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2001: A Space Odyssey.Stalker.The Man Who Fell to Earth.Under the Skin.
Bodies twist and contort, even exploding in one harrowing scene involving a process known as spaghettification.
And Ihatedthe place where the film was screened.
The seats are so far from the screen, I was lost.
The sound is not warm enough.
The red carpet scene is, eh, [looks away].
Its so nice to see Mia, so beautiful, and Robert, all the girls screaming his name.
I like that much, Ive always enjoyed that.
I am like a groupie, in a way, a groupie for the actors.
The other night was a little bit rough, though, yes.
Thats a great place to start, actually.
I wanted this film to have no French person.
Then, because of the delay in production, she had to start work on a TV movie.
I said, Ah-ha, but we must change it completely.
When I met Patricia, she impressed me so much with this femininity, you know?
A shaman of sperm, as Robert says.
I thought that Juliette could be the queen of the night, like a mother in an opera.
I told her, I had an idea, if you like it.
So by the time we see her, she has grown a gorgeous, long braid.
It helps a lot to communicate time in a bodily way.
I was dreaming when I wrote the script.
I thought that this is a man who has grown tired of life.
Thats why he has no interests that are sexual, and doesnt want to give away his fluids.
Hes a sort of monk, but not really a monk, just someone whos ready to die.
Then when the baby came, he felt he had a responsibility to stay alive.
When Philip died in a not quite a similar way, but in a self-destructive way.
It came as a shock, a gigantic sadness.
I watched more of his films, and came to love him.
The casting director suggested Robert, who I first thought was too young.
But he wanted to meet with me, and he said he would accept another part.
I said, No, he is too iconic.
I am afraid of who he is.
I think hes great, I had seen his movies with David Cronenberg.
I knew what kind of actor he was, but he still worried me.
In the end, when I met him, something changed.
He was not trying to convince me.
I have nothing to offer.
I was so touched.
I saw in him virginity.
If I was afraid of Robert, that was the reason.
If he convinced me, its because there was such naked youth in him.
Pretty, professional, but so open.
When we were shooting, staying in the hotel, going to the studio, there were no girls.
This is your first film in the English language, and your first with major Hollywood actors.
He meant England, at the time.
He wanted me to think about the idea of the femme fatale.
I came home and thought, Hmm,why femme fatale?
Everyone is dead, leaving him alone with a baby girl.
I knew they would die in that place, never to go home.
When shes growing, turning of age, the only possible man for her will be her father.
The technological designs in the space station reminded me a lot of H.R.
For me, this set is first a penitentiary.
But the origin was always a jail.
Are you frightened of space?Yeah.
Thats why that shot was so important, you see the tool falling forever.
Silence, and then its gone.
Its the unknown, an endless nothingness, and thats very frightening for me.
Strangelove, when the general says, This is all a matter of fluids!
I said, Oh, wow, this is it.
But everyone who saw it said, Oh, love machine is so French.
But there are two scenes that are most important for the audience.
Theres the garden, which is the only place for them to remember life on Earth.
The other is the fuckbox, a terrible place to be alone, not like masturbating in a bed.
The privacy in the fuckbox is horrible, and to make a run at come is impossible.
It looks like a sword!
If they fixate on that, then theyaregetting the bigger picture.
I think maybe Ive misunderstood.
In the fuckbox, Dr. Dibs doesnt achieve orgasm?No, shes near orgasm.
In the fuckbox, you cannot feel enough.
It is too mechanical.
Theres supposed to be a pleasure in that self-torment.Thats what shes doing, yeah.
It is a pleasurable sensation that leaves only frustration.
It became a constant joke between us, and I realized it has a meaning.
I dont have a career in mind, I dont think that Ill do this or do that.
These things come to me.
I listen to music, I feel things, and I think,Okay, I can try that.
Im not even certain that my work is personal, or that I am even original.
I have mostly doubt.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
