Behind-the-scenes production of horse dealer Kohlhaas

Kohlhaas the Horse Dealer is a French-German film. Adapted from the novella of the same name published by the German representative writer Heinrich von Kleist in 18 1 1. It tells a true event that happened in16th century. This novel has far-reaching cultural significance: Austrian novelist Kafka worships Heinrich von Kleist very much, while E·L· Dao Kotnott is still writing his novel "A horse dealer from Brandenburg's two horses were illegally confiscated by government officials, which made him angry and took the initiative to resist the corrupt government-eventually he led a terrorist revenge." Director Des Parriles restored the historical background to the maximum extent, but this 125-minute French film can also be regarded as a hint of the current world political situation.

Story background

When the film happened, the "nobles" had lost their past wealth, but they still did not give up the power left over from the medieval feudal society over the ordinary people. However, in cities and towns, a new social stratum is developing and growing. They are well educated and usually have wealth, but they still belong to the lower class politically. Kohlhaas in the film is a horse dealer. A young marquis was unfair to him. Kohlhaas demanded justice, but society let him down. He resolutely launched a cruel war against the whole society. Kohlhaas chose the road of violence, and his extreme desire for justice became his only criterion for measuring morality.

About the main creation

Arnold de Parriles (French, 5 1 year old). Perhaps you can tell from his age that he is a very qualified director: as early as 1997, he released his first film, Dellancy ·Avenir, and Kohlhaas the Horse Dealer is his third narrative film. However, his works have hardly been shown abroad, and he has never had the opportunity to be exhibited at important film festivals in Europe. His latest narrative film, Park Town in 2008, is adapted from John Cheever's Bullet Park, starring jean mark barr and Sage Lopez. Although the film was promoted in London and Toronto, it was only shown in France and Italy.

Arnold de Parreiras may not be famous, but all the actors in his movies are familiar with him. The first one is the Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen (Best Actor at the 20 12 Cannes Film Festival, Hunting), who is one of the most respected actors in Europe at present. Supporting roles range from veteran to newcomer: Denis Lavant, Bruno Ganz, david kross, Serge Lopez, Mélusine Mayance, roxanne Duran and young French star Paul Bartel (The Giant).

The script is written by Des Parriles and novice Kristel Betvas * * *; The producer is Serge Rato, and his most outstanding masterpiece is Waltz with Bashir. Among the other actors, Jeanne Lapoirie, a famous photographer, is deeply favored by French director Fran? ois Ourong. She also made another film that was shortlisted in the main competition unit of Cannes 20 13, Italian Castle directed by Valeria Bunoni-Tate. Although Des Parriles has done editing work independently before, here he is assisting Sandy Bangpal. He was once the assistant editor of famous directors Claire Dennis and Bruno Dumont.

Director interview

"Kohlhaas is an avenger, not a revolutionary."

Where did Michael's story come from?

I first read Michael Erkol Haas when I was 25 years old. That's when I wanted to make him into a movie, but I didn't think I could finish it. I was too young, and it might be complicated and expensive to make. At the same time, three incomparable examples appeared in my mind: Akil by werner herzog, Wrath of God, Seven Samurai by Kurosawa, and Andrei Lublev by Andrei Takovski. So I think we should wait until we are more mature and professional (though not now). However, 25 years later, I know that if I have to wait for the gift from heaven, I may not be able to make this film in the end, and someone else will take my place. So I took action.

What are you most interested in this story?

This is obviously his character. His dignity, his dazzling explosive power. Reading Michael is like chasing a flame. But most importantly, when he was about to disintegrate the whole country, he disbanded his own army and went home, agreeing to become an ordinary person again, just because he was suddenly allowed what he had been pursuing from the beginning-a fair retrial of the lawsuit. This strictness is Michael's hallmark, and I am still impressed by it until now. I think this is one of the greatest stories about politics that people can tell. A man gained the opportunity of power through courage and determination, but gave it up because of ethics.

Your Micha Erkol Haas is considered to be much more adapted than Kleist's novels. What changes have you made to the original?

