Present at the Toronto Film Festival for the preview of “Raymond & Ray”, a black comedy on the theme of mourning, American actor Ethan Hawke took the opportunity to pay tribute on Tuesday to director Jean-Luc Godard, whose touch changed cinema forever.
He shares the poster for this Apple TV+ production with Ewan McGregor, which tells the story of two half-brothers struggling to overcome the loss of their charismatic but also violent father.
The feature film was presented on Monday in world preview at the largest film festival in North America and the next day the world learned of the death of Jean-Luc Godard, pioneer of the French New Wave.
“It goes without saying that he changed cinema, that he changed the way people think about the moving image, and how rare that is,” said Ethan Hawke, referring to the French filmmaker. Swiss. “Each generation seems to have one or two voices that really dominate and he was definitely one of them.”
Jean-Luc Godard marked generations of film buffs with his cult films like “A bout de souffle” or “Le contempt”, his formal innovations which made him a figure of the New Wave and his provocations.
On this special day for the world of cinema, Ethan Hawke made the connection with his latest film which he describes as a “meditation on the right way to grieve”.
– “How to forgive?” –
In the script, Raymond and Ray go to their father’s funeral. They discover that this man who always treated them with contempt was adored and idolized by all.
“How to express your anger well? How to manage to accept your life? How to manage to forgive?”, asked the actor before adding that what he liked in this film, “is that he does not doesn’t give an answer – he just asks really interesting questions”.
“Raymond & Ray”, which will be released on the Apple TV+ streaming platform on October 21, was directed by Rodrigo Garcia – the son of famous Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who died in 2014.
“Apart from the sons, all the others have a different vision” of the dead, added the latter to AFP.
“I think this situation is not uncommon. At the end of the day, no matter how close you are, even in the best of times, there are always these questions that come up: how well do the parents know their children” and vice versa, added the director.
For Ethan Hawke, the strength of this project by renowned producer Alfonso Cuaron lies in the writing, which manages to portray “two opposing truths at the same time”.
Raymond and Ray’s father “is a wonderful lover…a wonderful friend and a political thinker – but also a terrible father,” the actor said, noting how this film stood out by “leaving a lot of room to the dark and mysterious sides of life”.
The film was well received by critics and in particular by the site Deadline which notes the “beautiful sad energy” between the main actors and believes that the film “could mark those of the jury”.
The Toronto International Film Festival still continues until Sunday.
Actor Ethan Hawke reflects on Godard and grief at ‘Raymond & Ray’ premiere in Toronto