American Cinematographer - September 1997 - 20

credits include Chambre 666, Jacquotde
Nantes (with Patrick Blossier and

Georges Strouve), L'Absence, La Vis,
Jeunesse Sans Dieu and L Arriere Pays.
The cinematographer filmed
Nenette and Boni in Super 16 with an
Arri SR-lll. The lightweight camera aided
the speed and mobility of her intimate,
handheld shooting style. The finished
film, however, would be blown up to
35mm, so Godard utilized Zeiss T2.1
lenses sized for 35mm

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photography -
primarily the 40mm and 100mm - be¬
cause such long lenses have greater fo¬
cal depth in the Super 16 format. "Cin¬
ematography is more difficult with Super
16, because the negative is smaller,"
notes Godard. "There's also the problem
of grain, which I wanted to avoid in or¬
der to maintain the idea of being so close
to people's skin. What's funny about a
35mm blowup is that you gain the detail
and brilliant transparency missing from a
Super 16 positive, which is always dull."
In her mind's eye, the director
envisioned Nenette and Boni as a series
of images chock full of vibrant colors
which would accentuate surface tex¬
tures, particularly when coupled with the
intimate compositions and 35mm

blowup. In formulating a base palette,
Denis instructed set designer Arnaud de
Moleron to contrast blue and pink,
shades traditionally indicative of, respec¬
tively, masculinity and femininity. Blue
hues are apparent in the film's opening
shot

-

an

overhead vista of Nenette's

head
an

floating lazily along the surface of
indoor swimming pool - and can

also be

seen

in various

areas

within the

siblings' home. Says Godard, "The
kitchen was already blue when we en¬
tered this house, and we decided to keep
it. As for other spaces, like the mother's
room, Claire had a precise idea of what
color she wanted. The house

was

sup¬

posed to have been owned by Boni's
mother, who was young in the Seventies,
INTRODUCING

THE

so

Claire wanted the kind of saturated

colors

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belonging to this period."
Conversely, shades of fuschia,
red and pink overwhelm the bakery, and
the baker's wife, to create an inviting

reality: the fact that it's

pink could
vision of the
baker's wife, like in the films of [New
Wave pioneer] Jacques Demy [Umbrellas
of Cherbourg ]."
An interesting camera trick
a

so

very sweet

enhances the climax of one of Boni's fan¬
tasies: from his perspective, rows of wa¬

vering golden lines fill the frame, fading
in and out of intensity. The ceasing of the
effect
which was preconceived by
Denis
signals the end of Boni's
-

-

dream. Godard states, "That idea was

inspired by these special French shutters
called percienneblinds, which are metal¬
lic and have small holes on the top.
Sometimes when you are in the city, a

car's

headlights will create that effect
[when the beams pass along the blinds]
creating an abstract shape that's
moving, and going from light to dark.

-

Claire wanted an almost mental repre¬
sentation of that, so I just placed two

lights [a pair of 500-watt sodium-vapor
bulbs] behind the shutter, and moved
them around to create the effect."
While filming the house interi¬
ors - which were rendered on Eastman
Kodak's 7297 stock - the duo made

sparing use of HMI and tungsten fixtures;
the director "wanted the house to be like
a womb, since there is the mystery of
what's growing in Nenette's stomach."
Scenes in the kitchen, for example, were
shot with one Chinese lantern and three
Balcar neon tubes (of 1K or less).
Both Denis and Godard had

previously used Balcar fixtures for still
photography. To achieve a glow for the
intimate skin-surfing shots - such as
those which explore Boni when he is
alone in his bedroom

position

-

Godard would

Balcar nearto the body part in
expounds, "When filming the
nearly naked Boni in his bedroom, I
wanted to give the audience the sensa¬
tion that by seeing him they would like to
touch him. It's intimacy, though, not voy¬
eurism. I wanted a simple source be¬
cause it's easier to find the right angle
for the light. I also needed mobile light¬
ing because I had to spend more time
trying to frame the shot in harmony with
a

shot. She

ambiance that alternates between the
brother's fantasy world and reality.

the actors."

"Boni's mind is

$2 million film took place in Marseilles

always switching be¬
tween being a teenager and an adult,"
explains Denis, "but I didn't want his
dreams to be designed one way and his
reality another. Let's say that the bakery

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18

is

also make it

September 1997

Principal photography
from December 1995 to

on

this

January 1996.
city's proximity to the Mediterranean
border, and the sun's low position on the
horizon during the winter, provided a

The
American Cinematographer - September 1997

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