"A woman of the world": Laure Calamy sells her charms without seeing herself as a victim
Sell your charms in the streets of Strasbourg. This is the job deliberately chosen by Marie, the prostitute played by Laure Calamy in Une femme du monde. Cécile Ducrocq's first feature film, discovered at the Deauville Film Festival, sweeps away many preconceived ideas about prostitution by showing the heroine as a free woman whose main concern is to finance her son's cooking studies.
“I consider the woman I embody as someone who has decided her destiny, explains Laure Calamy to 20 Minutes. Nobody forced her into prostitution and I don't accept the idea that anyone can contradict her when she declares that she is free. This is what emerges from this film which dares to go against the tide of received ideas to paint the portrait of a sex worker and offer a fascinating picture of the world in which she evolves.
Everything for her son
The actress, Caesarized last year for Antoinette in the Cévennes, delivers a subtle performance as a woman who loses her footing when she urgently needs money. "She is fighting for her son's future as many mothers would do," insists Laure Calamy. She is ready to sacrifice herself for him, even if it means giving up her independence. The heroine's race against time to raise tuition for a fancy school leads her to enter a brothel in hopes of increasing her earnings. A good opportunity to detail how these establishments operate.
Cécile Ducrocq had already directed the actress in the short film La Contre-allée on the same subject. “Unlike very young foreign women exploited by networks that cut prices, she is not a victim, explains the filmmaker to 20 Minutes . It suffers from a globalization that threatens it. In front of her clients or in demonstrations organized to defend her rights, Marie remains dignified. “But there was no question of making her an angel, she is also capable of harshness or even dishonesty when she is pushed to the limit,” insists Laure Calamy.
The nuances of the character are popular, especially in the relationship that Marie has with her son (Nissim Renard). A woman of the world deals with prostitution without concession or vulgarity. Laure Calamy confirms the extent of her talent for embodying fragile and strong women to whom the viewer wants to support.
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