How did you come across the idea to make this film, which seems so different from the others - mostly comedies - in your filmography? Fifteen years ago, I read an article about how Cézanne and Zola were friends since childhood, before eventually growing apart. I must admit that I had never heard about this rift. It intrigued me. So I started reading biographies about them. I reread texts by Zola which I had forgotten, looked at paintings by Cézanne which I didn`t know. There was a dramatic element to their falling out which went beyond mere anecdote. Each time I finished a film, I wanted to try to take up their story but was told “No, do a comedy. It`s what you know how to do.” So I did a comedy, then another, and another. Until IT HAPPENED IN SAINT-TROPEZ, which was not the hit I`d hoped for. The reaction to that film destabilized me a bit. So, out of pure pleasure, I submerged myself in the lives of Cézanne and Zola, not knowing whether I`d find subject matter for a film. I read and
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