[on the French films and books he admires] I particularly like the film
La regina Margot (1994) and
Il conte di Montecristo (1998) with
Gérard Depardieu, both adapted from
Alexandre Dumas novels. Watching them made me realise what Dumas does so well; revenge is obviously a prevalent theme and there are many stories in that genre, but what he writes about so brilliantly is the cost of revenge for the avenger and how it wears away at them. I had that in my head while we were filming.
I love Camille (La Dame aux Camélias) by
Alexandre Dumas fils and would like to do it as a play; there was a fantastic theatre adaptation by English playwright Pam Gems. My favourite film is
Un sapore di ruggine e ossa (2012) [starring
Marion Cotillard].
