Oscar nominee Eskil Vogt – who co-wrote “The Worst Person within the World” with Joachim Trier – delivers one other love story, however he goes darker in “Copenhagen Does Not Exist,” a Snowglobe manufacturing directed by Martin Skovbjerg, not too long ago awarded at Göteborg Film Festival following its world premiere at Intl. Film Festival Rotterdam.
“So many motion pictures, due to how the tradition has modified, are attempting to be very clear-cut. This one dares to point out that people might be advanced and paradoxical, egotistical and mild. We are fucked up beings,” he says.
In the movie, a younger lady instantly disappears. Her father is searching for solutions, particularly from her boyfriend, Sander, who agrees to be questioned by him. Angela Bundalovic, Jonas Holst Schmidt and Zlatko Burić star, whereas TrustNordisk handles gross sales.
“I’ve been on this darkish place for thus lengthy. I’m simply blissful to be out once more,” says Skovbjerg, additionally recalling a tough lockdown shoot. “Being in that house, and making an attempt to know this couple, was hardcore.”
“It’s a narrative about isolation, about spending time in your house. It appeared so unique: such a radical, bizarre factor to do. But then the pandemic got here. The world caught up with the script, in a manner,” laughs Vogt.
While they determined to not give attention to the pandemic, the sense of hysteria, of loneliness, stayed within the movie. As properly as in Sander, whose habits – as famous by Vogt – is certain to make some viewers uncomfortable.
“People would ask: ‘Can you make him extra… energetic?’ He is just too female, not sturdy sufficient – that’s what they meant. It’s very provocative, nonetheless, to have a person taking a backseat. He stops working! As a man, are you able to try this?! They are going towards the grain,” he factors out. Also speaking concerning the movie’s uncommon interrogation scene.
“When I learn the novel [by Terje Holtet Larsen, called ‘Sander’] they only lock the door and begin asking him questions. And he agrees to do this! Why? He must be extra devastated, extra provoked. This worry you can’t belief your foremost character is there from the beginning and also you simply wish to slap him typically.”
With such advanced characters, casting was key, they each state.
“I wanted somebody who may simply shut his eyes and bear in mind issues, and you’ll see them,” says Skovbjerg.
“Jonas can try this, so can Angela. Together, they’re creating a brand new world. Sander begins to know who he actually is, via Ida, and by letting go of the norms.”
Their relationship, which isolates them from everyone they know, could possibly be seen as poisonous. Or it could possibly be a “stunning expression of affection,” says Vogt. “It’s each, on the identical time.”
“When you fall in love, you wish to spend all of your time with this individual. Call in sick, order meals, have intercourse and simply discuss. Hopefully, now we have all been there. What they’re doing is a continuation of that, in a manner.”
While centered round a thriller, ready to be solved, “Copenhagen Does Not Exist” in the end heads in an surprising route.
“There are some unstated guidelines in motion pictures and normally, when somebody is being investigated by a man who appears like Zlatko, you assume you know the way it should finish. But that is an existential drama. With some thriller beats,” explains Vogt, with Skovbjerg including: “We dance round these guidelines, nevertheless it’s not only a thriller, not only a love story. It has time to be each.”
Trying to be respectful about a number of topics mentioned within the movie – together with melancholy – the duo additionally needed to be sure that Ida received’t be simply seen as a “ghost,” haunting her family members.
“For many of the film, we’re with Sander and inside his head, so we by no means get her perspective. I hate the time period ‘sturdy character,’ as a result of they’re normally boring. You want vulnerability, you want faults. But Ida is a robust character, as a result of you’ll be able to’t overlook her – they discuss her on a regular basis. She talks to you too, within the film,” provides Vogt.
