The casting of any film is around 60% of the film, but it's also about the right casting insight. It's a bit like a house of cards, everyone has to match up in a certain way so the whole structure is grounded. So that's essential, and yes, it's about finding the right people and the right constellation around the lead character.
The minute you celebrate narcissism, which on one hand is very complex, it's very ridiculous. You have to love oneself with humor.
We live in a society right now which is the last phase of the ecosystem in terms of the old entertainment value, or the old entertainment construction, which is we've gone down to this instant gratification, instant numbers, instant understanding, instant. But it's like the exact - it has perfected itself to the instant click, when, in a way, creativity originates as a much more complex beast. So we now have to reinvent a new canvas where we can indulge in it. And that's where the digital revolution creates a whole new ecosystem of entertainment.
Nowadays, teenagers are so fast and quick to see through any form of manipulation. Sitting down and just thinking of something is like watching really bad pornography.
If you create something that is essentially alien to you - as a man - and make a film about woman, the more I can surround myself with woman and combine it with my soul's point of view, the more I become a stranger in a strange land.
You ask actors what they would like to do, and you constantly keep them engaged. You want their engagement, input, and sensibilities. It's that intimate collaboration that is actually directing. I don't like the mechanicalness or coldness; I like the intimacy. It's like we are creating a child together.
Personally I kept my feelings out of it and created a fantasy. That's the process of going through this world being beautiful.
Elle Fanning was fifteen when we started [The Neon Demon]. She turned seventeen during the shoot. Four weeks before Cannes, she turned eighteen. She had her prom at Cannes.
I think the idea was to make a horror film that became a science-fiction film with a lot of melodramatic tropes.
I think everybody's looking for religion to believe in. I think we all need faith.
We live in a world where art is always looked upon as the perfect medium. We live in a society where we can alter our body parts, we can act in the most perfect or right way. A lot of that is dangerous because, especially in the world of art, the chief enemy of creativity is being safe. If you're safe, you can't fall and hurt yourself. The older you are, the further down the crash is going to be. But if it works out, the higher the high.
I always say I have a Danish passport, but I am a New Yorker at heart.
The vibe, it's that excitement. New York, you just can't describe it. You get a similar thing from Paris and London, but it's not New York.
Sometimes I just play the theme from Arthur. It reminds me of my childhood in New York and I just love it.
Narcissism as a virtue is very futuristic. Narcissism as a quality is where I think things are heading.
Everything we do is about the emotion of the characters. We believe the better the emotion, the better the movie.
I sometimes play different kinds of music to see where the performers end up. I play one genre. Then something else when I do it again. It really helps.
Filmmaking is like any kind of art form. You have to try to figure it out, and you're going to do that by trying. It's like teaching a child to walk. It may start by walking, but eventually it will fall. And I have kids, but I know that that will enable them to stand up again and understand why they fell, and how they can avoid that. They will walk better and faster, and stronger. Filmmaking is the same.
The first person I ever described the film [The Neon Demon] to was Christina Hendricks [who has a cameo in the movie]. We were having dinner in LA and she asked me what I wanted to do next and I said, "I want to do a horror movie." And she goes, "What's it going to be about?" And I said, "A lot of blood and high heels."
I have not seen "Batman v Superman," unfortunately. It hasn't been on the plane, as I've been flying a lot.
In a way "Drive" is probably the greatest superhero movie ever made.
I very much enjoy my freedom creatively but I also would love to make one of those big Hollywood films that costs a lot of money and has a lot of people running around with cell phones and all that insanity.
I've been lucky to have a beautiful wife and children. The idea that something so beautiful can be so horrific at the same time. Beauty is a complex thing.
[The Neon Demon] was more my own fascination with beauty. It's my children's fascination beauty.
I can't make a film that I don't feel comfortable with.
