Christoph Hochhäusler Locarno Interview “Death is Coming”

German director Christoph Hochhausler (Milchwald, until the end of the night) likes to delve into the female psyche, even that of a female killer. his new movie The dead are coming (death is coming) had its world premiere Thursday at the 77th Locarno Film Festival.

Belgian actress Sophie Verbeeckeverything about them) plays Tez, a contract killer. “Charles Marr, a legendary gangster, hires her to avenge the murder of one of his couriers,” the plot summary reads. “Once in Brussels, she is plunged into a jungle of intrigue, and herself becomes prey. Tez must decide whose tool she wants to be.

The French-language film, produced by Heimatfilm in collaboration with Amour Fou Luxembourg and Tarantula, was written by Hochhäusler and his frequent writing partner, the German novelist Ulrich Peltzer (sin of laziness).

It sees its characters engage in a dangerous game of cat and mouse that raises a host of questions. The trailer for the thriller, which you can see below, starts with a bang.

“The main challenge was probably making the film in French because it was my first French film and my French is not perfect – far from it,” Hochhausler told THR. “Shooting in different countries was one of the most important things for me, at least in preparation.”

How does this film differ from his previous work? “This is probably my purest genre work,” he explains. “It involves tropes in movies like contract killers and so on. So, it’s challenging. But that’s what I’m really looking for. I try not to repeat myself. I dream of making a lot of different movies. Of course, there are people Would say: “This is your handwriting, your style. ” But as we know, style is something we can’t avoid.

Beneath the veneer of a classic gangster movie lie a variety of deeper themes and issues death is coming explore. “We need techniques to question reality. What I really like about genre movies, especially gangster movies, is that you can directly address the question of fate,” the filmmaker said. THR. “In a realistic setting, you have to sidestep things and take a few more detours. The great thing about genre movies is that because it’s already allegorical, you can deal with things like that more directly. So, it’s definitely like What the title says – it’s a movie about death and death, but of course it also hopes to bring about the joy of making movies in this world.

Self-determination is a central theme of the story that Tez and the other characters in the film face. “It comes back to very basic questions: Are we in control of our own lives? Can we write our own lives, so to speak? Are we the creators of our own lives? “And we are absolutely not. But then, who is who? If you think God is dead, the problem becomes even more pressing. Can we control it? If not, how do we respond to the fact that we are (at least partially) influenced by larger forces.

given Milchwald How does one explain the German writer and director’s interest in female psychology, as his other films feature female protagonists? “I’m definitely interested in female characters,” he said THR. “Women are and have been very important in my personal life. But beyond that, I feel like we’re living in the twilight of patriarchy—maybe. At least you can see the cracks in the seams, and you can Seeing all the violence, it can be said that the world is paying the price for this model.

Again, like a crime thriller death is coming is the perfect tool for Hochhäusler to explore this. “Gangster movies are like archetypes of patriarchal structures, so I thought it was a good fit,” he said.

For fans of the director, it probably won’t be a spoiler that his latest film doesn’t have any clear-cut heroes. Filmmakers like that. “It’s a gangster movie. So basically, it’s all shades of gray anyway. It’s not easy, in a moral sense, to actually be white and not black in this world.

Instead, Hockhausler sets up the film as a showdown between two key characters. “For me, it’s always been about the duality between Mal[Louis Do de Ronquesain]an older and charismatic gang boss Lizard, and Tezzi. Z is a very efficient, self-sufficient, disciplined killer character. They basically all kind of look at each other, so, to me, it’s very much a duality. But not a duality of good and evil, but a duality of style and way of looking at the world.

Although Hochhäusler currently focuses on presentation and promotion death is coming In Locarno he is also developing several projects. “I’ve got three scripts ready to shoot,” he told THR. “I’m trying to juggle it, which is necessary because you never know what’s going to be funded and how long it will take. I don’t want to wait another ten years.

Are there any projects he can share more about? “The most in-depth script is a kind of psychological horror film set in Berlin’s expat community,” notes the filmmaker. “There was an American and German couple and it was dark.”

The German writer-director also shared his thoughts on the current state of the wider industry. “Now that the streaming wars are at least temporarily over, I think we can see streaming moving toward television, which means that old facts about television are becoming new facts about streaming,” he said. “It’s not that exciting because there was a time when people were excited about investing in very experimental or open formats, and a lot of big-name directors were well-positioned to make interesting stuff. Now that seems to be over. .They’re all consolidating, they’re all trying to cut costs, and the field will shrink to two or three big companies.

For Hochhäusler, the big question is: “What will cinema look like in 10 years’ time? It’s under a lot of pressure. I think one of the hard questions is definitely the aftermath of the strike in the United States, which really caused a lot of damage, not only In the United States, because the American film industry is so important to everything else and the pipeline, the director added: “It’s unfortunate because we’re at this critical moment where almost a generation has lost the habit of going to the movies. So, having the most thrilling movie ever. ’s movies, and the variety of movies is even more important. I’m a big fan of diversity in movies.

The German filmmaker is also worried about the state of the world. “It’s not in good condition,” Hochhäusler said. “It’s very important that American democracy comes back and sets an example. Things are very bad right now. This is Greek mythology, full of all kinds of abuses and absurd turns. So it would be great if there could be a sensible, sober, pragmatic approach to governance again .but this is a big theme and problem all over the world.

And so ends his new film in Locarno. “The dictators are back, basically the gangsters. So we go back to my movie, and obviously gangsters are not better governments. But populism in all its forms is still so prevalent right now. That certainly worries me, makes me Worry. Because the United States has always been a shining beacon, what happens in the United States is very important, and it is also important to us.