The first time I went behind the camera was in 1993. I felt, 'This is my thing,' and I knew that someday I'd make a feature.

Johan Renck

Categorized in : Behind Camera Time First Time

I was a huge fan of this band called Sparks. It was a pretty good inauguration to music since their music is quite complex. They were a little glammy, and me - being a kid and not really understanding the complexity of grown-up lyrics - I took the best out of it. But at the same time, it was mysterious enough and too far away from me for me to really be able to reach it. But they were my first love affair in the world of music. I loved that band.

first-love understanding kids

Music is the highest art form.I still think that. I wish I was really talented in music because then I would be doing it. I felt that I could write a decent song, but it was a big struggle. It took a lot of time and effort for me, whereas a lot of my peers and other people seemed to have a much easier relationship to it. But I profoundly love music, and I still dream that I might one day try to write some new songs and record something - just for myself, to see what would happen.

Film is a narrative format. Some fashion films try to retain some of the poetic mystery, but most of the time they only end up looking like some crappy, pretentious film-school thing. So I think the interest in film is really about the fashion world finding another form of expression.

fashion trying thinking

Somebody once said that the ideal size of a country for democracy to work is around 10 million people - and that kind of makes sense if you think of it in very crude terms. In a smaller country, I guess it's easier to maintain some kind of common ground.I do think the Swedish system of government works really well. Obviously, everything doesn't work perfectly, but I like the principle of it.

country people thinking

I think one big reason why Sweden might have a good reputation around the world is that if you look at Norway or Denmark or Finland, any of the Scandinavian countries, they all seem less interested in being a part of the larger world, where Sweden has always tried to reach out, whether it's with Volvos, Saabs, H&Ms, music, clothes.

country world thinking

We've always created stuff to go beyond our Swedish borders. I think we've always wanted to be noticed - to be known outside of Sweden.

Do people think Swedes are cool? I think they think you're cool in spite of you being Swedish. But the good thing with being Swedish is that we're melancholic.

good-things people thinking

I do think that there's reason to believe if you're a prolific artist and going into your late 60s you'd at least start to think about mortality, and when you get older, this applies to me (as well), you think about the things you want to do and how it will be perceived by your children one day. The opposite of the frontal trajectory, there's almost a biographical aspect to it, you know? So maybe you change your thinking.

I have no desire to do any more videos knowing the process never ever gets as formidable and fulfilling as this was, i've basically touched the sun.

The darkest aspects of imperialism are still very much prevalent in many cultures around the world; hundreds of years later, and we have a collective responsibility to encounter the deeds of our past.

deeds responsibility past world

I think for something to be beautiful, it has to have some darkness in it; otherwise, it's just pretty. And pretty does not interest me at all.

think me darkness beautiful

If I feel the labor and the gruesome process, that helps me appreciate the art.

feel me appreciate art

All my close friends are non-conformist. To say 'misfits' sounds bad, but there is something positive about being a little on the outside - it gives you an interesting perspective on things - and I think that's something Robyn and I share.

you friends perspective positive

Being a police officer in America is a tough job.

job tough police america

I began my career as a recording artist, and eventually I started directing my own music videos.

own my-own music artist

I wish I had been born 20 years earlier, so I could have been in the movie business in the 1970s.

i-wish born business wish

Whenever I'm making a film, it has to be timeless.

whenever making timeless film

Building a cast is a card house. They lean on each other, provide for each other, and take from each other.

lean take building house

Art is never finished. It is only abandoned.

only never abandoned art

I like dark, hopeless, beautiful tragedies.

like hopeless dark beautiful