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#10 THE SHINING STAR OF VENICE DAYS
08/09/2006
After the screening of L'étoile du soldat, a room full of profoundly moved spectators greeted with a long standing ovation this work representing 25 years of Christophe de Ponfilly's life, as the producers remarked.
By making this one and only fiction feature, the late reporter known for his great knowledge and passion for Afghanistan indeed intended his subject to have a deep impact. By choosing to tell the story (based on real events) of a Russian musician, Nicolaï, who reluctantly joins the Soviet troops in Afghanistan and ends up a prisoner of Massoud's mujahiddins with whom he gradually fraternizes, Ponfilly surely hoped the public would identify with this profoundly pacific hero and also realise that, unlike what propaganda says on both sides, all humans beings are the same - in slightly different ways.
Not only is L'étoile du soldat the outcome of some extremely thorough research; there is also the splendid photography and the oh-so-meaningful dialogues, as well as the immensely poetic inventions the film teems with (most of which are conveyed through the image of the Afghan girl), this great movie is an anthem to brotherhood and humanity by a Carl Sandburg of cinema.
Why did Ponfilly choose to make a fiction of this true story?
Philippe Gautier (producer): A fiction feature clearly has more chances to be distributed on a larger scale and it allows the public to discover other things, such as the way a prisoner's fear gradually turns into knowledge of the other. This story also allows to see both sides of a war — indeed, when we screened Christophe's work for Russian mothers whose sons had gone to Afghanistan, they cried a lot but also thanked us for giving them the opportunity to know what had actually happened. Conversely, the same images were greatly appreciated in Minsk, when we showed them at a KGB military school.
Did the director discuss his political views a lot with the cast?
Sacha Bourdo (actor): He explained many things but I chose to look in another direction, that is, to focus on my character Nicolaï. In fact, I have to say thank you, thank you Christophe for allowing me, after talking things through together, to play my role the way I wanted —albeit in a less emotional way than he initially intended to direct me.
Bénédicte Prot (Cineuropa)
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Etoile du soldat Interview |
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