Author and screenwriter Sarah-Maude Beauchesne could hardly find a better accomplice than Mariloup Wolfe to help bring her young adult novel to the screen. squishy heart. Since the director herself has already acted in some youth films, she knows everything about it.
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“It’s a genre I know well and have always loved,” says Mariloup Wolfe (Arlette, Jouliks) in an interview with the Journal.
“A lot of teenage movies came out when I was that age. Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Crazy Day, these are still classics of the genre. I had a Ferris Bueller poster on my bedroom wall. These are films that shaped my youth!”
Luckily, Mariloup Wolfe was heavily involved with the teenage world early in her acting career. She starred in the children’s series Ramdam for eight years and has also acted in teenage films. On your mark… Party! 1 and 2.
“We often have the impression that producing a film is less popular with young people than producing an auteur film,” she laments. But for me it’s a kind of film that can shape generations and even influence the values of some young people. I think it’s a super important genre that’s unfortunately underfunded.”
Photo archive provided by Les Films Opale
A scene from the movie Heart of Slush.
Nice complicity
Written by Sarah-Maude Beauchesne, based on her own novel, Cœur de slush tells the story of Billie (Liliane Skelly), a 16-year-old teenager who falls in love with a young cyclist prodigy (Joseph Delorey), who also falls in love has the eye of her big sister (Camille Felton). It was producer Christian Larouche (Confessions, Louis Cyr) who came up with the idea of entrusting the production of the film adaptation of Cœur de slush to Mariloup Wolfe after acquiring the rights to Sarah-Maude Beauchesne’s novel in 2016. The latter took six years to write the screenplay for the film.
“It clicked immediately between Sarah-Maude and me,” says Mariloup Wolfe. It was a long process and we got to know each other over time. As she wrote, the universe of the film became clearer. I would say that in 2016 it was cuter and evolved to be more minimalist and realistic.”
Also, since the novel was written in 2014, it was important for Mariloup Wolfe to update the statement: “It’s sure that while we’re talking to this generation, it’s been a bit of our duty to deliver beautiful messages,” she says . In particular, it is a question of consent, since it is topical. We also wanted to show a sexuality that isn’t quite so rosy the first time around and a disappointment in love. It’s unlike in American movies where the couple always ends up together.
“Innate Talent”
To find her Billie, Mariloup Wolfe saw dozens of young actresses auditioning.
The director eventually set her sights on Liliane Skelly, an 18-year-old actress (she was 17 at the time of filming) who caught her eye from the moment they met. “She has an innate talent,” says Mariloup Wolfe.
“Of course, it was easier for me to start with raw talent than to work with an actress who already had a lot of experience. I didn’t have to convert it. I just had to give him confidence and frame him well. What I like about her is that she never overdoes it. She has a fine and delicate game. She is cute and the camera likes that. After that, it was up to me to pick up the little details that she didn’t even know I would pick up.
Mariloup Wolfe wants to direct his young protégé again in a few years’ time in a sequel to Cœur de slush, which the producer has already commissioned from Sarah-Maude Beauchesne.
The screenplay for this second film is based on the other two novels in the author’s trilogy, which centers on the character Billie.
“In an ideal world, we would shoot the second film in 2025,” says Mariloup Wolfe. We can’t wait five years or Liliane will age too much. And then I can’t wait to work with her again because she inspires me so much!”
squishy heart hits theaters on June 16th.