month and a half before and he repeatedly tried to get what it is about and suddenly he sits there in the café and my god did he get it.

What are you guys doing next? 

Danièle: It is very early to talk about it.  

But you have something in mind that you are going to work together on?

Christopher: We started working on actually. 

AVENUE MONTAIGNE opens on February 16, 2007

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