(19 May 2025)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cannes, France – 19 May 2025
1. Various shots cast of "La femme la plus riche du monde" enter press conference and sit down
2. SOUNDBITE (French) Isabelle Huppert, actor:
"The mix of cynicism, the tone of operetta – Thierry (Klifa, co-writer/director) was talking about a farce – all this guided our acting, rather than the events per se. Otherwise we could have fallen into the trap of becoming sentimental, and dramatize it in a way that had no place in the film. I think the film’s appeal is because it retains this structure and this distance that prevents it from falling into an emotional pitfall. And we, the actors were helped by the dialogue, the tone of the film. This is, in fact, what interested us most and which allowed us to give the film an autonomy from what we do and don’t know. Everyone can read their own personal history into this.”
3. Wide shot press conference
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Isabelle Huppert, actor:
“Basically, she has so much authority that she doesn’t need any more. She has this tremendous certainty – it’s almost unimaginable, in fact. She is, after all, the richest woman in the world, so nothing can really make her doubt herself or make her feel a sense of failure. She has this natural authority about her, so she has no doubts. She can give herself this luxury, so to speak, because she’s a woman who can have everything she dreams of. Suddenly, she decides to give herself the luxury of having less. That’s not much of a sacrifice for her of course, as she says, and then indeed she allows herself to be, perhaps not manipulated – it’s not manipulation really because she benefits from it. The feelings are known to the characters and in no way does she renounce her power because in fact she’s doing all this just to enjoy it.”
5. Wide shot press conference
6. SOUNDBITE (French) Isabelle Huppert, actor – on what she thinks of the vast inequality of wealth between the very rich and the very poor:
“Injustice, the economic differences, the social differences – well, in France, we manage to cope. Of course, in some places and in some situations, it’s scandalous of course. We’re torn between feeling powerless, angry, resigned to all these inequalities.”
7. Wide shot press conference ends
STORYLINE:
Award-winning actor Isabelle Huppert plays multi-billionaire Liliane Bettencourt in Thierry Klifa’s new movie, "The Richest Woman in the World" (French title "La Femme la plus riche du Monde"), which is premiering at the Cannes Film Festival.
The drama of love, scandal and money is freely inspired by the real life of the heir to the L’Oréal cosmetics fortune, who struck up an unusual friendship with a writer and photographer in Paris, François-Marie Banier, and went on to give him more than €1bn.
Bettencourt, the world’s richest woman, fell under the spell of the younger man, played in the movie by Laurent Lafitte. Over several years, she gave him cash, annuities and works of art, causing an international scandal that was revealed by the billionaire’s daughter, played by Marina Foïs.
Filmmaker Thierry Klifa says the movie is "very loosely" based on real events and contains pure fiction. He has changed the names of all the protagonists. Klifa, a film journalist for 11 years before becoming a director, investigated the story for three years.
The movie premiered out of competition at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, which runs through 24 May. It will be released in France in October.
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