Jean Pierre Leaud Introduces M At The 26th Raindance Film Festival 2018.

The legendary veteran French actor, Jean Pierre Leaud made a brief appearance at the 26th Raindance Film festival 2018. He had been invited by Raindance to introduce the film M at its UK Premiere, in which he had the role of a father to a young girl who has a speech impediment. The film is the directorial debut of actress and screen writer Sarah Forestier, who has previously worked with directors like Abdul Latif Kachiche, Roman Polanski and Alaine Resnais. Sarah Forestier has not only directed this film, but has also written and played the title role opposite actor Redouanne Harjane. Jean Pierre Leaud Introduces M At The 26th Raindance Film

While introducing the film, Jean Pierre Leaud said that his first film was with Francois Traffaut in The 400 Blows back in 1958. During the audition he was awestruck by his sense of improvisation and spontaneity, which enabled him to get the lead role which has now gone down as one of the best performances in film history. Now, after fifty years, he has been paired with actress, screen writer and director Sarah Forestier, who gave him the same freedom to improvise and be spontaneous. This impressed him so much that now he would be working in a second film with her, the script of which he says is brilliant, and the film will be formidable.

Further talking about his career, Jean Pierre Leaud said that after shooting M, he worked in another film titled ‘The Death of Louis XIV‘, in which he got the titular role 50 years after his first film. The performance bagged him an honorary Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, which placed him in the category of the likes of Clint Eastwood and Woody Allen.

While wrapping up his introduction to the movie, Jean Pierre Leaud said that he does not want to tell much about the film to the London audience, but would like to thank them to coming to the screening of it. He also thanked for the opportunity given to him by the Raindance Film Festival for inviting him to introduce the film.

Title Image Credit: Adnan Kundi (The London Tree)