Von Trier's 100 EYES
Gold Heart The girl who became a princess
"Gold Heart set off into the world. With her cake in one hand -
- and her stick in the other, she strode through the forest".
"She met a boy on abridge. He had only rags to wear".
"Gold Heart took off her top and gaVe it to the boy".
"Take my top, l expect l'll manage", Gold Heart said.
"One day a prince asked Gold Heart to marry him."
"l am the boy to whom you gave your top, you have aheart of gold -
- and so l want to make you my princess''.
""Take my heart", said Gold Heart, "l expect l'll manage".
The leading character in my film is pretty much the same.
There is a bit of Gold Heart about her, -
- inspired by my memories of this book, -
- which l haven't seen since l was about four years old.
lt's fascinating, the idea of setting off and giving everything away.
l particularly remember the words "l expect l'll manage", Gold Heart said.
My father often quoted them when he wanted to be mean.
He saw the story as a symbol of falseness.
But it possessed obvious qualities.
So this is our little Gold Heart, Selma, -
- our leading character. Very much so.
We'll move cameras 34 and 35, because she has to lie down.
- Lie down?! - Yes, it'll be much better.
Tilt towards the ground?
34 and 35. Just a little.
l'd seen a Video with Björk and l thought she had charisma.
l can tell you: charisma is only her middle name!
l didn't know her music, but then l listened to some of it -
- and l thought it'd be interesting to get her to create a clash -
- with popular music, which of course the music of musicals is.
Making a musicalwould be fun. l'd always wanted to, -
- but l had no idea how. l still don't know much about it.
But l am good at inventing games, if not much good at playing them.
And this game was "Let's make a musical!"
The film is set in America.
But l don't want to go to the USA.
l don't want to go anywhere, let alone the USA.
So we went to ...well, Sweden.
lt's rather like the USA, or so l'Ve been told.
To me, America is mythological.
By not doing things where they're meant to be done, -
- you sometimes achieVe an added bonus.
For example, l am very fond of a book by Kafka, America.
He'd never been there, yet l think there's lots of America in the book.
lt starts with a description of the Statue of Liberty -
- "with a sword in her hand". He hadn't looked at the picture ...
So you get these quirks ...
ln Breaking the Waves what mattered was love between adults.
But for real melodrama l thought we'd do love between mother and child.
lt's a fine quality, too.
l'd written the story, and then l saw a cartoon.
A fantastic film about alittle blind girl, it was pure gold!
Blindness is the strongest melodramatic effect imaginable.
So FLOP! l made her blind.
l had to ring Björk and say "it'll be just like the script, -
- but she's blind".
l've tried to create stories that were purged to the very last detail.
Very, very pure stories.
Stories that are only packed with clichés get made by the ton.
My goal was to make stories that people would accept -
- instead of just switching off.
Maybe you just need to give them a bit more of the human touch.
You don't think it's risky, Lars?
Dancer is my version of an American movie.
After all, America consists of all the films l've seen -
- that are set in America.
lt's a weak nation that has to kill its inhabitants -
- in order to maintain its moral standards.
l am violently opposed to the death penalty, of course.
l can't see it as punishment.
My perception of the US judicial system -
- without being an expert or knowing anything about it -
- is that it doesn't seem just in God's Own Country.
The principle is to aim 100 cameras at the dance scenes -
- and then we just go for it and see what happens.
The cameras are unmanned, -
- so we'll get loads of random effects.
Lots of badly framed shots, etc.
Actually it's similar to the hand-held camera-
- l am using for the acted scenes.
lt allows the dancers and actors complete freedom, -
- because the entire space should be covered ... lt isn't, of course.
We'd need 1000 or 10,000 cameras. But it's fun to try.
The more you relinquish as a director, -
- and the more you do in cooperation with an actor, -
- the more you just sew a little seed in the actor's technique -
- or in the actor's emotions in this case -
- which can then grow big ... The less you have to do with it -
- the more generally accessible the product will probably turn out to be.
Depending, of course, on whom you're working with.
But l far prefer only to exert a tiny touch.
The directors l rate most -
- only touch very gently with a cotton bud.
That's what they touch the characters with.
lt is very, very beautiful. Mature, too, l consider it.
Catherine DeneuVe wrote to me -
- asking if she could haVe a teeny, teeny, teeny part -
- in something l was doing.
l said she couldn't, but she could have a relatiVely large part.
Originally the character Cathy plays was a 35 year old black woman.
She was thrilled; she thought she'd be covered in burnt cork.
But we decided against it.
Now she plays a French immigrant.
l think she does so really well. She's been really interested -
- in improvising for this film, which she'd never done before.
So l've heard.
l conceived of Selma in Björk.
Then some kind of understanding arose.
The things Björk brings in are gifts for me.
They are. Gifts.
Selma has a goal. She is determined.
And she has old-fashioned virtues -
- which she carries to extremes.
Selma is also making a film.
Her little ... fantasy fragments, if you like, -
- are her own little work of art.
She is able to see life -
- through a musical filter which she imposes.
But where that musical would normally celebrate -
- the great and perfect, -
- it is the little human errors that are celebrated here.
