Chinese Puzzle is the new film by director Cédric Klapisch, staring Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou and Kelly Reilly. We caught up with Klapisch on the day of the film’s UK release to ask him about the film, its possible sequel and what it means to be forty.
Chinese Puzzle is the third film of a trilogy. How have you changed as a director since the first film, L’Auberge Espagnole?
I think the first one,L’Auberge Espagnole, was a lot more spontaneous, and we were working with the idea of the actors being spontaneous. So in (Chinese Puzzle), it’s a lot more about thinking things over, about preparing things, and it’s not about improvisation any more. I think it went along with the subject of the movie, because this one is about someone being forty years old, and the first one was about being twenty five years old and really improvising your life. I think that is what changed for me and what changed for Xavier (played by Romain Duris).
What’s the significance of being 40?

I think it’s about admitting that you have to take responsibility for your life, you know? You have to accept that you can’t really be a teenager forever, or have fun all the time, so you have to choose your way and accept that. I think that being forty is really about that.

Forty years old, for me, is the end of youth, but you’re not old either, so it’s an age that is interesting because of that. You can really enjoy life, because you don’t have the problems of being old: problems with your health or with your body, and yet you don’t have the excitement of the first times. When you’re twenty, you’re in love for the first time, you have a job for the first time, you’re going to new countries for the first time. When you are forty, you don’t have first times like that, so it’s not about that excitement, it’s about trying to find the enthusiasm without that kind of first time experience enthusiasm.

When I watched the film, there were some scenes that stood out for me, especially the scenes with his arrogant lawyer (Played by Jason Kravits). Which scene was was your favourite?

I really liked this scene because, as you said, I really like that character. For me it’s really about America. He says you have to follow the rules, and then at the end he says you can manage without the rules. For me America is really about that, that maybe you can improvise, but you have to follow the rules first, so I think it’s really about America for me.

I like the scene with the father, because this movie is a lot about being a father yourself. You have children and you have to experience what it is to be a father, but you also have to revisit the relationship that you have with your own dad. I really like what happens with Xavier because in order to be a father himself he has to set things straight with his own father. I really liked that.

You’ve described L’Auberge Espagnole, Russian Dolls and Chinese puzzle as a trilogy, but at the end of Chinese Puzzle, I couldn’t help but think I’d love to see these characters in another ten years. Is there any possibility that there could be a fourth film?

I have no Idea. I think that the two possibilities exist and it depends on whether in ten years I want to do a fourth one, and especially if the actors want to do a fourth one. In a sense I really can’t answer that question now.

Also about the story itself, I think that if there is a major event, if Europe doesn’t exist anymore, if there is a war, if Africa becomes what China is today or something like that, then yes, it would be really interesting to do a fourth one. It will tell a story about that, about how time changes, and about how far it can change. I think if there is a fourth one, it will be also be about change in the world and how the world can change with the characters.

The three films are set in different cities around the world, but a lot of Chinese Puzzle is set not only in New York, but in Chinatown. What elements of Chinese culture were important for you to include in the film?

The idea of the French sentence Casse-tête Chinois (the original french title), is not exactly the same as “Chinese Puzzle”. The idea is that it’s a puzzle that’s hard to solve, that’s what it means in French. It means something complicated, that we don’t understand because that’s what we think about the Chinese language, it’s hard to understand because it doesn’t have an alphabet, it has ideograms. It feels like the culture which is the furthest away.

I think what I wanted to say with that, is what Xavier always says about things being complicated to understand. It’s really about dealing with a culture that you don’t understand at the beginning, that then becomes simple. If you spend ten years in China then it becomes your culture. I think that I wanted to get across the idea that everything that seems impossible to understand and far away from yourself, it can be close, and it can be understandable at some point.

Not all the characters have made a return for this movie. Wendy’s brother, William (played by Kevin Bishop), is absent. What do you think he’s doing now?

Well, for a long time he was in the script but unfortunately there was a planning problem, (Kevin) was the main character in a TV series, so we forgot about his presence, although I really wanted him to be there. For me William’s presence – and it will happen in the next episode if it exists – is what Xavier can’t be. I think it’s funny that at the beginning of L’Auberge Espagnole he’s someone who is really unimportant and annoying, and then he becomes someone a lot more mature and a lot more trustworthy than Xavier so I think that’s what he should mean.

四星半給這部電影；另外半星給男主角。

這是Cédric Klapisch的“法國青年三部曲”的終章（三部曲的名號是我鬼扯的...）。繼L'auberge espagnole的青澀和Les Poupées Russes的風(fēng)流之后，四十而不惑的男主角Xavier轉(zhuǎn)戰(zhàn)紐約唐人街，繼續(xù)抱著他的蘋果筆記本，與自己的生活（及其中的女人們）周旋搏斗。
這次他丟下了俄羅斯套娃，手中拿起了魯班鎖——中國玩意兒。

法國偏遠(yuǎn)地區(qū)的電影院照例都是銀發(fā)的老頭老太太。電影開場，“益智游戲”四個中文大字閃爍著，這樣魂歸故里的還感覺還真是奇怪呢。要是有一個龍標(biāo)就齊活了，唔。

