Interview with Thomas Cailley & Paul Kircher - The Animal Kingdom

[Music] [Music] hi uh hi Thomas hi Paul uh nice to have you here we are Jakarta Cinema Club uh Community media uh we all usually talk about films and books and anything in between actually our podcasts and articles often talk about the French Cinema the movement and the philosophy of course so uh you've been here uh for a couple days now uh we are sure you have been to many festivals and early screenings for your films how do you compare uh Jakarta audience to that in French based on the the few days you're here um was um um quite excited here and the debate was really uh really amazing and people Express easily their feelings so it was uh comfortable for us and uh exciting to to see how they they receive the the movie Yes I felt really like uh the the audience um uh was um really like to to go uh on this adventure with the story and went far in the in all the the the the the family the family story beautiful okay and the animal kingdom um human mutation body horror so uh usually this kind of topic uh many filmmakers um put it into like the horror perspective right we talk about the the fly for example by David kenberg and then uh like species for example from the '90s uh you could easily convert your story to horror but you we see it as audience uh you convert it to a family drama how do you how did you decide to uh to go with the story um to be honest this uh an an HB hybridation of in the in the movie and that's uh at the origin of my desire of making movies I like to mix genes so yes there are family dramas there's also comedy few body horror fantasy Thriller um there's lot of thing in the in the in the movie uh but uh at the first uh degree what I wanted to do uh was to portray uh um this the the life of of a young man and to see what happened in this in the transmission process between a father and son um and to take time with that because I I I love characters in in cinema uh and uh and sometimes with a genre movie you have no room for characterization uh so I wanted to be uh to be precise and uh I wanted the movie to to be full of emotion so a mix of everything you mentioned jws before sorry you you mentioned jws before Jo Jo the movie oh I like JW no no I I did not mention it but um I like this movie genre genre okay okay okay uh maybe uh we go with Paul now as an actor uh actually this film is about you right the the central character is about uh a boy who hold the secret uh of turning himself into a mutant uh but at the same time uh you always you you also have the urgency to uh to seek for the mother the Lost mother right uh how do you like as as an actor like uh portrayed this kind of condition M it was really about my character about a boy who discover hisel and um in a very intimate intimate room and then he deal with his his all the those changes with his father with his friend fix but also at school with a with a a girl and uh so he he he's hiding a lot himself at the beginning uh and then he's uh growing his his strength his his uh the power of His difference in the forest and um so then he he find his his strength but it's a a long way because uh uh he he first hide a lot yeah yeah uh I'm sure it's difficult to hide that emotions right U because at the same time well the father character in the in the film is trying so hard to protect you from from the from the from the the others I see it as a human cruelty so animal cruelty any uh special uh method for you during the preparation it was um really about uh OB obser observing uh um myself uh really really precisely and some point and feel the something changing in in the body um but then it was really about also being with the other actor radis and building this this um the building the relationship at at two between the father and the son okay I would like to ask uh th since um this movie mainly revolves around the relationship between the father and son is there something uh particular about a father and son relationship that uh interest you as a filmmaker are you drawn to those types of stories uh I I just would like to know why did you choose to tell the story uh primarily of a father and son um yes what what is uh I think it's um fascinating bound between Father and Son as something about unconditional love and also we know as fathers that you have to leave your children um make their own choice make their own lives um you expect a lot of thing and you always wrong about what your children are um becoming uh this uh is very interesting for me and but uh um above all um what I I find um interesting is uh the way uh children are uh the children are able to learn something to their parents I think the transmission link is work in both Direction and in the movie obviously Emil learned from his father but the on the the contrary is correct too fris Pro evolves a lot uh at the contact of his own child um and uh that's like a a black box I wanted to enter are you a father yourself yes have your children watched the film yes okay what what did they think of it uh my my boy was actually terrified by the idea of uh of doing of going of the idea of leave leave leave the family um and but they were the both of my kids were really moved by the the story and by the the relationship between between FR okay thank you yeah yeah uh interesting um there's a there's a scene the spoiler alert the the I think the uh almost the end of the film The integration scene where uh the father and the son are in the same room and the son finally like almost refal himself as a mutant and then well the father decided to punch the police and uh the father and the son left so the family wins actually human Humanity wins uh how do you see yourself as a like a family man uh seeing the story of the in in this film I think sometime maybe there are rules that uh uh um you know for [Music] [Music] cool okay um back to the cinema in general we we are we are at Festival Cinema branches right uh we all Now France has undergone some uh several Cinema movement from the the silent era the impressionist the uh the new wave the Post New Wave the Left Bank how do how do those uh movement impact uh impact your your your treatment or your style in general and uh how do you foresee the French Cinema um in many ways uh um I think we as an artist you you you can feel the influence of the the past and the work of of previous filmmakers um it's the inance of the new wave for example is very strong in in France because