The great French actress Isabelle Huppert is a mainstay at many international festivals, but seeing her grace the screens at Sundance in Park City, Utah was a uniquely pleasant surprise. Huppert stars in LUZ, the second feature from Hong Kong director Flora Lau, which premiered in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at this year’s edition. The film follows two characters who turn to virtual reality to attempt to reconnect with estranged loved ones. One of them is a reformed gangster in Chongqing trying to find his daughter who was taken away from him years ago; the other is a Hong Kong gallery owner who goes to Paris to visit her stepmother (played by Huppert) who is facing a terminal diagnosis. Huppert carries the role with her typical combination of flair and subtlety, portraying a woman who faces mortality with quiet, even irreverent self-assuredness. 

Last week, Film Comment Editor Devika Girish chatted with Huppert about how she came to be a part of LUZ, what it’s like to communicate across language barriers on and off-screen, and how Apichatpong Weerasethakul introduced her to virtual reality.

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