– The biggest secret of my new film is not why Jodie Foster speaks perfect French, but why she is like that picky, agreed to the role in “A Private Life.”
That’s what Rebecca Zlotowski says in a hotel room in Paris – not far from the fashionable reception where the American-born psychoanalyst Lilian Steiner receives her diva. Here the protagonist of the film also receives his favorite patient, who suddenly dies under mysterious circumstances.
Zlotowski courted the American star fifteen years ago in connection with the debut film “La belle épine” (“Dear Prudence”). Then she didn’t even get a nod in response. But when she submitted her latest script, a kind of twisted crime thriller involving everything from mental illness to difficult Jewish experiences, there was an unexpectedly positive result.
– What I have always loved about Jodie Foster is that she creates a kind of language, or rather a text, with her roles. “Every new film is a word and when she gets to the end of her career you will understand what she wanted to say,” says the director, wearing a soft, bright red lambswool sweater.
– The fact that Foster wanted to be here, I think, was partly because she wanted to challenge herself and do comedy, and partly because she perhaps felt like she needed some kind of cultural exile.
Zlotowski had previously made films such as “Planetarium” with Natalie Portman and Lily-Rose Depp, but her first real cinema success was with the tenderly autobiographical relationship drama “Other People’s Children” (2022), which was based on her own experiences as a bonus mother with a longing for children.
Since Zlotowski recently had a child of his own. Motherhood and parental relationships also run like a common thread through the new film “Ett privat liv”, which she wrote together with her best friend, the best-selling author Anne Berest (“The Postcard”).
The film also illustrates the classic and vibrant American-French connection between Hollywood and Paris, which has been explored in many films. There are few things the French love as much as Hollywood stars who speak French well, from Oliver Stone to Bradley Cooper to Timothée Chalamet.
Jodie Foster, who attended a French school in Los Angeles, made her first trip across the Atlantic at the age of 14 when she played a small role in “My Wild Sister” (“Moi, fleur bleue”) and was also seen in films by Claude Chabrol and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. But “A Private Life” is her first French-language leading role. Rebecka Zlotowski finds the star’s French almost shockingly good.
– What’s special about her sense of language is that she’s never lived here before. Sometimes it seems to me that she speaks better than us locals. But as I understand it, she sees French almost as her native language because it was the language her mother dreamed of being able to speak but which she never learned herself, says Zlotowski.
That’s what she means It was particularly exciting to create a role for Jodie Foster in which she was part of a couple, albeit divorced (the great French star Daniel Auteuil plays the role of the ex-husband).
“Agree that you’ve always seen her basically single,” exclaims Zlotowski happily, telling us that she stole the French title “Vie privée” (“Private Life”) from Louis Malle’s 1960s film starring Brigitte Bardot and Marcello Mastroianni.
– I was really happy that Foster and Auteuil were talked about in my film and that you believed in their rekindled passion!
Both psychoanalysis and hypnosis – with an emphasis on past life exploration – are strong forces in the film’s dramaturgy. Like the humor.
– The comedy track is mine. I had to do something fun to brighten these dark times we live in, but a lot of that comes from Anne. She believes in all sorts of strange things… I’m interested in the anachronism of psychoanalysis as a method and how the pendulum today is swinging back from quick therapies to longer treatments. But for me personally, David Lynch is the only psychoanalyst I need, ha ha.
She says she tried hypnosis for research purposes, with somewhat unexpected results.
– I suddenly felt very hot, I definitely had a strong feeling, almost like an orgasm, and yes, I had some strange images in my head, colors and moods that I could use in the film. But overall, I suck at all of these things. I stay with the mystery of cinema art.
Next to it In addition to the American star and Daniel Auteuil, there are several great French actors in the cast. Virginie Efira, who starred in Other People’s Children, plays the dying patient and Mathieu Amalric plays her shady husband.
– My strategy is to always try to include as many well-known names as possible. The film is so much about power and positions. I enjoy the feeling of being chosen by the actors. It gives me the energy to then take over the management of the recording myself and pursue my own vision. But it’s also a way to write yourself into film history without winning awards at Cannes or the Oscars. Whatever happens, I will always be present in Jodie Foster’s filmography.
Rebecca Zlotowski
Born: Born in Paris in 1980
Career: Screenwriter and director. Feature film debut with the teen drama “Belle épine” in 2010 with Léa Seydoux. Has previously done Grand Central, Planetarium, An Unusual Girl and most recently Other People’s Children. She also directed the television series “Les sauvages,” about a fictional presidential scandal.
Current: “A Private Life” (“La vie privée”) starring Jodie Foster premiered out of competition at the 2025 Cannes Festival and will have its Swedish cinema premiere on February 13th. Wrote and directed the upcoming series “Glam Squad” for Amazon Prime Video, premiering later this year.
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