DYNAMIC DUOS
DYNAMIC DUOS
We speak to the director-DOP team behind Girl and Close about authenticity, open communication and developing a shared cinematic language Lukas Dhont Frank van den Eeden
INTERVIEW KATIE KASPERSON
DEFINITION: TELL ME ABOUT GIRL, YOUR FIRST PROJECT TOGETHER. HOW DID YOU FIND ONE ANOTHER, AND WHAT WERE YOUR FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF EACH OTHER?
FRANK VAN DEN EEDEN: That’s, in a way, a goal I keep in
You want to push yourself. With Close , in terms of movement and technicality, we pushed some of the shots a bit further – although we wanted to keep the feeling of simplicity and authenticity. We had shots where we had to run with boys through tall flowers and muddy fields. We arrived at the notion that we could both challenge ourselves in those ways while maintaining the authenticity of the script and the story. FRANK: What I found most striking was Lukas’ understanding of human emotions. I was happy to team up again on Close – no questions asked – which brought us new battles to be fought, such as working with even younger actors. That comes with a lot of rules, and you could say that not everyone would be up to it. It has a huge impact on how you can work as a team.
mind pretty much all the time. I work for other people, listen to them and aim to translate their ideas to the big screen. This brings me back to what we did with Girl . Lukas had a keen idea of what this film should look like. He was very much on top of things and really well prepared. DEF: AFTER GIRL, YOU REUNITED ON CLOSE. WHAT WAS IT THAT MADE YOU WANT TO WORK TOGETHER AGAIN? LUKAS: While working together, I discovered that there was a lot of attention on the energy of the actors, while never losing the visual dramaturgy – the poetry, the intention. When you make a new film, you want it to be better than the previous one.
LUKAS DHONT: Before I started writing and directing
myself, I worked as a costume assistant on sets. I have a memory of doing just one day on the set of Home , a film that Frank shot with Fien Troch. I remember watching the way Frank was working with Fien; I felt there was a lot of freedom on that set, which drew my attention and also my desire to work with him. Frank is a chameleon for me; he changes from director to director. So I realised I would have the opportunity to develop, together with Frank, a cinematic language that would be just ours.
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