The biggest adaptation I made was that it was originally a German story. I love and admire German literature, but I don't know Germany. I want to shoot in French, so my only choice is to make the story French. And I want to maintain the relationship between the character and Protestantism, so the Saiwen area has become an obvious choice. /kloc-In the early 6th century, Catholics and Protestants lived in peace there, sharing this desolate and beautiful place. Another adaptation is that Kleist's novels have quite strange subplots, which are not integrated with the prudent materialism in my movies. In addition, we have deepened several supporting roles, aiming at freeing Kohlhaas from the "lone hero". His own daughter, young priest, farm worker Jeremie, one-armed submissive and other newly created characters. Finally, the dialogue was carefully rewritten in modern language.

Michael Erkol Haas is the story of his time.

The story took place in16th century, on the dividing line between two historical periods. In rural areas, the weak and poor nobles still cling to the fragile feudal privileges handed down from Middle-earth, but in towns, a new world is taking shape. City people are educated and usually rich, but most people have no political rights. Three main roles conflict with each other: a feudal image of a young aristocrat who admits injustice to some extent; Kohlhaas, a businessman with legal rights, can resist injustice but is limited by individualism; Jeremy is a young servant of Kohlhaas. He is a revolutionary who predicted the utopian dream of freedom and happiness. He was inspired by the German and French peasant uprisings between 1520 and 1530.

This story has also aroused strong repercussions in today's world.

Michael looked forward to our times with amazing foresight. How did such a respectable businessman, loving husband and considerate father become crazy, and what kind of death force suddenly fell on this gentle businessman who lived 500 years ago? Unfortunately, these problems mask many political anxieties in today's world.

Is Michael a revolutionary?

Kohlhaas suffered from injustice and longed for the right of justice, but society let him sink. His reaction was to declare war on society suddenly and cruelly. He chose a violent way and took a keen sense of justice as his only moral criterion. Kohlhaas led his own team and carried out violence without political strategy. For him, it is more worthwhile to turn over a new leaf than life itself, whether it is his own life or the lives of others. He is a personal avenger, not a revolutionary.

Will Kohlhaas be called a terrorist today?

Kohlhaas was an ordinary man, but in the name of justice, he became the absolute enemy of the whole society. The cold-blooded statement that I want my horse back shows that he will never compromise. Maybe Kohlhaas is really a terrorist. But I always remember the view of German jurist rudolf von jhering, that is, Kohlhaas was a pioneer in the struggle for legal order and a major revolutionary in armed resistance against those deep-rooted privileges. It is unfair to accuse Kohlhaas of being an egoist, because in the process of defending our own rights, we are also defending the rights of others. For Ye Lin, Kohlhaas is a hero of the law, who sacrificed his life in pursuit of faith. It is not easy to evaluate Kohlhaas.

What's your attitude towards violence in movies?

Crystal is very romantic, and violent characters and scenes attract him. Slaughter, robbery and execution are depicted in novels as crazy as those wonderful movies today, and they are often dazzling. Arson and explosion seem to be the ultimate symbols of idealization and spiritualization of violence. But I tend to deal with violence in a more cruel way-show fear, pain, fear of pain, and the attacker will feel the same fear as the attacked. In the scarred and painful years, the ugliness of violence is truly displayed.

Kohlhaas is a historical film. How do you control this type?

Historical films usually have strict professional requirements. First, the cost of making such films will be higher than that of making modern dramas. Secondly, people usually have a general imagination that historical films or costume dramas should be more artistic and wonderful than modern dramas. I want to make the costume set less conspicuous and eye-catching, but more suggestive, which is different from completely copying. Similarly, in order to portray a corner of Europe in the16th century more truly, and let the film infect the audience with characters and their feelings, instead of relying on costumes and scenery, our photography and soundtrack are not complicated. The film is the record of16th century, and I hope it will be equally vivid in the contemporary era.

What have you done in art design?

