Mathieu Kassovitz: meet and chat about his musical adaptation of La Haine

French actor and directorMathieu Kassovitz is set to delight those who loved the film La Haine. From October 10, audiences will be able to discover an adaptation of the film as a musical at La Seine Musicale. To mark the occasion, the editorial team put a few questions to the director and artistic director of La Haine: Mathieu Kassovitz .

Can you sum up hatred in a few words to introduce the musical La Haine?

Mathieu Kassovitz: The musical comedy of La Haine is an adaptation of the film in the form of an immersive show that blends theater, music, set design, choreography and camera movements.

At what can audiences already familiar with the 1995 film and those who haven't yet seen it expect?

Mathieu Kassovitz: Audiences should expect something completely different, yet totally similar. It's very difficult to describe. You have to come and see. It's really an interpretation of the film 30 Years Later, which pays homage to the film without stepping on its toes. In fact, it's something different, but similar. It's really different. It's really hard to put into words. I think when people get to see the visuals and see a little bit of what we're doing on stage, it'll be easier to understand once you see it, obviously. But for three years now, people have been asking me what it's going to be like? What's the musical of La Haine going to look like? Now that we've finished, you have to come and see it.

How do you intend to break the codes in this musical?

Mathieu Kassovitz: Once again, you have to come and see it. We're breaking codes in two ways: it's the first time that a big stage like this is going to be taken over by young people. It's actors, guys from the suburbs, dancers, lots of people, and there's the same atmosphere as when we shot La Haine. There's a nice mix of people. And so what we're trying to do is break the codes of theater by doing something very lively that corresponds to what we experienced on La Haine, with this style of youth, acting and energy. I'm also bringing in a whole cinematographic element that turns the show into a kind of new cinema, a live cinema. We put the spectator in the place of the camera, and we make the spectator rotate around the room instead of making him rotate. It's a new concept, like playing games with the spectator. We make them turn their heads by projecting things that aren't true.

What role will rap and dance play in the musical?

Mathieu Kassovitz: It's a musical, so dance plays an essential role. Rap is also very present, but it's not a rap show, it's a hip-hop show in its philosophy. But hip-hop contains all kinds of music, and rap is one of them. We have rappers, but we also have singers. We've got Mathieu Chedid, we've got Angélique Kidjo, we've got techno, we've got electro with The Blaze, we've got old-school rap with Akhenaton, Oxmo Puccino, Tunisiano. We also have rappers from the new generation who bridge the gap between 1995 and today. We've tried to rewrite the genre a little with new technology, new energy and music that is, for once, a musical.

Almost all the scenes in the film take place outdoors. How did you manage to adapt a work like La Haine for a closed-door setting?

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Mathieu Kassovitz: By working hard and using technology and screens and shooting systems so that the characters don't move, I was able to create a kind of live cinema that I'd never seen before. It's a kind of immersion, you're going to see, you're going to see the film playing out in front of you. That's the thing: you're still in a film, but you're in a theater, in a live show.

How did you go about choosing the costumes? Did you keep them sober and in keeping with the image of the film, or did you go for something else?

Mathieu Kassovitz: No, no, we're very sober about the costumes. We want it to be timeless, like the first film. We're more into classic things, and we're also working in grayscale, because it's a black and white film. It's a show that can't be in complete black and white because the people have skins that can't be fully made up, for example. So we play with these codes and try to standardize, to render the black and white through the costumes, the set, all that, to find a kind of uniformity that makes the show homogeneous.

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What does this theatrical adaptation represent for you symbolically?

Mathieu Kassovitz: 30 ans de haine. It's good to end with something happy, something very positive, because La Haine was a film that was a comedy. So that's where we're staying. We know how it ends, and we pay tribute to the film. In fact, we pay homage to the film and sublimate it by doing something different.

What were your criteria for choosing who would replace the iconic trio of actors? How did you come to choose Alexander Ferrario, Samy Belkessa and Alivor to play the iconic trio?

Mathieu Kassovitz: The criteria was to find Vinz, Saïd and Hubert. At the time, they were guys who came out of nowhere, except for Vincent who had a bit more experience. So we did the same thing again, with the same energy. We found several interesting people, and then we managed to find a synergy between three actors who were visible in their budding friendship as actors and as collaborators. This energy can be found on stage, and I think the audience will feel exactly the same emotions as they did back then with Cassel, Taghmaoui and Koundé.

Can you let us in on a little secret about the show?

Mathieu Kassovitz: We have anecdotes every day. When you're doing a play, you have to be ready on time, and that means constant anecdotes. It's a story on the right, it's a story on the left. You have to deal with a problem you don't expect. And then there are so many technicians! Again, there's a lot of technology involved, so every day is a surprise. Listen, the best anecdote, I think I could give you on the evening of the 10th, after the premiere.

DiscoverLa Haine from October 10, 2024 at La Seine Musicale!