Sabrina Greve, the Brazilian actress who played Clarisse, the protagonist of the Competition film “Clarisse or something about us” (directed by Petrus Cariry), is candid enough to admit that she is still analysing her character. She loves to watch art films and is busy watching films at the IFFK, but has still managed to see her film twice. Sabrina talks to Atul Abdul Khader about Clarisse, whom she finds more elusive with each viewing, and about the challenges she faced.
What was the factor that inspired you take this role?
For me it was an intuition, I read the script and I just felt like doing it, I dint know what this film was about and I didn’t understand it, so I decided to do the do the film to know more about it through acting.
Compared to the other roles that you have done, how different was Clarisse?
This role was a challenging one, in that way it was different. Clarisse is very introspective and I was acting with my eyes and heart. We had a lot of rehearsals and I saw a lot of films to get myself into the groove. In the film, many a time it is the scenery that talks more than the people. It was a challenge as I had to dig deep into myself to play Clarisse.
Before doing the film did you completely understand your character?
No, I am still analyzing my character by watching the film again and again it’s a continuous experience , it’s a very new experience for me as I have never done a character that I don’t completely get or understand. Clarisse brings a wide range of feelings and it is strange to watch me act as Clarisse and my acting surprises me, she is that much complex. Here at IFFK I saw the film twice. Each time it’s exciting and strange.
During the shooting which scene was the most demanding?
The nude scene. When Petrus (director) asked me to do the scene I realised that to understand the character of Clarisse, it was important to feel her body. Everything she told or felt is very introspective and sometimes some things need to get out through the body. So this portion of getting the feelings and emotions out through the body by using the right emotional movement was demanding.
Now after acting in the film have you got a clear-cut idea about the film?
After acting I got an idea about how the past, the present, and the relationship between a father and a daughter and what they couldn’t say, affect a person. Clarisse feels acute agony, but she is unable to convey what happens within her to her father and when she decides to murder him, it’s like she’s in a dream that she doesn’t understand what she is doing. As an actress I thought about it this way.
