On the occasion of a public masterclass in Montpellier, France, Abdellatif Kechiche was interviewed by Yannick Lévy for Paris Match.
The Tunisian-born filmmaker seemed to have regrets regarding “Mektoub, My love: Intermezzo” being shown at Cannes (when the film was "not finished, not mixed, not totally color-corrected").
Kechiche also revealed that if he knew at the time that the principal actors had boycotted the screening, he would not have screened it. Though he says that there exists a few cuts of the film, saying that he has no desire of ever showing them in his lifetime.
Another interesting moment in the interview is Kechiche detailing the infamous cunnilingus scene as being simulated, adding that there was an assistant interrupting the scene regularly to add fake sweat on actress Ophélie Bau's belly.
Kechiche is currently still editing the final two films of his ‘Mektoub’ trilogy, (Canto Duo and Canto 3) but is also writing screenplays and feels he is at the stage in his career where he’d rather support younger filmmakers.
Back in August, a French outlet was reporting that Kechiche snipped ’Intermezzo’ down to 130 minutes. Some of the tweaks had to do with the character of Amin coming back as the main protagonist, and that the color grading had been improved, further pointing to a final cut.
Alas, the director’s cut shown at Cannes will likely never see the light of day, unless Kechiche decides to upload it on a torrent site, much like what Paul Schrader did with his cut of “The Dying of the Light.”