===========開始劇透咯===========

走出電影院的時候，我向朋友說，如果我要寫影評，標(biāo)題一定是《初戀是道過不去的坎兒》。

影片開頭的手法和第二部如出一轍，大色塊、快節(jié)奏、倒敘式的入場十分討喜。在第三部的故事開始之前，Xavier和Wendy已經(jīng)經(jīng)歷了相戀、結(jié)婚、生子和離婚的全過程，Wendy帶著一雙子女Tom和Mia飛去紐約，和美國大叔John在第五大道（窗外就是綠油油的中央公園的那種...）開始了新生活。
Xavier照例在電腦上敲著字。這一次，他寫下“Ma Vie: C'est le bordel.” 伴著這樣一團(tuán)屎的生活，他也飛去紐約。
同性戀好友Isabelle照例做他的臨時房東（Isabelle總是可以在男主角出現(xiàn)的地方有一套大房子=.=）。此時的她已然長發(fā)，和女友Ju生活在一起，并通過Xavier的“un coup de la main一臂之力”受孕成功。Xavier最終住在了Ju以前的公寓——公寓在唐人街中，中國房東張口就是“膩耗”。
為了他的孩子，Xavier必須拿到美國定居身份。不靠譜律師則給了他一個非常輕松愉快的建議——假結(jié)婚。無巧不成書。Xavier在人生的關(guān)鍵時分恰到好處地打了一次車；小黃出租車的中國司機(jī)恰到好處地被老黑的貨車堵在街上；爭執(zhí)中老黑恰到好處地用球棒打殘了中國司機(jī)——給了Xavier一次助人為樂的機(jī)會。當(dāng)中國司機(jī)的七大姑八大姨知恩圖報之時，Xavier淡定地說，“我需要一個妻子，明天去民政局領(lǐng)證?！?br>就這樣，Xavier和華人女孩結(jié)了婚。
前女友Martine同樣莫名其妙地出現(xiàn)在紐約（和中國商人談茶葉生意，并大肆用中文背誦《登鸛雀樓》...）。初戀是道過不去的坎兒。他們約炮約了十五年，終于等到Xavier玩夠了這個世界，或是被這個世界玩夠。
生活開始呈現(xiàn)出生活本應(yīng)該有的樣貌：Xavier和Martine開始住在一起，帶著兩人各自共四個孩子；Wendy準(zhǔn)備和新男友John結(jié)婚，“我不是為了錢，我真的愛他”；Isabelle的孩子也幾乎同時降生。
影片的高潮向第一部最后的橋段致敬。在Isabelle借Xavier的公寓身體出軌的時候，其女友Ju，華人女孩，移民官，Wendy和Martine同時駕臨三寶殿。Xavier閃轉(zhuǎn)騰挪借力打力，和華人女孩忽悠過簽證官，和Isabelle忽悠過Ju。直到一切終了，在粉萌粉萌的小正太Tom慫恿下，Xavier穿過抖動的鏡頭，攔下正登上客車（風(fēng)華巴士...）的Martine?！癛este ici.” 留下吧，為了大團(tuán)圓結(jié)局。

“Tu parle de ta vie, ou ton roman?”
Xavier抱著厚厚的書稿，被胖而禿頂?shù)某霭嫔缋习鍐柕?，“你是在說你的小說，還是在說你的現(xiàn)實生活？” Xavier和Martine一同出現(xiàn)在Spype視窗前?！癓a vie.” 他們說。

===========劇透結(jié)束咯==============

法國青年三部曲，在Xavier的四十歲完結(jié)。
從第一部中青春和自我的碰撞，第二部荷爾蒙下的獵艷和尋覓，直到第三部中，生活終于成了主題。就像每一個人都會從無知走向起伏，從掙扎中歸于平淡。我們遇到人，經(jīng)歷和他們的故事，并在其中塑造自己的形狀，藉此生活。
我不知道是不是一千個讀者就有一千個哈姆雷特。當(dāng)Xavie的故事映射到我的身上時，我感受到的是不可逆轉(zhuǎn)的成長。

猶記得尾聲前的一幕。Isabelle，Wendy和Martine，三個出現(xiàn)在Xavier生命中的女人共坐一把長椅。紐約的地鐵站燈光昏暗卻閃爍，流浪的黑人樂手用塑料桶敲著鼓點，Xavier站在鏡頭中，我忘了他說了什么。

===========我要開始吐槽============

Martine在談判桌上信手拈來“白日依山盡，黃河入海流，欲窮千里目，更上一層樓”時，字幕很識趣地消失了。整個影院，只有兩個奇怪的中國人知道電影上在說什么...咻。

莫名的中國元素賣點。談判桌上操著廣東普通話的茶葉商人，背景音是最炫民族風(fēng)（大誤...）的老年廣場舞，從扭腰到巴黎莫名會乘坐的華埠風(fēng)華巴士，點點點。可是為什么Xavier要和小朋友們在家里吃洋快餐，難道不能換成肉夾饃小籠包驢肉火燒麻辣香鍋么么么?。?br>
導(dǎo)演你真的是想開拓中國市場么，你知道廣電總局會把你的片子剪掉九又四分之三的...而且，那樣的黑體中文標(biāo)題，你的目的其實是忽悠很傻很天真又東方腦殘粉的外國人吧，一定的。

這么文藝的電影難道就不能有一個文藝一點兒的名字嗎？為什么“西班牙客棧”就聽起來那么文藝，“俄羅斯套娃”就聽起來很二逼，而“中國益智游戲”簡直就是腦殘...
然后竟然還能“中國七巧板”“中國魯班鎖”“中國華容道”“中國九連環(huán)”“中國奧賽題”“中國五年高考三年模擬”這樣來一個系列啊摔！