François Ozon's new film 'In The House' explores the mixing of "fiction and reality", according to the the French film maker.
The film is adapted from Juan Mayorga's play 'The Boy in the Last Row'. It follows 16-year-old student Claude Garcia (played by Ernst Umhauer) as he writes revealing accounts of the life and family of his friend Rapha for his homework assignments. In turn, Claude's writing fascinates his disillusioned teacher Germain (played by Fabrice Luchini), revealing truths about the older man's own life.
Ozon said he was attracted by the opportunity to explore the art of writing and bring intellectual questions to life "in a very playful way, with strong relationships between the characters."
As Garcia and his teacher get drawn into the lives of Rapha and his family, the film uses the teenager's voyeuristic writing to question art and literature. Recalling the voyeuristic nature of Hitchcock's 'Rear Window', Ozon went on to say that "all directors are voyeurists" and "cinema is about manipulation".
The film also stars British-French actress Kristin Scott Thomas, who plays Germain's wife, gallery owner Jeanne.
"You know there is not one way to work with actors. You have to adapt yourself to each actor. You don't direct Kristin Scott Thomas like you direct Fabrice Luchini. Each one has his own needs, so you have to adapt yourself to make them comfortable, to be sure they will give the best", Ozon said.
The director admitted that once he has finished shooting a film he often goes on "to work on something else very quickly. I'm a very bad father, I abandon my children."
Yet Ozon stressed that critical response isn't as important as seeing each film as part of a much larger picture in his overall career.
"I'm always happy when I have good reactions and a good response. But I don't do a film for a film, you know, like [German director Rainer Werner] Fassbinder said, I'm building a house with different rooms and each film is a room", the director explained.
Ozon's previous films include 'Potiche', in which Luchini also starred alongside Catherine Deneuve, 'Ricky' and 'Swimming Pool'.
'In the House' will open in UK cinemas on March 29.