HKIFF Directors Series: Ulrich Seidl
Controversial Austrian director Ulrich Seidl has never been afraid to make a splash, and his latest project is no exception. When the second part of his “Paradise Trilogy” premiered at The Venice Film Festival in 2012, the uproar caused amongst Italian media for its “blasphemous” content was international news, though as often as his work is panned it is praised for its merciless exploration of humanity’s most difficult debates. Seidl brought all three films to this year’s HKIFF, and he sat down with Christopher Mellen to discuss the film, his method and his motivation for exploring religion.
HK Magazine: How long did it take to create the “Paradise Trilogy” from start to finish?
Ulrich Seidl: The first idea I had was to create one film with three different episodes, and that whole process took four years. While shooting, I kept the possibility of making single films in my mind because I was increasingly unsure that one film would work, so I filmed it in such a way that I could get three films if necessary. The method I use is to give lots of open space and to shoot in a chronological way, but I don’t know how it’s going to develop.
HK: When did you know you couldn’t actually make it into one film?
US: I [made] the decision in the editing room. The editing process took one and a half years. It was originally going to be a six hour film, but in the emotional and narrative structure it didn’t work. I am always looking for the best creative output, and the best way was to have three films.
HK: What made you settle on the three stories of love, faith and hope? Were there other stories you had in mind before settling on these three?
US: Originally, we had a couple of ideas. We had one idea about tourism and that developed into sex tourism. We also had an idea to make a film about three women. The last one was faith, and I have always wanted to make a film about faith. I made a film called “Jesus You Know” and “Paradise: Faith” is going back to that original idea of that film.
HK: In your directorial method, you describe a scene and then your actors improvise. How hard is that to direct?
US: The first thing about improvisation is that it needs lots of preparation because the characters need to know exactly who they are. And the intention of every scene is formed right before we shoot. Every actor has instructions on their own, but not with the group. It’s a lot of repetition. We would repeat and try to make that [scene] better.
HK: The most controversial scene in your film was one that made waves in Venice, wherein Anna Maria masturbates with a crucifix. Did you mean to offend people when you shot it?
US: As a director I don’t want to shock people, but for the character, that was just the right conclusion. She has this sexual love for Jesus and it just makes sense in the way that I am telling her character’s story. If you talk about nuns, their relationship to Jesus is not just one with God but one with Jesus as a lover. I mean, they wear a ring and are considered married to Jesus, so the way of sexuality is not just in their thoughts but maybe also in their bodies.
HK: As a character, Anna Maria is very extreme. She actually whips herself in the film, and as far as I could tell it was real. How did you persuade the actress (Maria Hofstätter) to do that?
US: I have collaborated with [actress] Maria Hofstätter for a long time. She was actually the hitchhiker in “Dog Days” and we have a collaborated very closely before and she knows that when she is working for me she has to act real. It’s a matter of trust when you shoot a scene like that because we had to reshoot the scene as well. Of course, we can’t shoot it again right away, but we can shoot it once every day. Walking on her knees was much more painful for her than whipping herself.