Hello Stephan! You were inspired by the Wesphael case. To what extent, and to what effect?

Stephan Streker: "this film is to Wesphael's case what 'wedding' is to the Sadia Sheikh case (killed by honour murder in 2007). It is not the reality or the destiny of these people that interests me, but the substrate of these extraordinary stories. One day, I heard two people who I admire very much using opposing speeches about him. The first showed me his innocence by A plus B, and the second his guilt. I realized that they were both sincere, and above all that their respective speeches said more about themselves than about the case itself. Hence the idea of a film approaching the intimacy of a character, but where the certifications concerning him come from the outside. This journey allows me to question truth, intimate conviction and justice. In the middle of an extra love story. The most beautiful feeling in the world, sometimes leading to horror and destruction. "

How would you describe the relationship between Louis and Maeva?

"I think they are victims of the absolute scourge of alcohol. That's the only thing I can say about the real case. No booze, no drama! I'm sure you will. So I would say that their relationship has unfortunately become toxic to their defending bodies. "

If our own reaction is the subject of the film, why did you stay on that character of the suspect politician?

"that's right! What interests me in cinema is the intimacy, which I would define as the relation of self to self. Who you are when you're really alone in front of the mirror. I wanted to be as close as I could to this character, without knowing the essentials of it. It was therefore not necessary to leave him one foot. And then there is the character of Maeva, his companion played by Alma Jodorowsky (seen in the series' the serpent', ndlr). She's the one who opens the movie. But the foreground of a film has a special status, which is never trivial. This is a reminder that, even if it is said throughout the film that only Louis Durieux knows the truth, that is actually not true. She knows her too. "

How does the film look at our country?

"it's a totally Belgian story! It is only in Belgium where such a figure, a terrible child of politics, remains unknown in half of his country. Besides, it takes place in Ostend, my favorite city. It's the Belgian film city par excellence, and the city of James Ensor. I knew right away that I would be inspired by him and his masks. You Don't need a drawing to make the connection between the image of the mask and the story of suspicion and doubt that you're telling. "

What do these masks of Ensor represent in the story?

"they talk about humanity. Louis is a politician, but we have to go beyond that front. And I believe in the power of cinema to allow us to go further, thanks to intimacy among others. To transcend a polarized reaction, limited to the debated-or-not culpable. With a celebration of doubt, which is always more interesting than certainty. The question is often more interesting than the answer, isn't it? And a successful film captures a form of truth through the lie of its artifices. "

Why did you choose the title 'the enemy'?

"the enemy is never just yourself. The worst enemy we encounter in our lives is probably ourselves …. But the best friend too! "

Before concluding, are there any other fictions based on actual facts that you would recommend to us?

"the series dedicated to O.J. Simpson ('the people vs. O.J. Simpson', ed.)! there is a desire for appropriation, and even imitation, which works extremely well. And which, for the sake of this, is totally opposed to what has been done on 'the enemy' …"

Our critique of "the enemy":

Guilty or not guilty? The question was all raised in the course of the Bernard Wesphael case, the man suspected of having killed his wife, then acquitted in 2016. But wouldn't this natural curiosity about the guilt of a public man phagocyte the real stakes of the drama? Stephan Streker ('wedding') has grasped this uncertainty in certainty. Our prejudices about the case and our reaction as a spectator are therefore an integral part of the experience, in a thematic abym beautifully supported by the masks of James Ensor. "the enemy" shines sometimes, but never really takes off.