On the occasion of the cinema release of “The Third War” with its beautiful cast made up of Anthony Bajon, Karim Leklou and Leïla Bekhti, we were able to meet the director Giovanni Aloi, as well as his main performer Anthony Bajon. The opportunity to learn more about this very special war film.
The movie is called The Third War. Why this title?
Giovanni Aloi : The title comes from a statement by Manuel Valls in 2015, which said “we are at war against terrorism”, and the image of a war film in Paris, today, appeared to me. A very different image therefore of Paris in the cinema, a city that we are more used to seeing in romantic films. As a foreigner, I’m used to these images, and I wanted to show the city differently, in a war film based on real events.
Anthony Bajon : Regarding the two World Wars, there was something very palpable, it was physical, there were millions of deaths. This “third war” is intangible, invisible, it is a new form of war.
GA : To go in the direction of Anthony, the film evokes an invisible enemy, which arouses great fear. It is a war experienced on a daily basis, we do not know when it started, when it will end, so it is really a perception more than a reality. What the film shows in particular is the change in the way citizens look, a more suspicious look, and a look that has also changed towards the military. We got used to seeing soldiers in the streets with the Sentinel mission, and this habit has made them invisible. Personally, I think this is abnormal.
The film tells of the deep loneliness of these soldiers, in a society that has lost its bearings. How do you perceive this profession?
AB : I believe that there is a lack of consideration towards these people, who have become part of everyday life. We don’t look at them, we don’t smile at them, we don’t say hello to them, even though they are there to protect us. There is something incredible about this form of integration into our daily lives. Especially since they have a filter, they can hardly intervene on anything, while they are there with weapons of war. My character wants to save the nation, to find an identity, to be useful and to serve, so he will in a way create his own mission.
When I was younger, I saw the military a bit like robots, or superhuman people. I saw them as an elite, with this feeling that they were inaccessible, that they were individuals who even ambushed with twenty guys hitting on them would manage to get out of it. As I grew up I learned more about their profession, who they were, their functions, their status. If I see them differently today, I have immense respect for these people and their work.
Can we speak of indifference to these men and women, and a refusal to accept the gravity of the situation?
GA : More broadly, I believe that Westerners feel guilty. We know that we are destroying the planet, we know that many people are suffering on several continents. But we continue to live our life and in the end we don’t give a damn about the rest … This is something that is well analyzed by Dostoevsky in Crime and Punishment, with this character who killed two women. We are in the same situation, which remains very current, that of committing and seeing crimes but of remaining seated and doing nothing.
The character of Leo is reminiscent of other famous anti-heroes of cinema, including that of Taxi Driver. Did you write it like that?
GA : With Anthony, before the shooting, we discussed on a more personal level, we shared our experiences and we found similar approaches on the character he was going to play in the film. Then for the references, there is obviously Taxi Driver and his journey which takes his character to madness. I wanted to deal in my film with the phenomenon of wanting to help someone unknown, and also with loneliness. He is someone who joins the army, who makes friends there but who retains a great loneliness in him.
The cast of The Third War is brilliant. How was the work with Karim Leklou and Leïla Bekhti?
AB : These are two great inspirations for me. I esteem them both immensely. We became very close with Karim thanks to this shoot, it’s a remarkable meeting. They are both very generous, working with them made me feel like I was really in the “big leagues”. These are people who send very quickly, very hard, and so it is a responsibility to give them the right answer.
GA : I would say the same …
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