She cultivates what is human. She wants to cultivate it.
There's a bit of the Virgin Mary about her.
ln this scene we started abit close up, -
- and we've moved farther and farther away, -
- picking up all kinds of bonuses, including a line by Peter Stormare -
- "My father said women were like rust".
l'd have trouble writing a line like that.
lt's a gift.
ln this film we've improvised quite abit.
lmprovising is fun -
- and it's good being behind the camera-
- so you can talk during the takes.
A script is like a shopping list.
lf you buy what's on it you know you'll get all you need.
lf you shop more intuitively, you find you forget things.
l am usually hungry and l take my shopping list along.
lt's been fun filming. Even l am pleased.
Anyone can point a camera. lt's like looking at something.
The difference isn't that great.
When l am holding the camera l am a co-actor.
l become an observer, and l can talk to the cast at the same time.
lt's a good method.
When l'm holding the camera l'm on equal terms with the actors.
When l meet them as themselves afterwards -
- l get ... well, taken down a peg or two.
But when l'm carrying a camera l'm someone.
And they're a little bit afraid of it ...
You can always be nasty with a camera.
You have to be a bit nasty, or you get nothing out of it.
l try not to stylise, but even so, things become stylised.
lt's just like the Dogme rules about not having aesthetic preferences.
But the moment you abolish rules you have them in a new way.
But you can try to be led wherever your desires lie.
The very jerky camera can also become a style.
And once something becomes a style it becomes extreme -
- and you want to control things instead of letting them breathe.
- She is great, is Björk, great. - All three are good.
- Catherine is also great. - Sure. Everything is just great.
Let's look at Take 2 again ...
lt's too far up.
l want to edit the film, too!
That looks really weird.
Technology is many things.
You can be fascinated by technology for various reasons.
One very important reason is the desire to be in control.
lf you are unable to control your life, your feelings, -
- your relations, you can always put some tapes on the editing table -
- and transpose them as much as you want.
What you can't do with your fellow human beings -
- you can do with your tapes and films.
As a child you're sure the whole thing is a fantasy -
- with you centre stage. People don't really die.
That's just part of a story unfolding before your eyes -
- to entertain or educate you.
That's the very childish view of life, right?
That it's something going on for mysake, all of it.
Maybe that's why making films is fun.
lt allows you to preserve that view of life.
As the director.
l'd like to talk to you about a press conference ...
- We've had one. - Yes, but we're having another.
lf Björk appears, l'll appear, too!
No press conference!
l thought the prep day in the court room would be the best.
- Don't you agree? - Prep day would do fine.
Let me see the schedule ...
We'll never get all this crap out of the way ...where are we now?
- There's only a month left. - A real month or a working month?
- A real month. - OK, a real month.
On Wednesday we reached half way.
- When does hell end? - Hell ends ...
On 6th April.
We're waiting for Lars to come out of the hay.
He's having a nap.
- He's a bit tired. - The little man is tired.
The little fellow is tired.
- Run off his legs. - But he'll rise again.
And be really good.
l told the girls to come and get you, but they wouldn't.
Right.
Good evening, Doctor.
Unadulterated stories like this about men are legion.
The heroic figure and all that is just not interesting.
She's a woman hero, you may say, but l think it's more interesting.
No matter how clichéd and trite it may be -
- l still think it's interesting making films about women.
We could ask if there was another scene we could do.
We're trying extremely hard to finish.
We could ask if she can think of another scene she'd like to do.
Then we can do that instead. Could you ask her?
What's this? Why does he need another shirt?
- What happened? - lt was ugly when it was open.
lsn't this one nicer?
l don't know.
On the one hand l feel l have a little woman in me.
l feel close to women, but if l have to be together with anyone -
- men's company is far easier. Men are easier for me to direct, too.
l don't get the same hang-ups when l'm directing men.
Directin gwomen, l always have problems.
Those actresses can all look at me as if they were my mother ...
... and make me feel embarrassed.
Women know how to do that.
That's what they can do. Make me feel embarrassed.
And they do.
l'm a power person. l have to admit it.
But is it for the sake of power or for some other purpose?
The latter, l hope.
But power also means having the capacity to do things.
That's positiVe.
Power means alot, -
- specially if you're as afraid of being powerless as l am.
So l'm not a power person because l like power, -
- but because l'm so afraid of powerlessness.
You have to trick people to appear before the camera.
Whether they get some kind of satisfaction from it -
- which may be more or less exhibitionist ...
But you have to make things work so everyone gets something out of it.
And of course people are scared when they're in front of the camera.
You can't compare the cast to the rest of the unit.
Being an actor is an incredibly humiliating job.
l can't imagine otherwise.
But you hate them nevertheless. lt's got nothing to do with it.
The fact is that l have to play the policeman -
- who forces Björk through all these unpleasant things.
We've known that from the start. lf you've read the script -
- you know there will be unpleasantness -
- and that l'm the one who'll have to implement it.
l feel like hell forcing her to do anything at all.
And l'm not doing so, apart from ...
Well, if you set off along a tightrope -
- you have to reach the other end. lt's not the tightrope's fault.
