Olivier Assayas' 'Présences' Reveals His Literary and Critical Depth

Olivier Assayas' book 'Présences, écrits sur le cinéma', published by Éditions Gallimard, is not a conventional collection of previously published articles or a filmmaker's memoir. It showcases Assayas' exceptional writing talent, establishing him as a true cinema writer. In the post-autarkic 1970s, he defended Fellini's complexity beyond clichés and Fassbinder's innovation at Cahiers du cinéma, often against prevailing opinion. He wrote on Warhol and Kenneth Anger, building bridges between experimental and industrial cinema, and critically engaged with Guy Debord's poetry cinema, whose films were long unavailable. Assayas supported their DVD release, a stance unusual for Cahiers, which was resistant to avant-garde formalism and wary of deviations from Bazinian dogma. The book includes sentimental portraits of actors like Maggie Cheung and Jean-Pierre Léaud, outlining a contemporary approach to directing. Through references to painters Balthus and Francis Bacon, Assayas traces his evolution in representing bodies, moving from hysterical precipitation to lyrical dramatic perspectives, as seen in films like 'Les Destinées sentimentales', 'Fin août, début septembre', and 'L'Heure d'été'. A highlight is a long unpublished text, a condensed intimate diary of a filmmaker described as 'literary and plastically adventurous'. The book is introduced by Dominique Païni.