um um almost every uh directors uh write their own script for example and uh uh we we call in the international um Market you you you you talk about directors and script writers in France we we we talk about authors uh and authors of of movies are people who write and direct it um and it's very important to um this uh it the new wave has generated like an entire ecosystem of production um um about independence freedom of creation so I feel that um in many ways when I work and in my relationship with ch TV channels with producers and um it's um very uh it's it's very good it's very um comfortable so uh now it's very common to uh to to have both director and uh writers in the same film right I mean uh you talk about the the French New Wave how they how how do they uh influence you uh going back to the my previous question about the horror itself because I I said you you could easily convert this film into horror right but you didn't uh are you into horror uh not so much not so much um I'm into um into uh emotion and uh and I I like character driven stories so I want to shoot my stories in their in their look um so um and and I I like when uh when the story when I can relate to a story um and sometimes with a unique genre movies uh whatever they are um I I feel [Music] like K feeling imprison feeling closed M when every scene is on the same register on the same tone uh I get bored okay so so you want to keep it you want to keep the dynamic of the yes and I want people to to feel various uh emotion during the during the movie U and when you edit the movie it's uh it's really uh um it's really cool to have uh acceleration uh moment of contemplation uh action um sing parts and all that so I think more the the language is various more the the movie is Pleasant for me could you name some of your uh favorite filmmakers uh especially the ones that uh do this kind of like mixing genre in their films like are they mostly French filmmakers or non-french filmmakers not so much I I I think the the the the most talented one in this perspective is obviously bongjun uh because you you can laugh and cry in the same uh in in 10 minutes you have a very thrilling s since uh the direction is a really high level and um you um you have always a political point of view uh so I I think his his his film from memories of murder to parasite are really really great interesting uh you're into Asian Cinema uh back to the Animal Kingdom I think you guys translate the the convey the message well uh because you said you want to mix all all kind of emotion one time uh you could hear the audience laugh at at some uh scene that is actually not I I don't know if you intentionally put it into like a comedy but people laugh but at the same uh in the next 5 minutes uh people could be terrified of the grotesque image of the the creature um trying uh turning into mutants so uh my question would be what's your mood board during the development any films or books that uh could be essential when when you write this film The Story initially there was lot of uh pictures from other movies and more we we advance in the process I I I I replace it by Contemporary Art uh and we worked a lot with um contemporary artists like Patricia picinini or Ron mu like skuls and visual artist who dealing with the skin with the the air with texture and um and mutation also because I wanted a real realistic point of VI not a fantasy one okay can you talk a little bit as well about the creature designed in the film uh how was that process of developing the design because there are so many of them and so different we we worked from the we we work from the um the center of the of the design is the the body of the actors we work from from that point um to makeup and prothesis Prosthetics um animatronics robots we mix with CGI we we Tred to to have um um a very mixed balance of of various effects to um to have the most organic perspective very nice um maybe the same question for Paul the mood board during the during the development of your acting uh practice for for the movie any specific uh actors or films or books or plays you uh you consume during the the production yes uh maybe uh the uh River Phoenix in Running on Empty who is hiding a lot and uh and who is at point of his life where he have to choose to to live leave his family for for his life and um and also he's a growing growing a passion for piano uh during the film um and uh also the fly of Cronenberg was a movie that I watched that I do remember a lot uh for the transformation of the actor who is at the beginning really human at the end he is really a fly but he's really human and the Fly exist at the inside and uh like his desire changed and uh everything is changing inside also it was interesting uh and then I think uh I I I yes I watched a lot also of people and animals uh the way they they move and so you do observations for uh like in nature for for yes for the production yes yes yes yes uh uh also yes interesting you U we mention the the fly by David Cronenberg a lot this in this in this session we also love that film uh because uh as as an audience uh to see the actor transforming as a as like non nonhuman creature uh it takes it takes something for audience to have this in Emotion involved so I think you you guys made it well so uh to close this session um at the beginning we ask you the three French films any Indonesians should watch do you have it in mind now May we start from from [Music] offers uh it's difficult but uh I'd say maybe um uh maybe of Jak does it have an English title watch how how men are falling down then I said [Music] maybe um 400 blows you eat yeah 400 blow and finally uh maybe uh um I know it's difficult yes this is difficult and uh yes maybe uh uh know very nice what you Thomas um I was thinking about three movies about youth youth um and the first one I was uh 400 blows so I I I put it away I let you uh I let you the movie um but um um maybe uh um L new naked childhood by moris uh life of Jesus by Bruno um and um and CED clish with romanis great okay I think uh thank you for the for the session Thomas and Paul uh good luck with the films and for the for your future projects as well uh any last message for Indonesian audience before before you back to French uh no don't have an idea um oh and enjoy the French film festival yes and yes yes and enter the forest with um enter into the forest with Animal Kingdom oh yeah yeah okay uh thank you everybody thank you thank you [Music]