Björk and my relationship is very like marriage.
lt starts with loads of emotions of various kinds -
- and creativeness and so on and so on ...
And it ends in a load of power struggles.
Before the power struggles set in, -
- you really feel you can read each other's minds.
You feel very hurt when your partner can't read yours.
Obviously, if Björk goes, she'll take Selma with her.
Björk has walked out and we know nothing whatsoever.
We'll just have to see what happens.
Well, it's interesting.
Or maybe not?
- Any news? - None at all.
l'm in here.
Hi ...
We're waiting to see what happens.
- Have you seen the blouse? - No.
She took the blouse she has on in the film, the one she doesn't like.
She tore it into little pieces. And she has to wear it today.
She bit it into tiny pieces.
- Weird. - And now she's disappeared.
We don't know where.
She was last seen heading into the sunset.
How silly!
- Nothing wrong with it. - She must have thought so.
l met her on the way to the set -
- and she waved happily to me.
Things change.
We want to finish the film as best we can.
Quite, that's what l'm saying.
lf you let your feelings
- and your technique is to let your feelings control you, -
- you do things like this. You walk out. l understand that.
lt's loVely. lt's wonderful.
The worst thing would be to restrain yourself-
- and push yourself into a situation you didn't want to be in.
lt's wonderful to smash a few things or run off somewhere.
lt's fantastically lovely and insanely healthy for you.
l understand completely. lt's super.
lt's great. Hey, l'd love to run all the way to the next town, damn it!
Till my knees bled! l wouldn't care.
lt'd be nothing compared to the pain the rest of us build up inside us.
Just think if the 200 other people on this film -
- could just scream and smash something and walk out!
What about a body double for the courtroom scene?
Morten can come up with a mask. And she'd have glasses on.
Not in the court room.
Like a carnival mask ...
But you haven't any suitable expressions.
No, but l can change the cast l've got of her face.
l can make her with her eyes open, for example.
The problem for the body double is that she won't be able to see much.
l can cut out the pupil and iris. But breathing will be difficult.
l don't know ...
- lt won't hurt to make amask. - With a neutral expression?
You won't shut up till you've made one, will you!
Just tell me it has to smile or something ... l mean, l don't know!
- lt's absurd. - lt's an absurd conversation.
- A smile! - lt's only because l ...
Ask her if she wants to smile when she appears as a mask, or what?
lf you're just waiting for the go-ahead, go ahead.
- Can we have our lunch? - l'm hungry, too!
You're too busy figuring out if she should smile ...
l'll do a neutral mask with open eyes.
At the kinder end of the scale.
- Goodbye. Thanks for a nice day. - Same to you.
As a child ...
... l felt if things didn't turn out perfect they had to be destroyed.
l could sit for hours over a little drawing and if l made a tiny ...
Stupid. lrascible.
l don't know why l say that. lrascible and stupid.
- And everyone will be blind ... - They'll be blind, too.
l am usually pretty good at making decisions.
So l'd far rather face aproblem -
- with only
- but where l have a plan and just battle away -
- than face a problem l can't do anything about.
The unpleasant thing now is that there's nothing sensible l can do.
The situation completely paralyses you.
With insulating tape over your mouth and eyes ... fixated ...
What upsets me most is that we've done good things -
- which may come to nothing, which can't be used.
lt's a tease on Björk's part.
She has made something that's bloody great.
She's incredibly talented, incredibly good, of course.
And then she teases by snatching it all away again.
That's teasing.
lt's a sort of producer thing.
Beginning to go amok with the script.
lsn't that a typical producer thing?
Tearing 12 pages out and saying "Now we're on schedule again"!
Oh, hell!
Women threaten me, yes. They always have.
They want to shut me in. To catch me in their web.
Of course l've got a little web, too.
A little power web: the film l'm making.
The effect of valium is pretty much like having a few beers.
Apart from the fact that they are pleasanter.
Beer can raise your spirits, too, can't it?
They speed you up.
But if you take too many valium you go out like a light.
l don't take that many; l've taken ten on this production.
But that's ten too many.
l grudge Roche every cent.
Björk has come back.
lt appears that the lady has come back.
We can only take that as positive news.
Let's get this film wrapped!
l don't know if l feel happy about making films.
This one was the hardest work l've ever done.
Because of all the personal relations it's been a torment. Humiliating.
l feel profoundly guilty for making this film.
That's not what you want.
Shooting these scenes, l'm the one who has borne the pain, -
- even though there are others who'll claim they have.
But it's been an unfortunate combination.
Nobody ever dreamed there'd be so much pain.
lt's a mini childhood gadding about making a film.
lt's great fun. lt's a game you play together.
But when it's a forbidden game the way l feel this has been ...
A game l mustn't play ...
From all this pain something has emerged -
- that l think you see in the film. l'm sure you can.
A year later ...
Björk Best Actress
Winner of the Palme d'Or
Gold Heart The girl who became a princess
The Palme d'Or means that l haven't had a sensible thought since, -
- and l've gone completely dormant. For the first time in my life -
- l've ...
... no plans, no ambitions. lt's very strange.
So l expect it was the death blow.
Björk did not wish to comment on this film.