Lives of Others: An interview with Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck.

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By Evrim Ersoy Mar 17, 2007, 12:43 GMT

Recently, Monster and Critics' London reviewer Evrim Ersoy had the opportunity to interview Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck, director of the 2007 Academy Award winning Foreign Language Film 'Lives of Others' (‘Das Leben Der Anderen’). Here is his report. As I make my way through the grim of Berwick St. in London, I feel slightly nervous. After all it isn’t everyday that you get a chance to interview someone who’s clearly eyeing an extreme bout of success and focus. I try to go through the questions I’ve prepared and hope that the things I ask will not be things Mr. Donnersmarck has heard a million times before.Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck is an interesting director with an even more interesting life. As well as having a degree in Philosophy from Oxford University, Mr. Donnersmarck has also worked under Richard Attenborough, studied and taught in St. Petersburg and attended a film school in Germany. It is a well-lived life, this immediately shows in his manner, and in the way he talks.When he walks in, it is an imposing presence. He stands 6’6’ and towers over everyone in the room. He apologises for the delay as if he was somehow responsible while the PR lady closes the door behind her. He’s dressed smartly in a corduroy jacket and has an easy-going smile. He’s not at all surprised or dubious when I tell him that I won’t be recording the interview but instead will be taking notes in shorthand. My reports of him coming across as arrogant and selfish are immediately destroyed as soon as I start speaking with this giant of a man.M&C: I would like to first congratulate you on the Oscar and thank you for making such a wonderful and amazing film.Mr. Donnersmarck: Thank you.M&C: I want to start by asking you some questions about your background. I’ve done some research and found that you studied in St. Petersburg and also taught Russian in Russia for two years. Did you time in Russia influence your film in way? Did you see any similarities between the then Soviet Union and East Germany?Mr. Donnersmarck: Yes, indeed. Soviet Union was always the Big Brother and it set the tone politically for the people in the rest of the Eastern Block. Understanding Russia made me understand how the whole of the Eastern Block was just following Russia. Also, more importantly, it made me understand the visual world of the Eastern Block: Both the aesthetic and the colours.M&C: I have also read that to prepare for ‘Das Leben Der Anderen’ you spent some weeks at Heiligenkreuz Abbey in Austria that is led by your uncle. Was this to isolate yourself from the world and to understand your main character?Mr. Donnersmarck: No, it was mainly to remove myself from any distractions. I am sure you’ll understand since you a write too that sometimes when you are writing something and you read an article or a book, it may, consciously or subconsciously, have an influence on your own work. My aim in spending some time at the Heiligenkreuz Abbey was to make sure that this didn’t happen, to really isolate myself.M&C: I can see in your résumé that you did a TV series called ‘Petite Myths Urbaine’ before filming ‘Das Leben Der Anderen’…Mr. Donnersmarck: No, no, it wasn’t really a T.V. Series. It was more a series of 13 short films with 13 directors representing 13 countries. It was produced by Gaumont and Universal and I was representing Germany. But it wasn’t a t.v. series with recurring characters or anything like that.M&C: Well my question was going to be whether it felt different moving on from that onto a feature filmMr. Donnersmarck: Not really. The only difference would be that it was a little more concentrated but other than that not really.M&C: That kinda kills my question then.(Both laugh)M&C: In the production notes, you say that making ‘Das Leben Der Anderen’ was like a therapy for your crew. From what I understand there were a lot of members of your crew who lived in East Germany, who suffered through this period. For example some of the Stasi guards in the film are portrayed by people who were prosecuted by the Stasi themselves. Also one of your leads Ulrich Muhe found that his wife had been a Stasi informant. How did this affect the atmosphere on the set?Mr. Donnersmarck: It made it concentrated. It made you feel that what you are doing is important; it made you resonate with the suffering. I did not have any problems on the set with costumes, make-up; everything was well-prepared, very focused. For a lot of people it was like a making a film of your own life. An extreme example of this would be Steven Spielberg’s ‘Schindler’s List’. Shooting at Auschwitz, where all the events had taken place, they would have been even more focused, even more aware of the importance.M&C: You had an amazing trio of actors/actresses portraying the title roles. Sebastian Koch has already woved us this year in Paul Verhoeven’s ‘Zwartboek’ and Ulrich Muhe has simply had an amazing career, bringing an amazing amount of talent into roles like for example in ‘Funny Games ‘ or ‘Amen’ or something very little known like ‘Goebbels und Geduldig’. How was it working with this group, how did it feel?Mr. Donnersmarck: There is this notion that somehow actors don’t have to be intelligent to be able to act. I disagree with this. From my point of view actors portraying complex and intelligent characters have to be as intelligent as them to portray them correctly. Both Sebastian and Ulrich are very serious artists. In this respect, their input was very important to me. If they said a line didn’t work, I paid attention. So it would be justified to call them really creative partners. After a while I knew they had to play the parts and I didn’t think it would work without them in the film.M&C: ‘Das Leben Der Anderen’ is obviously a great success with 32 wins, the biggest being the Oscar. Do you find yourself suddenly showered with offers?Mr. Donnersmarck: I have been receiving such offers for about a year now but to be honest I am not really interested in any of them. I work from my own material since I am as much a writer as I am a director - I don’t want to dilute my own vision. Many people have signalled and it obviously means that it will make it easier for me to work with a lot of actors.M&C: In that respect, where would you like to film your next film? Europe or Hollywood?Mr. Donnersmarck: I don’t think where you work is important. I mean look at ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’. You’d call that a Hollywood film with Hollywood backing. But at the same time it had a lot of European sensibilities. Where you shoot a film, it doesn’t matter. I’d say it’s better making a film in the U.S. because it means you’ll be reaching a larger audience.M&C: That’s one of the interesting things about ‘Das Leben Der Anderen’. It is not only enjoyed by the expected audience but if you go online and look at some of the forums I have been reading, there are people who say that they don’t watch subtitled films but they really enjoyed this film and would like it to show it to their friends.Mr. Donnersmarck: It’s still only 10% or equivalent, though.M&C: What will be your next project?Mr. Donnersmarck: Haven’t decided yet. After the summer, I’ll start thinking about it. I want to spend some time with my kids.M&C: You have two, don’t you?Mr. Donnersmarck: Yes, and one on the way.M&C: Congratulations!Mr. Donnersmarck: Thank you. I want to dedicate some time to my family. I haven’t seen them much and I want to be there for a while.At this point I had two minutes left and so decided to ask one last questionM&C: My final question is about the origin of the film. Your last film was a comedy. What made you verve towards such a serious approach?Mr. Donnersmarck: I happened to have the idea of someone transformed by listening to something. And I didn’t think you could tell such a transformation with a comedy. My next film might have plenty of funny elements. But I am not a comedy director, a comedian. I am mainly a dramatist.M&C: I believe I am being thrown out the room as our time’s run out. Thank you very much Mr. Donnersmarck and I wish you and your film the best success in the future.Mr. Donnersmarck: Thank you. I’m sorry if the interview was a little rushed.M&C: Not at all. I just hope I didn’t bore you to tears with the same questions you have heard all day.(Mr. Donnersmarck laughs)Mr. Donnersmarck: Not at all.And with that he is led into the next room for a filmed interview, leaving me to exit once again onto the grim of Berwick Street, my mind a buzz from an enjoyable fifteen minutes with this brilliant director.

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