Love making and killing now ridiculous in movies

One of the most cutting-edge and energetic actors, the versatile Jean-Marc Barr, has always stood apart from the mainstream of world cinema.

ґHe is half French, half American and can be seen either playing a part in the movies by celebrated directors or directing his own features.

Barr has acted in five films by the Scandinavian genius, Lars von Trier, including such masterpieces as Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark and Dogville.

In search for an outlet for his creative energy, the actor tried his hand at directing in 1999 with his sensual drama Lovers.

Barr`s latest love, drama American Translation, is in the running for the main prize at the Moscow International Film Festival.

In an exclusive interview with RT, the director said that love making and killing have actually become ridiculous in movies.

"They don`t resemble reality and on top of that in terms of violence, the gore and the number of bodies become almost ridiculous. They make death banal, it has no meaning."

American Translation is a kind of psychoanalyses of violence and sex. It relates to Chris and Aurore who meet by chance at a cafe. They are 20 years old and passions run high. What starts as a beautiful love story you see in the movies turns into a criminal drama when Aurore discovers that Chris is a serial killer.

"I don`t think it`s a psychoanalyses, because we really don`t give any reason. We show a bit of the reasons how someone can be transformed into a serial killer but we don`t psychologically say, why. It`s hard to explain why someone is addicted to killing someone. We are basically pursuing what`s happening in Europe which is the Americanization of Europe which all of a sudden is a certain liberalism and a certain freedom. If it goes unchecked, what can happen?"

Does he really think that films like American Translation can turn people into better human beings?

"Do you think Transformers can turn people into better human beings? We are doing what they were doing in the 50s when they were doing film noir. All of a sudden they were trying to explore the blackness in our society today. This blackness exists. We`ve got youth that has no more things to hold on to, no more future, they don`t believe in the past anymore either. We are in a situation where this total freedom can be very dangerous."

What`s the challenge, then?

"Making the films and surviving," Barr replies, smiling.

"What comes after entertainment? I don`t mind being a clown but after having seen films by Tarkovsky, by Kubrick and Billy Wilder, people who actually gave the seventh art an art form, it seems like the industry today wants to juvenalize totally its audience, and that is unacceptable."

ґValeria Paikova, RT

sections: Celebrities