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Post by reut on Jun 18, 2014 18:53:54 GMT 1
mary_slade, no, I haven't. More than that I have a strong feeling Stephane wouldn't want me to do something like this. Though he jokes that I "know EVERYTHING about him". I tried to make a very long interview with him once, some kind of "stroll down memory lane" thing (in a way it can be called biographical interview or something like that), it didn't go well. I can't point on a certain reason why and what exactly I did wrong, but I never tried it again since then. And it doesn't look that I will in the future. Well, never say never and all that, but... Just a remark, I don't think it's even possible to "bend" him in any other direction than the one he wants to be "bent". I did tell him when we discussed this documentary that then he needs to do it himself, especially because four years has passed already since "Préliminaires". But it looks like he has a lot on his mind at the moment even without it.
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Post by mary_slade on Jun 18, 2014 19:41:02 GMT 1
Somehow, I am not surprised. Would you want to define more what went not well? He didnt want to go too deep? If you dont feel like explaining, no problem. Or - it's smth that came on my mind - he doesnt want someone who's not "irrelevant" to look so closely at his life. He's very good at setting borders, it seems.
About "bending" him I meant not him as a person but his image, transmitted by the interview/video/media. The latter is easily done when needed.
Doing it himself? Doing it himself would work fine for the show I think. He used to talk about his own show, didnt he? You didnt ask him about it by chance? _That_ I would dream to see. But documentary about himself.... I doubt that would interest him enough to do it in the closest future. His performance is on ice and in other places, and these are not focused on him as a person. I understand that territory is private.
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Post by tisha on Jun 18, 2014 20:08:26 GMT 1
I remember that interview; you had mentioned he seemed bored with looking at his old performances. He said in several interviews after he retired that he's not a nostalgic person and he much prefers to look forward rather than backward. (Maybe he's changed his mind a little bit as he's gotten older - he did say in one of the fan meetings [Bellinzona, I think] that he wishes he hadn't told his mother not to film his early training sessions because now he'd like to see them!) I would love to see a "Preliminaires" concerning his current life, pro skating/choreo/coaching/acting/skating school owner/etc., all of which is so different from the competition life. Too bad his friend seems to have somewhat wasted the great opportunity he generously allowed her to show his backstage/off-stage life, but I'm looking forward to seeing the documentary, if only to see Stephane & Wonka playing!!
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Post by pia on Jun 18, 2014 20:23:50 GMT 1
Thanks a lot for "Le petit prince au pays qui défile" impressions. Is there any possibility to share that film with those less lucky who have no chance to see it... download, rip...?
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Post by reut on Jun 18, 2014 20:25:05 GMT 1
It's more on a level of feelings than actual details. He wasn't interested enough in that talk (which I totally see as my fault, probably I wasn't good enough as a journalist if I couldn't pull this off). We also didn't have enough time, while in my mind it was a truly "grand" idea which required quite a lot of his time and attention. And, after a very serious preparation for this project, I probably had too many expectations I couldn't "bend" him into (doing). About "bending" him I meant not him as a person but his image, transmitted by the interview/video/media. The latter is easily done when needed. If you're trying to say that in my interviews you can see his real image, well, I take it as a big compliment. I'm not sure how many % of his true self I succeeded to capture, but I was certainly trying to do that. About doing documentary. Well, it was more like "if you don't like it, do it yourself". But I did mean that he could think about and find someone who has closer vision to what he might want to see in the documentary about himself. I actually believe you can do a lot and show a lot of him as a person without prying into his private life. And "Préliminaires" is a great example for that. Or his fan meetings where he talks about many things, not only his performances and on ice activities. And, no, we didn't talk about his own show. I don't think it's at the moment even a topic in his agenda. I remember that interview; you had mentioned he seemed bored with looking at his old performances. He said in several interviews after he retired that he's not a nostalgic person and he much prefers to look forward rather than backward. Yes, that too. It must be adorable.
