Olivier Assayas

Born in Paris on January 25, 1955, he is the son of the filmmaker who adopted the artistic and more French name of Jacques Rémy ., although his real name was Raymond Assayas, being a Jew of Greek origin in Constantinople, when it was part of the Ottoman Empire. On the other hand, her mother, Catherine de Károlyi, of French nationality, was of Hungarian origin and a Calvinist family, and worked as a stylist for Hermès, and her father was a poster artist and graphic designer. This artistic and cosmopolitan background undoubtedly contributed to the development of Olivier’s artistic taste, who studied Fine Arts at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure in Paris, and also obtained a degree in modern literature from the Parisian University of Briberna-la-Neuve. His little brother Michka would also show artistic inclinations, becoming a writer, journalist, and music critic.

A great lover of cinema, he worked as a critic in the 80s, in publications such as Métal Hurlant, Cahiers du cinéma and Rock & Folk. At that time he also made his first steps in the cinema, directing several shorts.

His tastes showed that he was open to all kinds of films, since he loved martial arts titles, and he even dedicated a special issue of Cahiers to Asian cinema, which led to a journey of exploration through those latitudes. It gives an idea of ​​his immersion in the Far East that he married the Chinese actress Maggie Cheung , a marriage that lasted four years, between 1998 and 2001, she would star in two of his films before and after the separation, Irma Vep (1996) . and Clean , in (2004), for which she received an award at Cannes. Later he would maintain a long relationship with Mia Hansen-Løve , director and occasional actress of two of Assayas’ films, with whom he has a daughter, and from whom he separated in 2016.

In 1985, Assayas will hang up the pen as a film critic… to a certain extent, since his love for the cinema of others is reflected in the publication in 1990 of “Conversation avec Bergman”, a book written with Stig Björkman based on three lengthy interviews with the Swedish master Ingmar Bergman . In addition, the cinema will also serve to talk about cinema, with fictional stories that include filmmakers and personal assistants -in addition to the aforementioned Irma Vep , a tribute to the French vampiress series by Feuillade, Viaje a Sils Maria (2014) and Personal Shopper (2016), with Kristen Stewart – or a television series actress – Juliette Binoche in Double Lives(2018)–, or with a documentary, HHH , which consecrates the Chinese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien in 1997 .

Before embarking on directing his first feature film, he began to master scriptwriting procedures, co-writing La rendezvous (1985) and El lugar del crimen (1986) with André Téchiné , a former collaborator of Cahiers . In his work of writing scripts for other filmmakers, the Roman Polanski case would stand out many later , for whom he would write the adaptation of Based on a true story (2017).

In 1986 he made his debut with Desorden , which managed to stand out at Critics’ Week in Venice. It shows the interest in youth themes and rock music of whoever was a teenager when the revolutionary events of May 68 took place, while pointing out his ability to draw accurate psychological profiles in his characters. He will continue to address stories of young people, and troubled relationships with adults in El niño del invierno (1989), Paris wakes up (1991) and A new life (1993).

With Finales de august, principios de septiembre (1998) its protagonist, Jeanne Balibar , won the Silver Shell at the San Sebastian Festival. In any case, the film that catapults him to a special maturity is without a doubt Las horas del verano (2008), a particularly lucid family chronicle, which draws on personal memories and knows how to capture nostalgia for the time that slips from our grasp. In the stupendous cast, he once again coincides with Juliette Binoche , whom he had turned to for his segment of the choral film Canto a la capital gala Paris, je t’aime (2006).

Carlos ( 2010 ), which was a film and miniseries, and where, exception to the rule, does not sign the script alone; realistically follows the trajectory of Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, alias Carlos, the famous Venezuelan revolutionary terrorist. Assayas seems determined to capture the spirit of an era that reached him in his youth, because then comes Después de mayo (2012), a screenplay award in Venice, which honestly tries to point out the mud brought by the revolutionary mud of 68. About film writing, explains that “in the end, what interests me the most is what contradicts what I have written, because that is exactly where real life enters the film.”

After reflecting on the interpretation – Trip to Sils Maria – and a kind of “side effect” on an assistant – Personal Shopper –, he demonstrates his ability to paint certain intellectual contemporary urban environments with Double Lives , where he combines the publishing world affected by the revolution digital, the technological issue and how it affects humanity had been touched on in the bizarre film with the expressive title Demonlover (2002)–, and affective ups and downs of those of a lifetime. He assured Assayas that “Our world has always been in constant change. The great challenge is to filter, to know what is the most important of all that changes and what needs our adaptation or not. After all, that’s what politics and the world of opinion are all about.”

Always active, with a rhythm of one film every two years, he is currently shooting Red Avispa , about the case of five Cuban spies, prisoners in the United States, with a cast that includes Ana de Armas and Penélope Cruz , among other Spanish-speaking actors.