Long Weekend With André

A flaxen haired ingénue and a natty pair of loafers lure an opportunistic cad into a compromising entanglement in André Saraiva’s short The Shoe. The French cultural provocateur collaborated with luxury footwear brand J.M. Weston for his debut as director, in which actor Leo Fitzpatrick plays a guileless thief whose material weaknesses trigger karmic repercussions. “The shoe thing was a reference to when I was a kid in the 80s; people used to steal expensive cool loafers,” Saraiva explains. “In America they used to steal your Air Jordans; in France they would steal J.M. Westons.” Saraiva drafted a gang of his friends for the film’s cast, including Fitzpatrick, Saraiva’s paramour Annabelle Dexter-Jones, French actor Nicolas Duvauchelle (seen punishing Fitzpatrick for his sticky fingers), actress Joséphine de la Baume and model Poppy Delevingne; for the soundtrack, Kitsuné chief Gildas Loaëc curated an indie setlist featuring The Virgins, Is Tropical and Vandaveer, among others. Shot last winter, the short’s muted palette is influenced by Nouvelle Vague films such as Paris vu par (Six in Paris). Purple magazine publisher Olivier Zahm, who worked with Saraiva on the script, explains that the two didn’t have to look far for a lothario on whom to base their leading man. “To me, we wrote a sort of self portrait of André,” he says. “It’s a character very close to any young French guy who likes to flirt with girls in Paris.” Check back tomorrow to see another clip from the film.