«In awarding the Pardo d’oro to Jean-Claude Brisseau for his new film La Fille de nulle part, the jury of the 65th edition of the Festival del film Locarno, with Apichatpong Weerasethakul as its president, has made a decision to not only recompense one of the greatest living French filmmakers for his entire body of work but also to salute a feature film that is an exemplary gesture of cinematic freedom, beauty and courage.»
«A former math teacher who seems far more interested in literature, movies, philosophy and parapsychology, Michel (stolidly played by Brisseau), lives alone since the death of his wife, 29 years ago, in a spacious Paris flat he had inherited from her. One day he hears strange noises from the staircase and finds a blonde young girl, Dora (Virginie Legeay), being attacked by a young man who runs away. He takes her in but she refuses to call the police or a doctor and promises to quickly recuperate on her own. She installs herself in the flat and except for a short absence, never leaves it until the end of the film. A disturbing but revitalising ingredient in the older man’s life, she will help him work on a book he is preparing, listens to his interpretation of the Bible as a fictional work invented in the 7th century BC by order of King Josias, makes tables levitate, invites ghosts from the past (or the unconscious, if you prefer) to come over, finds herself the unwilling heir of everything Michel possesses, until death makes an entrance, in the same arbitrary way as most of the other things in this film.» (Screendaily)
«Mesmo, mesmo que tenha uma grande vontade de fantasia ou realismo e que tenha uma imaginação delirante, que não esqueçam que parte tudo, qualquer invenção, parte de qualquer coisa que existe. E se essa coisa passar por pensar “ah, o que eu queria fazer era um gajo que andava em levitação por Castelo Branco e depois três naves espaciais vinham lá”. Sim senhor. Tentar pensar porque é que isso apareceu, e se não terá a ver com o Pai, o filho, a namorada, com Castelo Branco. Coisas do interior. Não, do exterior. Porque o interior é um bocado isso. O interior é a nossa imaginação e as ideias que nós temos. O exterior é o que nos faz, eu acho, ter essas ideias. Qualquer ideia que a gente tenha é um bocadinho condicionada com o que nós vivemos.» (Pedro Costa/ Cinergia)
«I can just write about things correlated to my personal life, then I mix them with imaginary elements. I wanted to reach a vast and simple audience, not only the élite. Making something difficult to put on a scene, but trying to hide this difficulty at the same time.» (Jean-Claude Brisseau)
