Five international directors narrated a Series of stories drawn from a wide range of overthrows of dictatorships such as Santiago Miter’s Argentina 2021 — Intimate, tragic portrayal of friendship through adolescence, as in Lukas Dhont’s Close.
Some of these films are based on historical figures – such as
Marie Kreutzer of Corsage, see Vicky Krieps step into free character – Austrian Queen Elizabeth. David Chow’s return to Seoul is based on the personal experience of the director’s best friend and her relationship with her birth. The complex relationship of the family. and Bardo by multi-Oscar winner Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu , A False Chronicle of Few Truths Weaves a complex novel out of semi-autobiographical musings.
THR’s Kevin Cassidy joins five famous filmmakers The inspirational core behind their decisions discusses what type of research went into creating these features and preparing these films at this particular moment.
I want to go back to that spark that made you want to make these movies this is in you life and your career?
Mary Cruzer I grew up in Austria and the Empress Elisabeth was one of the biggest tourist attractions there. On every memento, it’s either her or Mozart. So I’m not very interested in that woman. I found it very interesting to make a period film and deal with a real historical figure because there is not a story and there is not a truth. It’s not objective, it’s always interpreted. The Sissi [Elizabeth’s nickname] film by Ernst Marischka is a reflection of the time when people wanted to see a beautiful film about a young empress, because it was shortly after the war. [Vicky Krieps and I] had done a movie before and just wanted to work together again. She said, “Why don’t we make a movie about Sissi?” I was like, “I mean, who would do that?” But then the idea stayed with me. I started reading, and then the spark for me was reading about the rebellious side of that woman, how much she hated being that beautiful queen, and with that, the spark was really: This is a story. This could be a story about a woman who no longer wants to meet expectations. About women of that era, and still are today, raised and trained by society to please others to be loved. That’s what I want to talk about. In every film I do, what I really try to do is show the complexity of being human. It’s kind of like a calling—I feel like I’m being called to make films about complex female characters. Because whenever I write a script, people say, “Oh, that’s a great script, but do you think people will like her?” It’s just something I really care about: the complexity of people, regardless of their gender Or where they came from, or were they queens, or soldiers, or whatever.
Alejandro, you said something to the effect that all your other movies are yours Shot with eyes closed. But with Bardo, you look inward. can you talk about this
ALEJANDRO GONZÁLEZ IÁRRITU I guess what I’m trying to say is that with movies like this, you have to close your eyes and make it out of what you find out there, and sometimes [that] will It’s enjoyable, sometimes embarrassing. Orson Welles has a beautiful and funny line: “Everything they say about me at some point is true.” It’s true, right? They can say, “Oh, that guy is mad.” Yeah. On Tuesday, that day, I was pissed off. We are the mosaic of reality. So we are neither good nor bad. I have to find all the bad things I see about me or things that bother me, the memories I’ve been creating and shaping and the dreams, fears, doubts, uncertainties and experiences I’ve been through and accept it like acupuncture , emotional things that are prepared for me or need me to modify and organize 13 lived in this country with my family for many years. This can create a lot of displacement and a rupture of identities, challenges, gifts and all these emotional things. I take them from a subconscious source, not rationally, and make them fictional. I’m not interested in facts. I’m more interested in emotional beliefs about things that affect me, my kids, and my wife. In a way, fiction has the ability to illuminate what reality hides.
Davy, I’m surprised that the main character in Return has money Going to Seoul is, how comprehensive. She is a Korean-French woman and you are not. However, since you are French-Cambodian, you share a double culture. Is that your access point?
DAVY CHOU
Santiago, you just said you were surprised that the events in your movie hadn’t happened yet Movie?
SANTIAGO MITER
Lukas, can you talkClose origin ? Specifically, there was one book that had a big impact on you, right?
Lucas East Special Yes. A friend of mine recommended me a book titled Deep Secrets. This is a book written by an American psychologist who spent five years in 500 boys. And in Age, she asked the boys to talk about their male friendships. At this age, these boys talk about each other in the kindest, tenderest ways possible. They said they would go crazy without each other, and they dared to use the word love openly. It’s just incredibly emotional to witness. Then, as the boys grew up and she asked them the same questions over and over again, she realized and noticed how the boys no longer dared to use that language, how they actually alienated each other. Because they’re afraid of that emotional language, because our society tells them that’s soft and seen as feminine. So we actually deprive them of their real connection. This is also the period when the suicide rate for boys in their lives rises to four times that for girls. I also developed a fear of being intimate with friends at a very young age. But after reading her book, I realized that we live in such a society, where all tough and competitive things are strangled by it. And I’ve also always thought it had a lot to do with my experience as a queer boy growing up in the Flemish countryside. That fear came from knowing my sexuality. But what her research has shown me is that it’s not about my sexuality, it’s about masculinity and the type of vocabulary we’ve built up in this world to associate with masculinity.
David, you played a completely unknown character in your movie- How did you find the right actors?
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Lucas, your movie depends on the performance of these two incredible little boys . How do you find them and bring these shows?
DHONT At the end of writing the script, we realized that this movie is about the friendship of two year old boy so we need to find for that very fragile, fleeting moment between childhood and adolescence. So we went to all the schools. I saw 150 boy since I was in the last years of elementary school and the first grade of secondary school in Brussels and the Brussels surrounding area. But then, call it luck, or fate, I don’t know which of the two, but I’m taking the train from Antwerp to Ghent. I looked next to me and there was a young angel sitting, talking to his friends, very expressive. There’s this fire in his eyes, these long lashes. I didn’t hear what he said because I was listening to music. So it’s kind of like a movie already. But I saw his expression. I thought, “Wow, this looks like an incredible young man. I thought, ‘I’m going to regret it if I don’t go to him and ask him if he wants to do an audition.” ’ But I also thought it would make me feel really creepy. So I was like, “Okay, no, I’m going to ask the panel,” because he was sitting in a panel. Luckily, he seemed very excited and Responsive. We saw them in droves, every time 13 Lessons for a day for young people. So we have this workshop with these groups. In one of the sets, Eden [Dambrine] and Gustav [De Waele] ended up playing Léo and Rémi, and they came together, they had never acted before, they had never met each other. There was instant chemistry between them. I think we see so many young talented people, but being with them also has the potential to be a friendship. And then I think a big part of the budget goes to rehearsals because I want to rehearse with them for six months because they’ve never acted or been on camera before. I knew I had to have them ready before we actually started filming. So what we did in those six months was they only read the script once at the beginning, and then I made them forget about it. When they read it, we talked very candidly about the themes of the film: guilt, grief, friendship, the heartbreak of friendship.
Can you tell us more about the rehearsal process?
DHONT
IÁRRITU I block scene very technical and very precise because it requires a long and very precise camera move because 30 mm lens and 70 degrees with lighted murals and technically complex stuff. So we sometimes have to really rehearse lots and lots of extras and everybody. So technically, [my actors] have muscle memory physically and can obviously keep track of subjects and things. But then, because sometimes it’s just a take or two and the adrenaline becomes — once they have the words and they’re really comfortable with it, then they’re liberated. They can come up with something very real and very honest. It’s about being honest with so many people. It’s something I’m always excited about. That’s the alchemy of it.
Interview edited for length and clarity.