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Post by mary_slade on Jun 18, 2014 21:03:13 GMT 1
He wasn't interested enough in that talk (which I totally see as my fault, probably I wasn't good enough as a journalist if I couldn't pull this off). We also didn't have enough time, while in my mind it was a truly "grand" idea which required quite a lot of his time and attention. And, after a very serious preparation for this project, I probably had too many expectations I couldn't "bend" him into (doing). Well, for him it might be not a right time in life to think about the past. And yes, probably you could "persuade" him better . Okay, not serious here ). Why you dont feel like doing it again in the future? What I wanna say - by my impression - you manage to exress his voice and your own at the same time in your interviews. And these are separate voices. The interviews have personalit(IES), not one personlity. I dont know if you yourself consider it as a good thing, but I like it. Again, by private life I do not mean that private life he has as a regular person. Who's interested in that, it's more or less the same for everyone. I mean his private moods, feelings, how he goes over difficulties, his dreams, fears in regard of his career. I had a feeling that he's talking about these things with a pleasure when in meetings but there's some line, which he never cross. Inside dinamics, inner treasure. Smth what's not availale for being photographed. I dont know if I could explain.
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Post by stephanie2006 on Jun 18, 2014 21:21:52 GMT 1
The new film also made me also think about how great "Préliminaires" was and how it was reflecting Stéphanes life. A film student must have another setting in mind than a TV journalist. There are many repetitions like Stéphane with his agenda, Stéphane warming up alone, Stéphane calling mom, and especially Stéphane walking lonely in long corridors. I feel like formal aspects were more important than the person in the film. That is a possible approach but certainly not the one I would choose.
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Post by reut on Jun 18, 2014 22:17:23 GMT 1
Why you dont feel like doing it again in the future? Dunno, at the moment I don't feel like I will ever want, but who knows. Actually that was also the last interview we ever did too, we haven't done any in more than two years. Maybe my "trauma" was too big. I know many people who will say it's actually bad you can see journalist's personality in his/her interviews. I think my best interview with Stephane was the one where there was a minimum of my involvement, even questions were not always asked (it's the interview when he chose the topics himself by the letter from his name). He certainly has a line, even a few, which he won't let people cross, but moods, feelings, fears - you can find all of that in "Préliminaires". His talk about his Vancouver experience, for example, was really intense and very sincere...
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Post by dorothy on Jun 18, 2014 22:27:42 GMT 1
I also got the DVD today and watched it once. For all those not fluent in French: there are English subtitles. Most scenes are from backstage and from travelling, in planes, cars, escalators etc. The short on ice parts are filmed from far away and take place for example in Davos. There are many phone calls with his mom, otherwise he is portrayed like a very lonely man when he is not surrounded by fans. It's very different from the many pictures with friends that Stéphane usually posts on Instagram. There are some great fun moments in the movie too but I won't reveal too much now for those who plan to watch it later. My favourite moment was Stéphane with Wonka on the sofa :-). Hmmm... interesting. I'm frankly amazed that someone would choose to portray Stephane as a very lonely man, when he comes across so effervescent and full of joy. I always had the impression that he enjoys his alone time and his privacy. Being alone doesn't necessarily mean loneliness- I, for one, love spending time with friends and family, but I also need to have lots and lots of solitude or else I become a little crazy. I think I'll still watch it though because, being a crazy cat lady, I'm now inordinately curious about his cat!
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Post by mary_slade on Jun 18, 2014 23:05:47 GMT 1
Dunno, at the moment I don't feel like I will ever want, but who knows. Actually that was also the last interview we ever did too, we haven't done any in more than two years. Maybe my "trauma" was too big. Excuse me, but this made me laugh like mad ))) Do you remember there's a society somewhere there, that might need your impact in making it happy? ) Uh unfair ))))))))))) I have absolutely different opinion. I _need_ an interviewer to know and love what they ask about. And that's always an involvment. There's always some personality and opinion behind the interview. You might try to hide it, but sorry guys. It shines through. Great jounalists became great not for being just impartial camera-eyes.
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Post by tisha on Jun 19, 2014 5:15:15 GMT 1
The "alphabet interview" is my favorite!! I love that you don't ask the same old questions that skaters get in every interview; you always have such thoughtful, interesting questions that reveal more of your interview's personality than we fans usually get to see from the routine questions other journalists ask. I had wondered why you hadn't posted a new interview with Stephane in such a long time and I'm sorry that you still feel like the "memory lane" interview was a failure. I thought it just showed another aspect of Stephane's complex and fascinating personality.
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Post by reut on Jun 19, 2014 9:02:49 GMT 1
Thank you, tisha.
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Post by reut on Jun 22, 2014 19:08:53 GMT 1
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Post by jomeku on Jun 23, 2014 8:41:18 GMT 1
Thank you reut! Busy early summer, apparently .
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Post by MaRaMaya on Jun 23, 2014 13:40:45 GMT 1
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