00:00I have the same poster you have from Cannes of Marcello Mastroianni, the one that's behind me.
00:05It's a great poster.
00:05Yeah, my first Cannes.
00:20I really loved the mood of your movie and I really enjoyed your music.
00:27So I want to ask you about your music.
00:30Why did you choose to write your own score?
00:33For a couple of reasons.
00:35One is it took us several years before I got the movie financed.
00:39So I had a lot of time to think about many things.
00:42The script, the casting, the locations and the music.
00:47I started thinking about music and composing music even before we started shooting, some of it.
00:54And then some of it during the shooting and the rest while we were editing.
00:59The editing took a long time and I was there every day.
01:01So I was living with these images and I was seeing what the rhythm.
01:07I mean, editing images felt.
01:11I hadn't done it before, but it felt very similar to something I did know something about, which is producing
01:18and editing, composing music, which I've been doing for years.
01:22And it felt very similar.
01:24It's about you have to look at the images, the way you listen to sound again and again until you
01:31hear what's the right timing, what's the right rhythm.
01:36You know, it's a question of tempo and rhythm mostly.
01:39And so I had started doing it.
01:44I started imagining it and I knew I didn't want it to be too much.
01:48I don't like movies that tell you what to think and what to feel.
01:52I like movies because of their quality of the storytelling.
01:57They invite you to see things and to hear things.
02:01They don't make you see and hear things.
02:03And so I knew the music.
02:05I didn't want it to be too much.
02:06And so if I had a composer, I would always be saying to him probably no less, less, less.
02:12It was easier to just do it.
02:13And it was also cheaper, to be honest.
02:16Now I put on my producer hat and I can tell you that we didn't have to pay the composer.
02:27And we didn't have to pay the actor playing John.
02:31We didn't have to pay the producer who is called Mortensen.
02:35We didn't have to pay the writer.
02:37So, you know, this money went to the movie.
02:40So it was easier in many ways.
02:43But I knew what I wanted.
02:45Maybe the next movie I do, it will be a different situation.
02:48Maybe I won't do any of the music.
02:51I will still want to listen and have opinions about it.
02:54But maybe someone else will do it.
02:56It was just out of necessity.
02:59I was by myself for years preparing the movie.
03:02So I had to do many things to hopefully have something prepared.
03:07Since you said that you knew what you wanted,
03:10Why did you want to get through you all this hate?
03:17Because the main character of your movie is an old man that is homophobic.
03:23He hates women.
03:25He's so rude.
03:27Why did you want to confront all these things that today we don't accept anymore?
03:37Well, we may not accept it.
03:39And when you say we, that's not everybody.
03:42Some people do accept it.
03:44Not only accept it, but express themselves this way, unfortunately.
03:48Not just in the United States, but also in Italy and in other countries.
03:54I have the same poster you have from Cannes of Marcello Mastroianni.
03:58The one that's behind me.
03:59It's a great poster.
04:00Yeah.
04:01My first Cannes.
04:03I was at Cannes this, well, last year, unfortunately, we had a great honor.
04:07We were selected, official selection, Falling.
04:10But then they didn't have Cannes.
04:12So that was unfortunate.
04:13I would have liked to have gone up the red carpet with the actors for Falling.
04:18But anyway, and I just wanted to explore, I guess, the limits of communication or ask
04:26myself, is there a limit to communication?
04:28Are there some people you just can't speak with or that don't deserve to be spoken to?
04:35I don't think so personally, but everybody makes their own decision.
04:39I do think that communication is a problem right now.
04:45Everywhere.
04:47So much of a problem it's become over the last few years that I would say it's the other
04:54pandemic.
04:55You know, you have the COVID pandemic, but you also have the communication or the lack
05:01of communication pandemic.
05:04And we're going to have to work just as hard to fix that problem.
05:08Unfortunately, there's no magic bullet.
05:10There's no vaccine for that.
05:12But the cure for it is to actually listen to other people, especially people you don't
05:19like, don't agree with.
05:23And accept what they're saying, or at least listen to it before you try to make them be
05:30something else.
05:32And also accept who you are, and why do you want to change them?
05:36Why do you disagree?
05:37And even if they don't want to talk to you, just keep trying.
05:41But not resorting to the violence that maybe they might, you have to resist the temptation, which is partly what
05:49happens in falling.
05:50You know, someone who makes a conscious effort.
05:52I'm not going to fight back.
05:54I'm going to wait until he can't anymore.
05:57And this narrative structure, I mean, in terms of the storytelling, this was intentional.
06:05I wanted it to be almost annoying, really, that this guy's coming and coming, and the other guy's going, backing
06:11up.
06:11It's not the normal conflict that's in the center of a drama.
06:16Normally, a conflict is two equal people going after each other.
06:19This is the drama, right?
06:20This is not the usual tension that's caused.
06:23This tension is caused because you're stretching the, you're making it very stressful that one person is not reacting.
06:34It's almost irritating.
06:36Yeah.
06:37But it's intentional because in order to deserve what happens at the end of the story, this has to, Willis
06:46has to go too far.
06:47It has to be completely repetitive and crazy, which is what happens in real life, you know?
06:54And it's not a story that resolves itself in some magical way, you know?
06:59Like if it was a studio movie, maybe, or a different kind of director, maybe you would have the old
07:05guy suddenly start crying and saying, I was so wrong.
07:08I'm so sorry.
07:10It's like, that's not what usually happens in life.
07:12This is not what we're seeing in society.
07:14People don't suddenly, because your reasoning is so excellent, they suddenly go, oh, you're right.
07:21I'll stop being racist and homophobic and misogynist.
07:25This kind of magic is not usually what happens.
07:28So you have to find some other place to meet, to have empathy, you know?
07:34And that's what the story is exploring.
07:36It's not giving an answer, but it's showing a situation, which is very difficult, but a situation which is not
07:44without hope.
07:46There is, as long as you keep trying to communicate, there's always the possibility, no guarantee, there's always the possibility
07:54that you can have a point of contact and a moment of empathy, even if it's just a moment.
07:59But there's no guarantee, you might never get there.
08:02What's definitely sure is that if you stop communicating, there will be no progress.
08:09Yeah.
08:09That's life.
08:10How was directing Cronenberg?
08:13Because you love each other, you kiss a lot, but this time you directed him.
08:18How was it?
08:20It was fun.
08:21I really enjoyed it.
08:22He was very prepared and very professional and, you know, I wanted him to play the part not as a
08:29joke or, you know, as a favor.
08:32You know, I just thought he would be really good in this part.
08:35And I thought that the combination of David and Lance Henriksen in the scene would be a strong one and
08:43funny in a way.
08:45And it was, it worked.
08:47Okay.
08:48Thank you so much.
08:49Great job, by the way.
08:50It was tough, but beautiful.
08:53Thank you.
08:53I'm glad you liked it.
08:55Bye.
08:55Bye.
08:56Bye.
08:57Bye.
08:57Bye.
08:58Bye.
08:58Bye.
08:59Bye.
09:00Bye.
Commenti