Interview: French director Alain Guiraudie explains making of 'Staying Vertical'

Alain Guiraudie, the French movie director presenting his movie "Staying Vertical" here at the 69th Cannes Film Festival, said that after his film 'Stranger by the Lake' he wanted to make a film that was radically different.

"After my previous film, 'Stranger by the Lake' in 2013, which was a very clear, well-constructed sort of classical tragedy, I wanted to do a film more like a tale but explosive, out of focus, and tortuous," Guiraudie told Xinhua in an interview.

"The film is embracing some social and current issues that are debated in western society like family restructuring and assisted suicide," Guiraudie explained.

The story is centered on Leo, a filmmaker searching for wolves in southern France. He meets Marie, an unconventional shepherdess, with whom he has a baby. Marie leaves both of them, leaving Leo to take care of the baby alone.

"I wanted to eliminate some current stereotypes about women and men and I loved the idea of a man who wants to have a baby on his own," he said.

Guiraudie clarified he didn't set out to make a psychological drama: "I'm not doing psychological cinema and I don't want to do it. On the other hand, I'm interested about how and why the facts are occurring."

"I'm doing a more intuitive cinema rather than psychological," he said, but added his years spent in psychoanalysis have informed elements of his cinematic approach.

According to him, the cinema he dreams of is one which de-constructs time and space. "Nature is the space where I feel good because I'm the son of farmers and I grew up surrounded by nature," he told Xinhua.

"I wanted to make sensual cinema using sky, land, the wind passing through the trees and the water; I wanted to do something sensory," he continued.

As for casting actors, Guiraudie said he always takes a lot of time to choose his actors and he wanted his actors not to over-interpret the character.

"I choose my actors only looking at their personality, talent and understanding of their role," he explained.

Guiraudie won the Director Prize of Un Certain Regard at 66th Cannes Film Festival for his movie "Stranger by the Lake." Endit