Can you tell me about the casting of Bernard Giraudeau, who plays Leopold, the predatory bisexual?

I wanted to break the idea that people have of Bernard in the 1980s. He was like Alain Delon. Women were in love with him and now the young boys can be too.

You don't show homosexual sex in the film. Why?

I didn't want to shoot male sex. I did that once and people were more interested in the size of the penis and in some places the scene was cut out. It's not so beautiful to shoot men naked, though French actors have the most beautiful bottoms.

Where do your views differ from Fassbinder's?

I am pessimist in some ways but I have some hope that one can get out of tragedy. In that sense I don't feel so related to Fassbinder. I did shoot another ending, for instance, where the character Vera could open the window and there was wind and she could hear the sounds of the city but I wanted to respect the play and be faithful to Fassbinder.

What are you working on next?

I have just shot "Under The Sand", a story about a widow, played by Charlotte Rampling, who has a hard time dealing with the death of her husband.

Read the review of Water Drops On Burning Rocks.