After scant U. S. theatrical exposure, Lukas Moodysson’s Mammoth is opening in the U. K. and Ireland. Moodysson’s given several interviews, and they’re as loving (and doubtful) about the entire notion of filmmaking as he has been since his luminous, tactile first feature, Show Me Love (Fucking Åmål). Bergman called him a young master, but Bergman is gone and now Moodysson is 41. From the Irish Times, talking to Tara Brady, talking about his willful shift to darker and more experimental work until this feature: “Yes, it probably was conscious to speak in a different way. In one way it’s a bit double-edged. Speaking in a narrative still is in some ways more difficult. I find it easier to speak in a more chaotic way. I find that easier in a chaotic world sometimes. It can be a struggle to communicate through narrative.” He concludes, “It’s getting more difficult to make films. In the past I just made something. Now I feel I have a bigger burden in myself. It doesn’t feel I am getting better at the craft. In some ways I feel I have a bigger ability to improvise when younger. It’s getting really difficult to direct. It’s getting hard to say something quickly when somebody on set asks ‘black trousers or blue trousers?’ This has something to do with age. It’s getting harder to react. You have to be in a room with the actors and you have to react to all these small decisions… I feel like I am getting smarter in my head as I get older. But I am also getting slower in my head. More and more I just want to go home and think about the blue trousers or the black trousers.” From Little White Lies, with Jason Woodward: “Confusion and curiosity. My entire career is built on confusion and curiosity. We all share a basic instinct in trying to understand the world around us, and for me that comes from being totally confused by the world and in turn being fascinated by how we, as human beings, live together and ultimately how we exploit each other. I mean that’s the negative thing; that I’m confused, and then the positive reaction to that is curiosity, which is much more of a constant force.” He tells Dazed and Confused that Mammoth was inspired by a harsh, classic Marianne Faithfull song. “It started more with an idea that I wanted to make a film in different languages rather than only English. I thought about that Marianne Faithful song ‘Broken English’, I thought that broken English should be the language of this film.” He notes one audience he observed: “For me at least when I have spent a day or two talking to journalists the way they reacted to the film told me a lot about who they were. They were really some interesting days…” And, from The Guardian, Jason Solomons‘ podcast that includes an interview with the director. [Trailer below.]
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