Even before the economic crisis in Greece there was no structure for making films - no proper industry, and the structure didn't help filmmakers at all. So filmmakers had to help each other, and make very, very low-budget films. Now with the crisis, things got a bit worse, but filmmakers are still going to be making films. It didn't change that much.

Yorgos Lanthimos

Categorized in : Helping Film Economic

I was making commercials. That's how I learned the craft. That was the marketing part of it: directing commercial for TV. It wasn't the most common thing to become a filmmaker in Greece. I started by saying I was interested in marketing and have a proper job in advertising and commercials. Basically, I studied film to learn how to do marketing, and commercials. As I studied film I learned I'd be interested in making films instead of commercials.

Yorgos Lanthimos

advertising marketing common

It's true that there are younger people making films, and there are different kinds of films. This has created some attention in what's coming out of Greece, and people like to find a way to name this new ethnic cinema. It's not like there's a movement, or a common philosophy in making these films. They're just things that happened, and now people are paying attention to it.

Yorgos Lanthimos

different philosophy people

American culture is kind of a universal culture, I guess. It's things Greeks grew up with, common references you can use. It's very interesting.

Yorgos Lanthimos

greek culture interesting

I'm planning some films in the U.K., and it will have pros and cons. It takes a lot more time to set up a film in the U.K., because you can't rely on much. In Greece, friends show up and bring what they can and you make the film. Well, that's a bit simpler than how it really is. But when you make a film with proper industries, it takes more time to synch all these things.

Yorgos Lanthimos

rely planning film

We really just want to ask the questions and make people consider how we organize our ways of life and, you know, if all the rules that we follow make sense, should we rebel against some, should we make new ones, all these kinds of questions.

Yorgos Lanthimos

entertainment

I think you can be much truer to real emotions and reality by creating something that on the surface seems artificial but, by then putting everything together in the end, is much more impactful than trying to use realism in every individual element of the film.

Yorgos Lanthimos

think you together reality

Provocative... I used to be defensive about it, but in the end, I realised it's exactly right. It's what we're trying to do - to provoke thought and discussion and, you know, shake people up to start thinking about things in a different way. I'm interested in messing with what they think is the norm.

Yorgos Lanthimos

think you people thinking

I wouldn't be making films if I just wanted to express some specific ideas; then I would be writing essays or something.

Yorgos Lanthimos

some something writing ideas

I always expect people to be torn when they see one of my films and divided in some way.

Yorgos Lanthimos

see always people way

I think you can tell a lot about people if you observe them as they're observing.

Yorgos Lanthimos

tell think you people

Don't think too hard. Just be present, and things will reveal themselves.

Yorgos Lanthimos

present will things think

Telling a story is the way of exploring so many different things - human behavior, society, whatever existence.

Yorgos Lanthimos

story society behavior way

Starting in Greece, you couldn't really say, 'I'm going to become a film-maker.' A 15-year-old boy in Greece in the '80s and '90s? There was nothing like that happening.

Yorgos Lanthimos

boy say nothing you

I think I do things that are more common in theatre.

Yorgos Lanthimos

more things think theatre

I don't have time to read much. I'm trying to read 'The Brothers Karamazov' again, for a year now - I keep getting halfway, and then there's a lot of work, and I forget it, and I have to go back to the beginning.

Yorgos Lanthimos

beginning work time forget

I just try and decide what I'm interested in and what excites me. I don't worry about how it's going to be perceived.

Yorgos Lanthimos

decide try me worry

I never thought that I would ever actually get to make films. Being from Greece, it wasn't really a reality.

Yorgos Lanthimos

never thought being reality

I did have a lot of years watching and appreciating dance and theater and all of those kind of things, and it has informed the way that I work with actors and the way I approach things.

Yorgos Lanthimos

things dance work way

It's hard for me to find a script that's perfectly suited to me, so even if it's a good script, I'll still have to work on it with someone and shape it, making it the film that I want to make. So in that respect, I prefer to do the stuff that I've generated anyway.

Yorgos Lanthimos

good me respect work

Having rules means that sometimes people break them, and that means punishment.

Yorgos Lanthimos

rules punishment sometimes people