One of the most discussed projects80th Venice Film Festival AND Poor beings! (in theaters January 25) signed by visionary director Yorgos Lanthimos, who comes to Laguna without the cast led by Emma Stone to try to talk about a hard-to-categorize project during a meeting with the foreign press. .
Based on a short story by Alasdair Grey, it sets kinda female frankenstein. Bella (Emma Stone, who also starred with the director Most lovely) is brought back to life by unorthodox scientists after she runs away from her abusive husband and falls in love with a wasteful lawyer. Completely free and emancipated for her time, she is a genuine and bizarre rarity.
What was Emma Stone’s involvement as a producer?
“Emma Stone was involved from the very beginning. I read the novel in 2019 and received the author’s blessing for a film adaptation. And she was on my mind when I was writing the script, I told her and she was excited to the point where she was involved in the early stages, from casting to early drafts. It also helped her with the performance and when we were finally about to start filming as she was involved in every decision on the film, she became the producer and I think she brought the film to life.”
How would you describe the project?
“This film is difficult to describe to those who have not seen it and have not read the book, the structure of which I, however, changed, as well as the more political aspect, which is less present in the film. I wanted the point of view to be hers. The tone of the film has a certain humor and something in common with the pages.
How modern is this story?
“The position of women in society, gender relations remain very contemporary topics, but we have new and different tools to approach this issue, little has changed since the 1990s when the book was written.”
How did you feel about intimate scenes?
“It’s a pity that Emma couldn’t come here and tell you about it (due to the strike of the actors – ed.), But her freedom in everything, including sensuality, is part of the story. Emma must not have felt any shame or discomfort about her body, but now, having made films together, we communicate in silence. We catch on the fly. We created a set with an intimate relationship coordinator, but there were very few people in the room, in the most delicate scenes. And in general, we have already rehearsed sex scenes, for example, with Mark Ruffalo, and all this helped to make the atmosphere very relaxed. We wanted to stage human sexual desire, so we first sat down and decided on the positions and the type of approach we wanted to stage.”
How is your creative process going?
“I’m always asking myself what’s best for the story and for the character. Then I develop a certain aesthetic and always move further from film to film, but always serve the story. The next film, for example, has a very simple aesthetic because that’s what the film asked for.” “Because this time the point of view is feminine and not realistic, it motivated me to shoot in a certain way, sometimes using a black and white part of the world and then returning to color. In my opinion, this is a personal exploration of the very process of making a film.”
His approach is sometimes surreal.
“Because life has its share of absurdity in all its aspects, including sex.”