Great Communicator

“I’m a person of show,” admits French actress Myriam Mezieres, who stars in and co-wrote Swiss director Alain Tanner’s “A Flame in My Heart.” “My life is to communicate, so when I can’t find the words to express myself, I sing or do whatever to get my point across.”

In the semiautobiographical film, Mezieres portrays Mercedes, an actress in the throes of three volatile relationships. While the film has received mixed reviews, the actress’ performance has drawn raves for its raw energy and ferocity.

“I’ve been called shameless,” she notes with some embarrassment. “But I’m actually quite shy and inhibited. We actors are generally loved for what people misunderstand about us. The movie was a way of bringing out the elements of my character that are normally repressed.”

Mezieres said that her collaboration with Tanner on “A Flame in My Heart” evolved from a combination of luck and circumstance. She said she mentioned the idea for the story to Tanner during one of his visits to Paris in 1986. He had another project planned at the time and Mezieres recalled getting into an argument with him about the premise.

A month later, she said, Tanner called to say his project had been postponed and that he wanted to do her story instead. Mezieres said she was both flattered and frightened.

“I’m really only a diary writer, but I told him I’d try. I wasn’t sure it would make sense. However, as I wrote the scenario I began to see the link between incidents.”

Raised in an orphanage for children of artists, Mezieres describes herself as a “tough” kid who used education to disprove dark predictions from institutional authorities. Later, while working as a model, she was invited by noted stage director Jerome Savary to join his troupe. He advised her simply to follow her instincts.

“Mercedes drew a lot from me,” she said. “I understand her confusion about projecting one image on stage and another for those you love. But, as Tanner kept on reminding me, Mercedes is not you. You must always be Myriam.”