matter of our films, our collabora- tions are always very playful,” Bier says of working with Jensen. “It is just the chemistry you find with some people and some directors. “It’s funny — when we originally
AKI KAURISMÄKI LE HAVRE Aki Kaurismäki’s second French- language film following 1992’s La Vie De Bohème tells the story of a shoe-shiner in the Northern French port town who befriends a young African illegal immigrant on the run and decides to help him escape the clutches of the police. Against the backdrop of the
director’s trademark deadpan styl- ing and human warmth, Le Havre explores the hot-button issue of immigration in Europe and the machinations of state bureaucracy against the underdog. “I have always preferred the version of the fairy tale where Little Red Riding Hood eats the wolf and not the opposite, but in real life I prefer
met we set out to do a comedy, and we have been trying to do a com- edy for 10 years. We always start out, ‘Let’s do a comedy,’ but it tends to go into more serious twists and turns.”
wolves to the pale men of Wall Street,” says Kaurismäki. The film, which stars André
Wilms, Kati Outinen and Blondin Miguel, is Finland’s submission to the foreign-language Oscar category.
LARS VON TRIER MELANCHOLIA Danish auteur Lars von Trier drew on his own experiences for Melan- cholia. “My analyst told me melan- choliacs will usually be more level-headed than ordinary people in a disastrous situation, partly because they can say: ‘What did I tell you?’ But also because they have nothing to lose. And that was the germ of Melancholia.” Within a year von Trier had writ-
ten the script and started shooting the story of sisters Justine and Claire facing imminent apocalypse. Fol- lowing an overture, Melancholia is structured in two parts, each named after a sister. The first is set at a grand wedding where the depressed Justine is struggling to enjoy her day. “The wedding is Justine’s last
attempt to fight her way back into life instead of longing herself out of it,” von Trier explains. “That’s why she wants to get married. She thinks: now I’m forcing my way through the rituals and some truth may issue from it. When you’re
European Film Awards 2011 n 35
being cured of a depression, you’re forced to instigate some rituals as well. Take a five minute walk, for instance. And by going through the motions, the rituals will accumulate some meaning as well.” With a starry cast that includes
Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gains- bourg, Kiefer Sutherland and John Hurt, Melancholia premiered in competition at Cannes. Von Trier has picked up several European Film Awards, and has been nomi- nated in the screenplay category for Dogville and The Idiots.
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