Why this director doesn’t want you watching his films on a mobile phone

French director of The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard, says: ‘If I’m going to make a film to be viewed on a mobile phone, what are films for?’

Filmmaker also talks about women’s representation at film festivals, his ‘French Scorsese’ nickname, and his biggest influence – Fritz Lang’s silent films

Reading Time:5 minutes

John C. Reilly (right) and Joaquin Phoenix in a still from The Sisters Brothers.

Published: 10:15pm, 27 Mar 2019Updated: 12:41pm, 28 Mar 2019

Jacques Audiard hasn’t looked back since he reached the pinnacle of world cinema with his brutal prison thriller A Prophet (2009), winner of the Cannes festival’s Grand Prix, eight Cesar Awards – the French Oscars – and more. After two equally acclaimed films (2012’s Rust and Bone and 2015’s Dheepan ), the French writer-director has come up with his first English-language feature, The Sisters Brothers.

Based on Canadian Patrick deWitt’s novel of the same name, Audiard’s neo-Western was shot in Romania and Spain, including locations in Almeria, southeastern Spain, where Sergio Leone made some of his classic Westerns. The film revolves around two assassins (played by Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly) who track down their next target (Riz Ahmed) during the 1850s Gold Rush with the help of a detective (Jake Gyllenhaal).

Having won the Silver Lion for best direction at last year’s Venice film festival and four Cesars, including the award for best director, Audiard brings The Sisters Brothers to the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

He talked to the Post about his career, the state of film festivals and the future of cinema.

Going from Dheepan to The Sisters Brothers, you have moved from working in a language few people know (Tamil) to an almost universal language (English). How does language affect your filmmaking?