As her new film My Zoe opens, the actor-director recalls being enchanted by Jarmusch, Godard and Chéreau – and dancing rock’n’roll at the Paris Boum Boum
When I was a teenager I was very much into films – a little bit of music maybe, but mostly films. I went to the cinema a lot. I really liked older stuff like Douglas Sirk’s Imitation of Life, and my dad was a big admirer of John Cassavetes, so I was a fan of A Woman Under the Influence. But I really remember being blown away by [Francis Ford Coppola’s] Rumble Fish. It’s funny: I’ve seen it since and I like it, but I wouldn’t say it was my favourite any more. But back then, I thought it was just really great: the music, the way they use black-and-white and colour. I used to listen to the soundtrack all the time, too. It was by Stewart Copeland of the Police. And I loved the early Jim Jarmusch films, particularly Stranger Than Paradise, the first of his movies that had an international impact. Those two – Rumble Fish and Stranger Than Paradise – were really important to me as a teenager, along with Down by Law, which came along a bit later.
