Sancho: Why did you choose this object, the washing machine, for this film?
James Lee: I wrote this movie some time ago. At the time, I was unemployed for 6 months. My wife working, it was my responsibility to take care of the children and the house. Among the household chores, I had to do the laundry. Outside, I had never used the washing machine and did not know how to use it. It is usually my wife or my mother who uses it. It is one of those objects with a strong feminine connotation. I wanted to continue my series on human relations ( Ed: the failure of relations, in this case ) and the object in question was only one way to achieve it. My choice was therefore made on this object, which was unknown to me and incomprehensible.
The soundtrack of the film is almost exclusively composed of sounds of washing machine. Do these sound effects follow a wash cycle and are they coordinated with the image?
In fact, it works in reverse. It is true that my film is composed of two similar parts that are actually two cycles, delimited by the change of owner of the mysterious woman. However, I work on the soundtrack after editing the movie, so the sound was added after the image.
The design of the machine is particularly studied.Was it a choice?
Absolutely. I wanted a machine with frontal opening because the circular shape of the porthole echoes the cycles that punctuate both the washes and my film. So we bought one because mine opened from the top. Also, I wanted it to be green to be easily identifiable. There is no green model, so we were forced to repaint it!
You seem to be working in periods. Will your next film follow the same themes?
The Beautiful Washing Machine was part of a series on human relations. My recent films ( Editor's note: Before we fall in love again and Things we do When We fall in love ) are part of a trilogy that I love ends with Waiting for love I am writing now. I will change genre after this film and maybe even return to the theater.
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