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partly it was the way music is used in Three
Colours: Blue, representing the connection
between people and a search for a meaning
to life. the way the unfinished concerto keeps
returning was particularly affecting. ‘it always
comes back on a dark screen, with no image,
and it becomes so spiritual.’
he was similarly touched by ingmar bergman’s
The Seventh Seal and, after seeing it in the
cinema rather than on tv, stanley kubrick’s
2001: A Space Odyssey. ‘that taught me that
© bart dewaele
INSPIRATIONAL
These are some of the works Geoffrey Enthoven currently gets inspired by:
BOOK Life and How to Survive It by Robin Skynner and John Cleese
(William Heinemann).
MUSIC Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Radiohead
(Baby Rock Records)
DVD Little Miss Sunshine (2006) by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.
CONCeRT Beirut live
you can explain a lot without using words,’ he
says. ‘in a way these films helped me think that
cinema could be my medium.’
Film school was a moment of intense cinematic
exploration, forming a solid body of references.
‘with everything i see now, i always refer back
to that period,’ he explains. ‘but there are fewer
and fewer moments when i’m completely
touched by a movie, and now i’m so busy with
my work that when i come home i’m not really
interested in watching films.’
MICHAEL WINTERBOTTOM
enthoven’s work is based on detailed
research, during which he looks for points
of personal engagement in projects usually
suggested by his producers. he tends not to
look for material in other films. ‘i believe that if
you want to make a really good apple pie you
don’t start with another apple pie - you should
start with apples.’
but sometimes other films do make themselves
felt. For example, his debut Children of Love
began life as a documentary on divorce,
but when the families involved pulled out he
decided to move to fiction. ‘i tried to shoot it
as realistically as possible, because i wanted
to have all the qualities and intensity of a
documentary. i thought it was impossible to
do that in an artistic way, because then you
would feel that it’s a movie: you should believe
everything that you see - that was a phase, it’s
not how i think now! but at that moment i saw
Wonderland by Michael winterbottom, and i
thought ok, that’s how i can tell the story.’
the british director is also an inspiration for
the variety of his work. ‘i really feel connected
with winterbottom: his kind of stories, his
focus on people, the mixture of sadness and
humour in his films, and also because the type
of movie he makes changes constantly. every
project is different.’
MICHAEL HANEKE
outside influences can also be seen in the
dark psycho-drama Happy Together, about a
respected family man trying to cover up the
fact that he is ruined. enthoven admits this
was made with an eye on Michael Mann’s The
Insider and Michael haneke’s Funny Games.
‘Michael haneke in general really influences
me. every time i see one of his films i find it so
fascinating, because he talks about things that
i think no-one else dares to talk about. i have
the feeling with him of: oh, you saw that too!’
but with his latest film, The Over the Hill Band,
selected for Montreal and ostend, enthoven
thinks no influences will be apparent. ‘not at
all, in that way it’s really pure.’
LEIgH, LOACH, VON TRIER
one constant inspiration is working with actors.
‘i’m fascinated by how they perform,’ he says,
particularly the way they can make you believe
they are experiencing a character’s emotions.
‘sometimes they do have the feelings of the
characters they play, just by acting. For me,
that makes it really spiritual.’
he admires directors who get ultra-realistic
performances from their actors, such as Mike
leigh with Secrets and Lies, ken loach with
Family Life or lars von trier with Dancer in the
Dark. ‘i find it on the edge of perversity, to be
so real, to be so cruel. i don’t know why, but it
really touches me.’
however, he is not as demanding as some of
these filmmakers. ‘i’m not a dictator on set,
i’m a director. i like to surround myself with
creative people who are also inspired by the
story we want to tell.’
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Under THe inFlUence