Mange ta soupe

Most people tend to think that directing films is something of a pastime for the actor Mathieu Amalric. But that’s simply wrong: while Amalric’s first on-screen appearance dates back to 1984 (Otar Iosseliani’s Les Favoris de la lune), it took another six years for his next acting gig – a period during which he was busy making shorts and gaining on-set experience as a director’s assistant, among other jobs. So, yes, it very well might have been Amalric’s early 90s rise to acting stardom that made his feature debut Mange ta soupe possible – but in reality, he simply arrived where he belonged. The assuredness and clarity of the film, its particular tone full of wise, deftly-done comic moments surely shows that.

In a certain way, ‘belonging’ is also at the core of Mange ta soupe‘s story: that of a son visiting his mother, a famous literary critic, for a few days, which is anchored in Amalric’s own family life and upbringing, down to some perplexing details. That he doesn’t play himself is as significant here as is the casting of fellow actor-director László Szabó as his alter ego’s father – consider it a way of expressing how close and how distant the film is from reality.

– Olaf Möller