The AFI FEST Interview: BY THE SEA Director Angelina Jolie Pitt

Angelina Jolie Pitt’s third narrative feature, BY THE SEA, centers on a married couple (Jolie Pitt and Brad Pitt) in the 1970s on vacation in a small seaside town, struggling to save their relationship. The film, set in France, is based on an original idea by Jolie Pitt.

AFI: The film’s narrative and its characters are evocative of French and Italian films of the late 1960s and 1970s. Were there any specific films that served as an inspiration as you wrote and directed BY THE SEA?

Angelina Jolie Pitt: No. But I was conscious of the creative freedom that artists had at that time. That was an influence and something we were trying to explore.

The time and place in which this film is set are essential to how the couple relate to each other and the emotional crisis at the heart of the story. Was this always a story that was set in the 1970s, or did this evolve as you wrote and developed the characters and the script?

It was always set in the 1970s because it was a very unique and rich time for art and politics.

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