Interview AGNES KOCSIS
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CL: In the film we don't initially see much of the outside world. Is it important for the storyline that it should be set in a particular city? AK: Piroska, the protagonist, has worked in a hospital at the terminal ward for almost 20 years. She became apathetic towards death and sickness. In the meantime she herself becomes a nearly dead person as well: she lives between her home and the hospital, and she practically doesn't have a social life. She lives in a hermetically closed world – for her there is no outside world and she is not really capable of having normal interpersonal relations. Therefore we made her home look visually similar to the hospital – she feels almost the same at home as among the dying people. When she sets off to look for her childhood friend the world gradually opens up for her and becomes more and more colorful. This we can feel not only in the increasing number of the colorful scenes and different locations that she visits during her search but also in the choices regarding her clothes – as they become more and more colorful as she slowly escapes from her apathy. In all of my films we have tried a bit to construct a city which is not necessarily Budapest, that it could be any city anywhere. We have chosen locations in totally different parts of the city. Some of them are not in the suburbs at all but in the center, and it seems as if the characters of the films wouldn't venture out from the same district. It is because we have shown that aspect of things that makes all the places look alike. For me, the most important thing in film is to achieve an overall atmosphere. In Adrienn Pál – as in Fresh Air too - we tried to create a somewhat abstract but coherent world, an imaginary city which could be anywhere and almost anytime. Of course, during the search into the past we also discover the past of a country like Hungary. At the same time depicting the truthfulness of the human relationships, the motivation and the psychology of the characters, was really important for us. CL: How did you decide on the actress Éva Gábor who played the role of Piroska and was it a long casting process? AK: The casting process lasted almost one and a half years. We were looking for Piroska more and more desperately - two casting agencies, then a group of people were travelling all around Hungary. We also checked the casting of a TV program where they cast very overweight people to lose weight during the program. I personally jumped out of the bus or the car if I saw a fat woman, and ran to them asking for their phone number. In the end we found Éva through an ad at a Hungarian social network. In the last round there were five or six girls. At the beginning we did some improvisation with them, then they had to learn some dialogues and play it with a real actor. I liked Éva from the very beginning but we had to be sure that she was able to do such a big role. She is in almost every shot, the film's story is about her development, and it reflects her inner feelings, so the protagonist had to be a very strong character who is capable of acting and also has a very strong capacity of concentration. There are shots of 5-6 minutes where the actors had to know perfectly not only their lines but feel the rhythm and be punctual with their movements as well. With the long shots we don't have the possibility of editing, so the rhythm and the pace has to be perfect during the shooting. CL: I like the scene that features a camera panning over a model railway town at night while opera music is playing. Any comments on the artistic decisions in filming scenes like that, particularly in regards to narrative progression? |
AK: The diorama itself for me is a metaphor of the world, we can see everything there – city, villages, forest, mountain, animals, people, different kind of things. Building this diorama is the hobby of Kálmán, the partner of Piroska. He spends all his free time with the diorama, and it takes up the entire bedroom. When Kálmán is absent, Piroska is dreaming over the diorama – this is somehow an escape from that hermetically closed world where she lives, and from where she is unable to get out. CL: Tell us your about your involvement with Béla Tarr on the omnibus film that he produced and was screened at the Berlinale in 2012? AK: As the governement closed the Hungarian Film Fund in 2010, there had already been no film production for a year when Béla Tarr asked 11 film directors to make no-budget short films about Hungary in 2011. That was a statement to show that there are still filmmakers existing in Hungary. My short A day is about a homeless woman who finds a stray dog – or better to say - the dog finds her and they make friends. With the dog though she is not allowed to use the shelter. They have to sleep in the park, therefore the police puts her in custody and the dog is taken in by the animal control. There was a new law imposed that made it illegal to reside in a public area. So this law permitted to put in prison those who cannot pay the fine which was really high – the consequence being it made people homeless. CL: Adrienn Pál, just like Fresh Air, won awards at major film festivals and in different sections. Has the success helped in getting your next production funded and is there plans for that already? AK: We have got preproduction money from MEDIA for the next project with a Dutch producer, Els Vandevorst, who was a co-producer for Adrienn Pál. Also, Béla Tarr is involved as producer but he is not acknowledging the current Hungarian funding system because it was a political decision. At this moment we are doing the casting of the protagonists and location scout, and we are also working on the script. For the rest, we will see... Steven Yates |
