Interview by Max Borg
The Film Verdict: You’re opening Rotterdam, and you’re also in the Nordic Competition at the Gothenburg International Film Festival. How does it feel to do two major events back-to-back after the chaos of recent years?
Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken: It’s wonderful, it’s a dream come true. I’m so pleased to be opening Rotterdam, I think it’s the right film for that.
TFV: Why did you choose what people are calling the “I’m Not There approach” [as in Todd Haynes’ multi-actor biopic about Bob Dylan] to tell the story of Edvard Munch?
HMD: I have to say, the comparison is a bit reductive. I’m Not There is more poetical. For my part, I realized early on a single period of Munch’s life wouldn’t do him justice, so I chose four time periods that were particularly significant.
TFV: The scenes play in a specific order. Was it the same as in the script, or did you find yourself tinkering with it in the edit?
HMD: We definitely found the film in the edit. We must have put together 75 different versions, and we could have done another 75 easily. I knew going in that was going to be the hardest part, but being aware of it made it enjoyable, in a way.
TFV: The last few minutes are completely silent, except for the score. Was that a deliberate counterpoint to Munch’s most famous work being the scream motif?
HMD: Yes. The script had some voiceover, but we got rid of it while editing because it didn’t fit.
TFV: What was the biggest challenge during filming, other than working during a pandemic?
HMD: The entire Berlin section, which we shot without any permits. In fact, the police showed up while we were filming at Tempelhof, the long take with the Steadicam. My first AD started acting dumb and doing a “lost in translation”, and we shot our third take of that scene while the police were facing in the opposite direction.
TFV: And what is your fondest memory of the shoot?
HMD: Working in the house where the scenes with the older Munch are set, because it was a great location and quite relaxing after shooting the Berlin scenes. And also getting to direct Jesper Christensen, who plays the psychiatrist in Copenhagen. It was a lifelong dream to work with him.
TFV: What do you hope people take away from this film?
HMD: I hope they’ll understand where Munch’s work comes from, how it’s intrinsically tied to his life. That’s also why we have that closing montage of his artwork.
TFV: Do you have a favorite modern interpretation of the scream motif?
HMD: [The kid in] Home Alone. I’m quite familiar with that one, because the first two movies are shown on TV in Norway every Christmas.