Cost is a big problem. I often shoot outdoors. These places are more accurate in history, and also put actors and audiences in the familiar contemporary natural environment. The indoor scenery, no matter how carefully you reconstruct it, will not be the same as nature, because it always needs decoration and installation. From a very young age, I thought that the exterior should be mountainous, on the one hand, to prevent modern things from being polluted, on the other hand, to reflect the essence of the role. If Kohlhaas were a landscape painting, it would be as simple and magnificent as a mountain, just like Mads Mikkelsen's face. We chose Severn and vercors as the shooting locations. vercors reminds people of the French resistance in World War II, while Severn Mountain is related to another kind of resistance, that is, the Protestant Reformation, which forms the basis of Kleist's novels.

What do you do with clothes?

As soon as I met Anina Dina, a fashion designer, I told her to look for inspiration from German fashions introduced by urs and Holbein. It is more modern and stylized, which will remind people of westerns. I don't want my clothes to stand out on the screen. Anina tried his best to dye the clothes the same color as when we were shooting on location. I also insist on not letting the costume usurp the role of the host, hoping that the audience can forget the period.

When did you know what kind of movie you wanted to make?

I want to make that kind of western film. In a movie, the characters, their emotions, the way they adapt to nature and the existence of animals are all so important. Thanks to Krister, I have a leading role and such a legendary story, so all I have to do is show my life in front of the camera and tell the story without distractions. Don't think too much about prop settings and camera movements, and don't think too much about music ... The only thing that is needed is to give life to the characters and tell good stories.

Images are very powerful. How did you work with Jeanne Lapoirie (photographer)?

Or for budgetary reasons, consider a whole set of (shooting) options. I know they all help to design economical scenery props. In dealing with lighting, we have almost no special control and rarely use lighting equipment. The concise and dynamic translation scenes in Kurosawa's Seven Samurai are very shocking to us, and our film absorbs them as a symbolic way of carrying mirrors. In addition, we have been looking for the best time of day to shoot: dawn, dusk and dusk. The art of shooting outdoors in the right light needs to make full use of weather conditions. You can stop trying to control too much. Shadow, reflection and light loss often cause incredible effects. Jenny and I like to let luck work. The sun, clouds, strong winds and fog are all set props.

How did you come up with the idea of choosing mikkelsen to play Kohlhaas?

I can't imagine any French actor playing the role of Kohlhaas. I'm looking for a 30-year-old Clint Eastwood Clint Eastwood. I don't think I can find him in France. Until one day casting director Sarah Teper mentioned Mercedes, I searched online and saw him. what can I say? At first I said no, I didn't expect Kohlhaas to be like this. So we continued to look for actors, British, Polish, Italian ... Then the Danish actor's name appeared again. I watched the trilogy Pushing Hands and admired his talent greatly, but I'm still not sure whether he can play Kohlhaas, a devout and family-oriented man. Later, I was convinced when I saw him play an ordinary person in After the Wedding.

I sent the translated script to his agent, who liked it very much and wanted to see me. I flew to Copenhagen with producer Serge to have lunch with him. Wheat has his ideas about this role, and I have mine. We are arguing about this issue. When I came back, I told the producer that Mai and I had just had our first working meeting. Two weeks later, The Hero Sunrise Hall was released in Paris.

Will there be language problems?

When you direct actors, language is always a problem. The director always talks too much. I remember that on the first day of shooting, I was already familiar with Wheat. In the early stage of film preparation, we have done some things, riding horses together, resting and writing lines. But on the first day of shooting, he suddenly became confused, because I started talking too much, giving reasons and explanations, and he was at a loss. In fact, I was talking to myself, so he naturally didn't understand. It took me a while to know why. This is the first day. He was worried, and so was I. We still have eight weeks to shoot, and I started directing actors. I asked him to do some physical things: body, movements, saying lines loudly or quietly, fast or slow, and so on, but he didn't explain. He listened carefully, thought about it, and then did it. Even if you don't understand, you are always willing to try. Until the last day, we have been working together like this.

The film is adapted from a novel by Kleist and is regarded as an immortal novella in German literature. Based on the true story of a horse dealer, the novel shows a panoramic view of European society in the16th century.

The original story of the novel took place in Germany, but the director moved the background to France, especially the seven districts in southwest France in the16th century, because he was unfamiliar with German society.