French cinema icon Juliette Binoche credits bilingualism as the cornerstone of her illustrious international career, sharing insights during her appearance at Montreal's Cinemania film festival this week.
From French Cinema to Global Stardom
The Oscar-winning actress, presenting her directorial debut In-I in Motion at the festival, explained how embracing English early in her career opened doors to worldwide collaborations. "Working in English allows me to work with a lot of different people and go to different places," Binoche told audiences during her Montreal visit.
Her bilingual journey began with 1988's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, directed by Philip Kaufman. Despite having already worked with French legends Jean-Luc Godard and André Téchiné, the then-23-year-old actress followed her passion for English. "I love the English language," she recalled. "Life was going that way, and I was following what was happening in my life. It was as simple as that."
A Career Built on Openness and Possibility
Binoche's philosophy of maintaining openness has defined her four-decade career. "Sometimes we don't know what's going to happen, but we have to believe," said the actress, who presided over the Cannes Film Festival jury earlier this year. "Belief means having your eyes open, your ears open, possibilities open, and not closing yourself off with language."
This mindset has yielded remarkable collaborations across cultures and languages. She won the Best Actress award at Cannes in 2010 for Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's Certified Copy, filmed in English. Her impressive filmography includes a César-winning performance in Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski's Trois couleurs: Bleu (1993), an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in Anthony Minghella's The English Patient (1997), and an Oscar nomination for Lasse Hallström's Chocolat (2001).
Reinvention Through Dance and Directing
Binoche's latest project, In-I in Motion, documents her unexpected journey into dance theater. The two-hour documentary revisits her collaboration with British choreographer Akram Khan, which began in 2006 after her shiatsu masseuse, Su-Man Hsu, asked if she'd like to dance while receiving treatment in London.
The resulting performance, In-I, premiered in 2008 and toured 120 dates worldwide over two years. "It was an extraordinary experience," Binoche shared. "That's why I wanted to share it. We can reinvent ourselves, create, do things we never imagined, like dancing. I never imagined I'd be able to do 120 performances and co-create a show. But voilà."
The film reveals the vulnerability required as Binoche learned to dance while Khan learned to act, with both exploring themes of love and relationships under the guidance of acting coach Susan Batson and dance coach Hsu. "It goes further than therapy," Binoche explained, "because you have to transform it into a story, body and soul together."
Now embracing directing, Binoche finds the experience empowering. "It makes the impossible possible," she said. "And I have experience behind me that allows me not to be afraid."
Binoche gave a free master class at Usine C on Friday, November 7 as part of the Cinemania festival, which continues through November 16.
