‘Despite promises, there are few people to stand up for the homeless’: Corinne Massiero on ‘La Marginale’ poster

You’re playing in “La Marginale,” but basically, what’s your definition of marginal?

I can turn the question around by asking what is “normality?” Who sets the rules? Who decides which standards? It is clear that they often come from the various forces that govern us politically, economically or socially. It could be family rules, school or religions… These powers are often in the hands of males, over 50, straight and white. Therefore, anything that is not within this framework can be considered peripheral. And I include in that everything that is LGBT and everything that is outside the beauty codes that you can see in museums and movies…. It is also considered marginal because you are physically disabled, you only need to take the subway to see it… which is not normal! The same about the ways of behaving for women. Normal life is not smoking, having children, getting married, having a father and mother… We are all marginalized at one time or another which is why this movie is so important.

When you received the text and read that headline, what was your reaction?

I never read the scenarios, it’s a principle! Thus, I ask the directors what they want to stand for. Here, the title has a double meaning because it is the name of a road, and thus it is the way of life. It speaks to me more since I’m often described as marginal in life and work… It’s also a nice nod to the movie with Belmondo. Frank Simeyere is a very humane and very human, very funny person. These aspects are shown in the movie. We laugh a lot, we cry sometimes, we wonder and that raises a lot of questions about ourselves, about everyday life, about those people that we sometimes have negative preconceptions or clichés in mind. All this is shown in his movie and I hope this movie will change the perspective of many people.

Have you suffered from being considered marginal?

It has turned into a force that, at some point, we have to deal with. A bit like martial arts, we try to reverse this incoming force in order to destroy it. We change the situation and rebuild ourselves. This allows me to open up to other ways of thinking and to move, on a small scale, toward something more permanent and more just.

Your character, Michelle, is homeless. I experienced this life too. Was going back to the past difficult?

As far as I’m concerned, no. While filming, I was in the hotel in the company of nice people and was doing a job that I love. It was even reassuring to think that the end of the tunnel was behind me. What sad to realize that there are more and more people living in this situation. In any city, the number of homeless people has multiplied by 3, 4, or 5. Among them are many young men… For all the promise, there are few people there to defend, shelter, and care for.

With films such as “La Marginale” or “Almost” with Bernard Campan and Alexandre Julien, French cinema seems to be opening up to disability and autism lately … Do you feel an awareness of the occupation side?

There is no movie that does not reflect what is happening in society. Everything is not going at the desired pace, but more and more directors are interested in broader topics related to real life. It’s not just people who have already grown up in the world of cinema who say to themselves, “Hey, we’re going to make more movies about the homeless,” but people like Frank Simeyere who are fighting to write about it and for the project to see the light of day.

However, everyone doing what they want and doing nothing or making only entertainment films is also a commitment… But getting involved at political, community or social levels is possible today because mentalities are changing. Right now, we are in a period of moving a lot and the best is a lot!

Humanity at the end of the journey

the story

Michelle (Corinne Massiero), homeless, lives in Orly airport and wanders between the different halls. She regularly meets Theo (Vincent Chalambert), a young sweeper at the airport. He has a mental disability and lives with his overly protective “aunt”. One day, Michelle makes an unexpected discovery, which leads her to convince Theo to drive his license-free car to Lisbon to find her son. Then they embark on a path road trip Full of twists and turns on section roads…

We saw

Released last year with Bernard Campan and Alexandre Julien, “Almost” manages to impress handicap with humor, tenderness and subtlety despite a highly anticipated twist. “La Marginale” which pairs Corinne Masiero with Vincent Chalembert – who actually suffers from autism – is in a similar vein. during road movie The good and bad encounters, as the duo join Portugal, will both learn from each other. In him you will find the son you lost. He will see in this margin the figure of the mother he never had, as he was abandoned at birth due to his disability. Filled with good feelings and punctuated by small light touches, this little hymn to tolerance invites us to revise the definition of normalcy and can be seen without displeasure, even if Frank Simeyere, very wise about his production, has made the most of his characters, often stuck in stereotypes. .

> Written by Frank Simmer (France). With Corinne Maciero, Vincent Chalembert and Karina Marimon … Comedy. Duration: 1h37.