East West is your third collaboration with Regis Wargnier. What was your approach to the film?
Regis gave me the first version of the screenplay a year before the beginning of the shooting, when I was still at the hospital. At the beginning of the summer, I went out of the hospital, I really felt very well, and as soon as I could, one of my first journeys abroad was to Kiev to be present on the set during two or three days. This allowed me to see again Catherine Deneuve, which is always happiness for me. She played in INDOCHINA and I had the luck to meet her then, so we became friends. And I also meet Sandrine Bonnaire, who is absolutely charming! (...) When it's possible, I like visiting the scenery just to feel the atmosphere. For INDOCHINA I couldn't do it, because at the same time I worked on DEAD AGAIN, but for East West I could go to Paris, where some scenes had to be shot. During my stay in Kiev, it was very useful for me to hear the Choirs of the Ukrainian Army - who appear in the film as the Choirs of the Red Army - and to see the actors. I spent two days looking at them, and then I went to Bulgaria, Sofia, to follow the shooting which moved. After that, Regis came back and edited the film. He asked me to come and see some sequences and I came to Paris to view the first editing. When I saw the swimming sequences, I decided to use the piano in the same style as the great Russian piano concertos. Because there's so much action in the swimming (the dive ...) that I had this idea. The piano also appears at the beginning of the film, on the boat, and also, when the actors dance. As soon as I saw these sequences, I immediately thought to a piano theme, because I knew that it'd be a strong approach to the film. I also studied a lot of the Russian music, in particular, music from choral. I listened to this music a lot to feel the atmosphere and the Russian style which is so special. The idea of a choir at the end was evident because I wanted this sensation; I wanted to try a combination of French and Russian music. The film opens with a French musical colour, but this choir at the end has an aspect as sacred as secular.

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Is it true that Regis Wargnier contacted you for INDOCHINA after having heard your score for HENRY V?
Yes. Here is how it happened: Regis watched a documentary on TV about the dubbing of HENRY V in France [Bernard Pivot' TV broadcast "Bouillon de Culture", January 19, 1991 - Editor's note] They diffused the sequence of the speech of Saint-Crespin with the music and the voices. In the French version Kenneth Branagh is dubbed by Gerard Depardieu. This is how Regis Wargnier heard the music. It was very funny to see all these sequences of Gerard listening to the music. (laughs)

Did he tell you what he really felt in your music?
He said that it inspired him, that he felt that it had the spirit which the film needed.

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Regis Wargnier loves the actors, and especially the actresses for who he writes magnificent roles. Do you think that in his films, your music is much feminine, or at least, more feminized?
I really don't know. In FRENCH WOMAN and INDOCHINA, the music should reflect the femininity because of the two feminine characters in these two films. According to me, in East West, there's a note much more masculine due to the environment, to the dark images, to the depravation and to this fight which took place. Regis writes very well for the women. I think he has empathy and understanding and sensibility, and fortunately I can have it also! (laughs)

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And how do you feel today?
I feel happy! (laughs) I've never felt so well since my adolescence. Ironically, I quit smoking a year before falling ill! (laughs) I stopped a long time before my disease! But I do not smoke any more! According to me, many composers smoke cause this job is very stressful ... I never felt so well! I'm fine, I speak well, I eat well, I enjoy myself a lot! But I'm on a diet because I eat too much! Long life to the diet! (laughs)

Submitted by Kay